Human stem cells aid stroke recovery in rats
By IANS
New York : In what is billed as a first, researchers using human embryonic stem cells to generate neural cells in the lab have found that they helped repair stroke related damage to a rat's brain.
The study, by researchers at Stanford University, said it showed the potential for using stem cell therapies in treating strokes in humans.
Findings of the study have been published in the latest issue of PLoS ONE journal.
BlackBerry Bold home launch fails to create buzz
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Canadian wireless giant Research In Motion (RIM) quietly launched its latest BlackBerry Bold smartphone in the home country Thursday.
The BlackBerry Bold, which is considered to be RIM's response to the iPhone 3G launched here last month, didn't generate the euphoria that the Apple device created here last month.
Like the iPhone 3G, the Blackberry Bold is also supported by third-generation wireless networks.
Rogers, the country's biggest telecom service provider, will support the BlackBerry Bold service across Canada.
Berlin to have electric car ‘filling stations’
By IANS,
New York : German automobile giant Daimler and utility company RWE would launch a network of 500 charging stations for electric cars in Berlin in 2009.
Under the project, called "e-mobility Germany", Daimler and its subsidiary Smart would provide 100 electric cars from its Mercedes Benz and Smart brands, as well as service for the cars while RWE would handle the development, installation and operation of the charging stations, CNET.com reported Tuesday.
Global warming could raise sea level by five metres: Scientist
By DPA,
Wellington : New evidence shows that if global warming melts the West Antarctic ice sheet, sea levels around the world could rise by up to five metres, a New Zealand scientist said Thursday.
Tim Naish, director of Victoria University's Antarctic Research Centre in Wellington, said the ice sheet was Antarctica's most vulnerable element and was expected to melt first, along with Greenland.
"Polar ice sheets have grown and collapsed at least 40 times over the past five million years, causing major sea-level fluctuations," he said in a statement issued by the university.
Indo-US Air Force conference in Kerala Monday
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram: The 15th Indo-US Air Force Executive Steering Group (ESG) conference will begin Monday at the Southern Air Command Headquarters here.
The three-day conference allows the delegations of the two countries to discuss policies and mutual exchange programmes for bilateral defence cooperation, a defence spokesperson said Sunday.
The annual conference is held alternatively in the two countries and this year the Southern Air Command has been chosen as the venue.
Computer `taught’ to recognise attractive women
By IANS
London : Beauty indeed lies in the eye of the beholder - but does the beholder have to be human? Apparently not.
According to a paper in the journal Vision Research, Indo-Israeli Amit Kagian successfully "taught" a computer to recognise attractiveness in women.
"The computer produced impressive results. Its rankings were very similar to the rankings people gave," said Kagian of Tel Aviv University.
Now you can watch what cells do, as they do it
By IANS,
London : Researchers have developed a new laser tool to to peer into the microscopic activity within single cells in real time. The cutting edge technology could help contribute to the creation of new drugs to treat diseases like asthma and arthritis with fewer side effects.
The researchers from Nottingham University Schools of Biomedical Science (Steve Hill and Steve Briddon) and Pharmacy (Barrie Kellam) are concentrating on a type of specialised cell receptor that recognises and responds to a chemical within the body called adenosine.
Hyderabad to host conference on usability of technology
By IANS
Hyderabad : Hyderabad will host a three-day national conference and workshop on maximum usability of technology, starting Monday.
Satellite to link computers in rural India soon
By IANS
Bangalore : The Indian space agency will launch a dedicated satellite mid-2008 that will connect computers in villages across the country for accessing Internet and transferring data, a top official said here Tuesday.
"We are going to launch an experimental satellite (Gsat-4) in June next year that will facilitate data transfer from computers located in remote and inaccessible villages," G. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), told reporters on the sidelines of a science event here.
Why does natural selection favour only few species?
By IANS,
Washington : Why does natural selection favour few plants and animals species to the exclusion of others?
The answer lies in the rate of metabolism of a species - how fast a species consumes energy, per unit of mass and per unit time, according to a University of California (UC) Riverside-led research team.
The researchers studied 3,006 species, the largest ever analysed by a single team. The list encompasses much of the biological diversity on the planet -- from bacteria to elephants, and algae to sapling trees.
Space hotel to open in 2012
By Xinhua
Madrid : The Galactic Suite, the first hotel in space, will open for business in 2012, its Barcelona-based architects said.
Reservations for the Galactic Suite will begin in 2008, company director Xavier Claramunt said here.
"The Galactic suite will allow clients to travel around the world in 80 minutes," Claramunt said.
Iran pledges support for Iraq in fight against terrorism
Tehran: Tehran will continue supporting Baghdad in its fight against terrorism as Iraq's security was intertwined with that of Iran, President Hassan Rouhani has...
NASA readies spacecraft for landing on Mars
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA said Thursday that its engineers have adjusted the flight path of the Phoenix Mars Lander, setting the spacecraft on course for its May 25th landing on the Red Planet.
"This is our first trajectory maneuver targeting a specific location in the northern polar region of Mars," said Brian Portock, chief of the Phoenix navigation team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The mission's two prior trajectory maneuvers, made last August and October, adjusted the flight path of Phoenix to intersect with Mars.
Bose – the Indian behind the Big Bang experiment
By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS,
London : Of the three main past and present physicists behind the landmark proton-smashing experiment in Geneva Wednesday, one has a Nobel Prize, the other is waiting to find out if he has one, and the third never got one.
The third man is the Bose of the Higgs-boson experiment - Satyendra Nath Bose.
It is Bose after whom the sub-atomic particle ‘boson’ is named - probably the only noun in the English language named after an Indian (and therefore never capitalised).
No bail for US Chandrayaan scientist charged with spying
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : A leading NASA scientist, credited with helping discover water on the Moon on India's Chandrayaan mission, who has been arrested on charges of spying for Israel was denied bail after prosecutors said he was a "walking safe deposit box" of government secrets.
Judge Deborah Robinson Thursday rejected a bail request from Stewart David Nozette, who was arrested in an Oct 18 sting operation, saying he was considered too much of a flight risk and should remain in jail pending trial.
Supercomputer helps design drugs faster
By IANS
Sydney : A supercomputer is helping speed up the design of new drugs manifold, doing away with cumbersome, time-consuming procedures.
The results are as accurate as those obtained from the lab, saving time and resources, besides calculating the desired 'redox' potential of drugs much faster than existing methods.
The 'redox' potential is the ability of drug molecules to exchange electrons, which determine how powerfully they can act on the body, said researcher Mansoor Namazian of Australian National University (ANU).
Nuclear power answer to fresh water shortage
By IANS
Mumbai : By 2025, an estimated 3.5 billion people will live in areas facing severe water shortages -- and providing them potable water would be a challenge that may be best met by nuclear-powered desalination.
This was one of the solutions presented at the recent Trombay Symposium on Desalination and Water Reuse here.
This and other solutions discussed at the symposium have been published in a special issue of the International Journal of Nuclear Desalination.
Fuzzy fiber strings could be sign of life on Mars
By Xinhua
Beijing : For years physicists have used the string theory in an attempt to provide a complete, unified, and consistent description of the fundamental structure of our universe. Now scientists think any plant-like microbes that existed on Mars a few billion years ago would have left behind a stringy fuzz of fibers.
Why? Because here on Earth, researchers say they have found such ancient fuzz, called cellulose, preserved in chunks of salt deposited more than 250 million years ago — making it the oldest biological substance yet recovered.
China’s lunar probe to photograph Bay of Rainbows
By IANS,
Beijing : China's lunar probe Chang'e-2 was manoeuvered to an experimental orbit Tuesday evening for taking pictures of the moon's Sinus Iridium or Bay of Rainbows.
Indian IT major spreads cheer in Northern Ireland
By Prasun Sonwalkar, IANS
London : Indian BPO major HCL, which has reposed faith in trouble-torn Northern Ireland since 2001 when Western companies were chary of investing there, has spread more cheer by employing its 2000th employee in the region.
Many view HCL investing in Northern Ireland as one of the foremost landmarks of India-Britain relations during Tony Blair's tenure as prime minister. Since 2001, other Indian companies such as Firstsource, Pix Transmission and Tech Mahindra have followed HCL into the region.
Memmoo, a phone to speak with many, to launch in Kerala
By IANS,
Kochi: Britain's KloudPaD, a mobile electronics convergence brand, is ready with its non-GSM based wireless open phone memmoo network for consumers in Kerala.
India successfully tests own cryogenic rocket engine
By IANS,
Bangalore : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted a test of its indigenous cryogenic (supercooled fuel) engine to be used in the next geosynchronous launch vehicle (GSLV-D3) mission, the space agency said here Saturday.
"The flight acceptance hot test of the Cryogenic engine was carried out at the liquid propulsion systems centre at Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu Thursday. This engine will be used in the next GSLV launch in April 2009 for carrying the 2.3-tonne geo-stationary experimental satellite (GSAT)," ISRO said in a statement.
Google splashes $2 bn on New York office
By DPA,
New York : Internet powerhouse Google is muscling in on New York. The web search giant confirmed Wednesday that it had bought one of the most prestigious office buildings in Manhattan.
Indian-Australian AMU Alumnus Aamir Qutub launches his company’s sports technology wing in Delhi
By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Indian-Australian Entrepreneur Aamir Qutub, an alumnus of AMU and founder of Entriprise Monkey,...
Trying to lose hair? Measure the loss with new software
By IANS,
Sydney : Researchers have developed maths-based imaging technology to measure hair on different parts of the human body.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO) Biotech Imaging team, which specialises in developing software to analyse images automatically, worked with a British company to find a way to test how well their hair removal products work.
Space photos no proof of Ram Setu: NASA
By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : US space agency NASA says pictures taken by its astronauts do not prove the existence or otherwise of a manmade Ram Setu bridge as mentioned in the Hindu epic Ramayana.
"I am not aware of any carbon dating either," said NASA spokesman Michael Braukus, refuting claims by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the agency had the Adam's bridge in Palk Strait - known as Ram Setu in India - carbon dated as being 1.7 million years old.
Mexico creates pest resistant wheat
By IANS/EFE,
Mexico City : Mexican scientists have developed a new variety of wheat that is more resistant to disease.
It is expected to reduce the use of fungicides and boost grain production, the Agriculture Secretariat said Sunday. It is resistant to leaf rust (a fungus that attacks the plant).
Scientists from the National Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research Institute (INIFAP) developed the wheat.
The study was conducted from 2006-2009 in Yaqui Valley in northern Sonora state. The output from the new variety was similar to that of common wheat strains.
Advance IST by 30 minutes, save Rs.10 bn: scientists
By IANS
New Delhi : A group of scientists have suggested that the Indian Standard Time (IST) be shifted forward by 30 minutes to reduce peak time energy demand and save at least Rs.10 billion per year.
According to a paper prepared by Dilip R. Ahuja, D.P. Sen, both from the National Institute of Advanced Studies, and V.K. Agrawal, Southern Regional Load Despatch Centre, Bangalore, the shift in IST by 30 minutes will help India use more daylight and reduce the peak power demand during evening.
Scientists, farmers fast to protest Bt Brinjal
By IANS,
Kolkata : A group of scientists, academicians and farmers observed a day's protest fast at the Kolkata Book Fair Saturday against the possible release of genetically modified crop Bt Brinjal for commercial cultivation.
"The volunteers from Green Peace, city-based green body Development Research Communication and Services Centre (DRCSC) and the farmers of an organisation called Seva participated in the fast," Green Peace's sustainable agricultural campaigner R. Jaykrishna told IANS.
New Google service solves sudoku
By DPA,
Berlin : If you're stuck on your sudoku puzzle, there's hope. New photo recognition software for Android mobiles - Goggles - can help solve the puzzle.
Microsoft ordered to stop selling Word software by Jan 11
By IANS,
Toronto : Upholding patent-infringement charges by a small Toronto firm agaist Microsoft Tuesday, a US appeals court ordered the software giant to stop selling Word by Jan 11 and pay $290 million in damages.
Microsoft said it will introduce the copies of Word 2007 and Office 2007 without the offending technology by the court-ordered deadline. Tuesday's ruling upholds an earlier injunction against Microsoft that banned the technology giant from selling Word.
European team discovers smallest extrasolar planet
By IANS,
London : A European satellite has discovered the smallest planet outside of our solar system, which is twice as large as earth and orbiting a star slightly smaller than the sun.
The planet is believed to be composed of rock and water, and takes 20 hours to orbit its host star, the shortest orbital period of all exoplanets found so far.
Astronomers infer its temperature over 1,000 degree Celsius, hot enough to make it covered in lava or superheated water vapour.
Footpaths to generate electricity from pedestrians’ footsteps
By IANS,
London : A new technology under development by a British company would allow harnessing of the power of footsteps of pedestrians to generate electricity for lighting up public places.
The technology, developed by London-based The Facility, uses a flooring system that incorporates a matrix of hydraulic compression pads. The pressure of the footsteps on these pads pushes fluid through a micro-turbine and generates electricity.
Scientists work on ways to track terror bomb sources
By IANS,
Sydney : Organic peroxides are being increasingly preferred as explosives by terrorists because they can be easily prepared and don't required to be purchased off the shelf.
New techniques for tracking bomb-making materials, and possibly pointing the way towards the terrorists themselves, are being researched at Flinders University. The research being undertaken at Flinders has the potential to make a contribution towards fighting the global war on terror.
Argentina aims at free wireless internet access
By IANS/EFE,
Buenos Aires : The Argentine government has said it is working to create areas of free public access to the internet across the country through wireless networks.
"We're going to have extensive areas with free internet," Planning Minister Julio de Vido said.
President Cristina Fernandez has given instructions to "work hard" in order to "install within the next 120 days a strong application of the WiFi system in public places", the minister said.
Installation of the service is quick and easy, De Vido told Radio Continental Monday.
Scientists think of new way of creating synthetic tissues
By IANS,
Washington : Tissue engineering has long held promise for building new organs to replace damaged livers, blood vessels and other body parts. However, a major obstacle is getting cells grown in a lab dish to form 3-D shapes instead of flat layers. Scientists have now come up with a new way to overcome this challenge.
Researchers at the MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) are encapsulating live cells in cubes and arranging them into 3-D structures, just as a child would construct buildings out of blocks.
Paper thin tablet!
By IANS,
London: A revolutionary tablet as thin and flexible as paper that can be twisted or dropped without suffering damage is set to be showcased soon in American city of Las Vegas.
Science Express chugs along to promote scientific temper
By IANS
New Delhi : From Aryabhatta's mathematical milestone of working out the value of pi some 1,500 years ago to India's yet-to-be-launched moon mission - India's major scientific developments were proudly displayed aboard the Science Express train that will visit 57 towns across the country over the next seven months.
Flagged off by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel from the Safdurjung Railway Station here Tuesday, the white-coloured train aims to kindle scientific curiosity among the Indian youth.
New technology to help doctors image lungs
By IANS,
Sydney : New technology pioneered by Australian researchers will help doctors image a patient's lungs and respiratory diseases.
Scientists from the University of Queensland (UQ) have successfully developed the country's first hyperpolarised helium gas for use in human MRIs.
Marlies Friese said the UQ team recently produced sufficient gas for a human subject to inhale, and created an image of the person's airways.
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".
Google distorts reality, Austrian study says
By DPA
Vienna : Google, the world's largest Internet search engine, is on several fronts a danger that has to be stopped, a study released by Austria's Graz University claims.
A research team led by Prof. Hermann Maurer, chairman of Graz University's Institute for Information Systems and Computer Media, argues that Google is turning into a new version of George Orwell's "Big Brother" - creating unacceptable monopolies in many areas of the worldwide web.
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.
Google, IBM team up on cloud computing
By DPA
San Francisco : Google and IBM have announced that they are teaming up to promote research into cloud computing - a technology in which programmes and services are run on remote servers rather than on users' PCs.
The two technology giants said they will contribute $20 million to $25 million each to build data centres that can be used by university researchers in the US.
Scientists unveil bionic eye for future implantation
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists have unveiled a bionic eye for future implantation in patients.
The prototype, developed by Bionic Vision Australia (BVA) researchers at the University of New South Wales, will deliver improved quality of life for patients suffering from degenerative vision loss caused by retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration.
Macular degeneration is a condition that causes loss of vision in older adults by damaging the retina.
The computer helper: restarting your PC
By Jay Dougherty, DPA,
Washington : With each new version of Windows, Microsoft promises that you'll have to restart your computer less often. But that promise never seems to materialise. Restarting a Windows PC is not only a dreaded task - thanks to the amount of time required to load Windows - but always seems to be required when you least desire it.
What's behind all of this restart madness, anyway, and is there a way to cut down on the number of times you need to restart? Read on for some answers.
Puerto Rican to prepare menu for manned mission to Mars
By IANS/EFE,
Orlando (Florida) : A Puerto Rican scientist will be in charge of creating the menu for the first manned mission to Mars.
Google offers to 3D map Goa
Panaji : Goa may soon be one of the first states in India to have a 3D digitized mapped presence online if the state...
Endeavour astronauts finish final spacewalk
By Xinhua,
Washington : Two US astronauts on space shuttle Endeavour Monday finished the mission's fourth and final spacewalk to work on joints on the solar panels that power the International Space Station (ISS), according to NASA TV.
Mission specialists Steve Bowen and Shane Kimbrough completed the cleaning and lube job on the station's right-side solar array joint and replaced the final bearing of the 12 bearings for the massive gear.
Vietnam To Introduce 3G Technology In 2009
By Bernama,
Hanoi : Telecommunications industry insiders are predicting that 3G (third generation) technology will be introduced in Vietnam this year, the Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported.
With 3G technology, mobile providers in Vietnam will be able to provide more value-added services for their mobile users such as videophone, on-line video streaming and high-speed internet and music download.
Controversial orgasm theorist regaining scientific favour
By Soumya Sarkar, IANS
New Delhi : Half a century after he died in ignominy in a US prison, physician-scientist Wilhelm Reich - best known for his claim of a cosmic life force associated with sexual orgasm - is on his way to being rehabilitated by the scientific community.
On the 50th anniversary of his death, the Jewish Museum in Vienna, Austria, is holding a major retrospective of his life and works beginning Thursday.
Carbon dioxide being soaked up by oceans reduced
By Xinhua
London : The amount of carbon dioxide being absorbed by the world's oceans has reduced, British scientists who carried out a decade-long study said.
Researchers from University of East Anglia gauged carbon dioxide absorption through more than 90,000 measurements from merchant ships equipped with automatic instruments and the results of their 10-year study in the North Atlantic show carbon dioxide uptake halved between the mid-90s and 2000 to 2005, the BBC reported Saturday.
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.
US congratulates India on Chandrayaan-I launch
By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : The US congratulated India on the successful launch of the maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-I, describing it as demonstration of the country's technological prowess in its quest for peaceful exploration of space.
"The US congratulates India on the successful launch. This is a proud moment in India history and demonstrates India's technological prowess by joining the international community in the peaceful exploration of space," American Ambassador to India David C Mulford said on Wednesday.
China, Brazil to launch jointly Satellite 03
By Prensa Latina
Beijing : China and Brazil will launch in September a jointly developed third earth resources satellite, equipped with high resolution cameras for agricultural, mining and environmental use.
According to China National Space Administration, the Satellite 02B, of Brazilian manufacture, will orbit the earth in September or October 2008.
The takeoff will take place in a launching centre in Taiyuan, capital of the northern Chinese province of Shanxi.
Beijing : China and Brazil will launch in September a jointly developed third earth resources satellite, equipped with high resolution cameras for agricultural, mining and environmental use.
According to China National Space Administration, the Satellite 02B, of Brazilian manufacture, will orbit the earth in September or October 2008.
The takeoff will take place in a launching centre in Taiyuan, capital of the northern Chinese province of Shanxi.
Tarang Software expanding India operations
By IANS,
Bangalore : Leading e-payment solutions provider Tarang Software Technologies is expanding its operations in the country to serve its growing list of customers across verticals, the city-based company said Monday.
"We are setting up a 250-seater second development centre here to meet our growth requirements. Our new customer wins include Frese International, Global Refund, Hypercom, ING Vysya, Volvo and Teligence Communications," the company said in a statement.
SMS to know CAT answers within hours of exam
By IANS
Mumbai : Months of fretting after taking the Combined Admission Test (CAT) for admissions to top management institutes may become a thing of the past with the launch of an SMS service that will give the answers within hours of taking the exam.
Managing Internet Explorer plug-ins
By DPA
Washington : Everyone knows the story: When Internet Explorer (IE) is first installed, it flies. The browser itself opens quickly, and pages load without incident.
But after a while, things start to break down. The browser crashes, freezes, or loads slowly. Sometimes it won't load at all. Typically the blame falls on security holes in IE. But there can be other causes too - plug-ins.
You could ditch IE altogether and move to Mozilla's Firefox, but most Firefox users swear by plug-ins, so there's really no escape from plug-in issues there, either.
Iran to launch first domestic satellite by March
By RIA Novosti,
Tehran : Iran plans to put its first domestically made communication satellite into orbit by March 20, the head of the Iranian space agency has said.
"If we do not run into problems, the first domestic satellite will be put in orbit by the end of this (Iranian solar calendar) year," Reza Taqipour said.
Technical experts were working to complete the preparations, he said, adding that the precise launch date for the Omid, or Hope, satellite would be announced as it drew nearer.
Kashmir varsity produces world’s first cloned pashmina goat
By IANS,
Srinagar : Scientists at the agricultural university in the Jammu and Kashmir capital have successfully produced the world's first cloned pashmina goat, a statement said Tuesday.
Atlantis on last mission to repair Hubble telescope
By DPA,
Washington : For nearly 20 years the Hubble Space Telescope has kept its orbiting eye trained on the universe, and with the launch of space shuttle Atlantis to repair the ageing instrument, scientists hope it will continue to provide important discoveries.
The fifth and last mission to repair Hubble is to launch at 1801 GMT Monday from the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Atlantis crew will undertake five spacewalks, adding two new instruments, repairing two others and replacing other hardware in frequently delicate operations.
Universe continuing to expand, confirms study
By IANS,
Toronto : Canadian astronomers have rejected the new "void models" that say the earth is near the centre of a region of the universe which is almost empty.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver said Friday that there is nothing special about earth's location in the universe as proposed by "void theories" that reject the conventional view that the universe is ever-expanding because of an enigmatic dark energy.
Astronomy, faith meet in Har-ki-Pauri on solar eclipse
By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,
Haridwar : Tradition and astronomy fused on the banks of the Ganges during the annular solar eclipse Friday as temples shut their doors and covered the idols in muslin shrouds and bathers completed their morning pre-eclipse rituals by the time the sun went into the shadow of the new moon.
The temples reopened at 4 p.m. after the eclipse ended, and hundreds of thousands of bathers flocked to the river considered holy by Hindus.
New Chinese law to encourage innovation
By Xinhua
Beijing : China's top legislature Saturday adopted an amendment to the Law on Science and Technology Progress that shows more tolerance of failures in scientific projects but brooks no fraud or manipulation of data.
The law, for the first time, allows scientists to report failures in innovative researches without harming their eligibility for future funding.
The amendment, which is to take effect July 1, 2008, was approved at the seven-day meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) that ended Saturday.
How do people respond to e-mails?
By IANS,
Washington : Over the last decade the e-mail has grown from a novelty into a necessity. But how do people respond to e-mails? Do they respond to the most important first, making sure the process is efficient?
Or do they send e-mails randomly, when they are at their computers or when they have time, without any regard to efficiency?
These are questions that Luís Amaral, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University, and his associates set out to answer.
India makes history, enter Mars orbit in maiden attempt
Bangalore: India Wednesday created space history by becoming the first country in the world to enter Mars orbit in its maiden attempt, an event...
Promising carbon material can act as power reservoir
By IANS,
Washington : A breakthrough in use of 'grahpene', a single-atom thick, carbon-based material, will make massive storage of wind power and solar energies possible.
Texan University researchers believe the breakthrough could double the capacity of existing ultracapacitors (which store electric energy) made out of a different form of carbon.
Solved: 100-year-old aerodynamic problem
By IANS,
Washington : As a car accelerates up and down the hill then slows down to follow a hairpin bend, the airflow around it cannot keep up and detaches from the vehicle. This aerodynamic separation creates a drag that slows the car and forces the engine to work harder, using more fuel.
The same phenomenon affects airplanes, boats, submarines, even your golf ball.
Scientists unearth wound-healing genes
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists have closed in on 68 regions of the genome, tied to blood platelet formation, potentially opening the way to better diagnosis of bleeding disorders.
India’s multipurpose scientific vessel ready
By IANS
Chennai : India's new multipurpose scientific vessel is ready for deployment and will be at the forefront of the country's sea research.
Named Sagar Nidhi, it is parked off the east coast of Tamil Nadu. Sagar Nidhi will be dedicated to the nation after Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal returns from Australia, officials at a scientists' meet here said.
It is expected to provide logistical support in India's Antarctic II and Arctic missions, which are on the cards in the next five years.
Finally, a breakthrough on how to harness solar power
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers at the MIT have found a new way to store solar power, a major breakthrough in the search to use the sun and serve the Earth's energy needs in a clean and sustainable way.
Every hour, the sun pours down enough radiation to serve the Earth's energy needs for a year. The trouble is to store that energy cheaply and use it whenever needed.
Semiconductor industry attracts $7 bn in investments
Bangalore, Feb 18 (IANS) India's semiconductor industry has already attracted $7 billion (Rs.280 billion) in committed investments, less than a year after the government announced an ambitious policy to promote chip manufacturing and create an ecosystem for chip design services, a top official said Monday.
These firms are especially keen on making solar photovoltaic (PV) cells for domestic and export markets, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said here.
NASA’s Kepler mission to begin quest to find planets hosting life
By IANS,
Washington : NASA's Kepler spacecraft is ready to begin a journey to search for worlds that could potentially host life.
It is scheduled for blast-off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, aboard a Delta II rocket on March 5 at 7:48 p.m. Pacific Time (10:48 p.m. Eastern Time).
It is the first mission with the ability to find planets like Earth -- rocky planets that orbit sun-like stars in a warm zone where liquid water could be maintained on the surface. Liquid water is believed to be essential for the formation of life.
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.
Biofuels may harm environment: Experts
By IANS,
Panama City : Extensive cultivation of biofuel crops, aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas or carbon emissions, have posed the "risk of ultimately harming the environment", experts have said.
Scientists taking part in an ecology conference here said that deforestation and land-use changes for biofuel crops are harming environment as much as fossil fuels like coal and petroleum, EFE reported Sunday.
The forum was organised by the Panama-based Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).
Brazilian earth station to get data from Indian satellites
New Delhi : India and Brazil Wednesday signed an agreement in Brasilia on cooperation in augmentation of a Brazilian earth station for receiving and...
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.
Google Earth helps youth to trace lost home – after 13 years
By Brij Khandelwal, IANS
Agra : Orphaned at seven, he ran away from home to escape the tyranny of his uncle and was taken care of by an affluent Muslim family in northern India. Now at 20, Rakesh Singh has through Google Earth traced his village near Agra and is fighting to get his property back.
Rakesh, who developed an early fascination for computers, has found his village in Kiraoli, about 22 km from the Taj Mahal city, thanks to his interest in the internet.
Indian scientist elected entomology’s world forum chief
By IANS,
Hyderabad : A scientist from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hari C. Sharma, has become the first Asian to be elected president of the 102-year-old International Congress of Entomology (ICE).
Sharma, principal scientist, entomology, was elected at the 23rd International Congress of Entomology, held July 6-12 at Durban, South Africa.
He is the first Asian to be elected the ICE chief in its 102-year history.
Samsung unveils Galaxy S3 mini
By IANS,
Seoul: Samsung Electronics said Friday that it unveiled a new version of Galaxy S3 smartphone to better compete with Apple's newest smartphone iPhone5.
Chandrayaan may explain origins of Moon: British scientist
By IANS,
London : A British scientist who helped design a camera on board India's Chandrayaan-1 says he hopes images from it will help answer two tantalising questions about the Moon.
“Where did the Moon come from? And could it ever sustain human life?” Maneul Grande of Aberystwyth Universtiy told the Times newspaper.
“After the Apollo landings, people thought they knew a fair bit about the Moon - they'd seen people walking around up there,” said Grande, who helped to design the European Space Agency's camera that will take X-ray images of the Moon's surface.
World’s largest telescope spells golden age of astronomy
By IANS,
Toronto : Hailing it as the beginning of a golden age of astronomy, researchers say the latest data beamed back to earth by the Herschel Space Observatory (HSO) is providing them a rare peep into distant galaxies. Herschel is the largest infrared telescope ever launched into space.
Indian school girl’s project adjudged best by NASA
By IRNA,
New Delhi : A project on space satellites submitted by a Indian girl school student from Rourkela, the steel city in Orissa has been selected as the best by NASA.
The project by Prateeksha Das of Class XII in the Ispat English Medium School run by Rourkela Steel Plant, won a prize of $ 2,000. She has also been selected for the prestigious Bruce M-Clark Memorial award.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, software makes fairest of all
By IANS,
London : "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all," asks the wicked stepmother in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The magic mirror did not lie, but now Tel Aviv University (TAU) researchers have developed a software that can make plain looks seem as good as that of a queen.
While its output is currently limited to digitised images, the software may be able to guide plastic surgeons, aid magazine cover editors, and even become a feature incorporated into all digital cameras.
Chandrayaan moved to launch platform for rehearsal
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 has been moved to the launch platform for rehearsals ahead of its Oct 22 launch, a top Indian space agency official said Saturday.
The fully integrated Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) with the lunar spacecraft atop was moved to the launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km from Chennai, and off the Bay of Bengal.
All going well and weather permitting, India's first unmanned lunar mission is set for launch at 6.20 a.m. Wednesday.
NASA set to conduct largest airborne polar ice survey
By IANS,
Washington : NASA will conduct a massive polar survey from Oct 15 to examine changes to Antarctica's sea ice and glaciers.
The flights are part of Operation Ice Bridge, a six-year campaign that is the largest airborne survey ever made of ice at the polar regions.
Researchers will work from NASA's DC-8, an airborne lab equipped with laser mapping instruments, ice-penetrating radar and gravity instruments.
Egyptian expert in Hyderabad to restore mummy
By IANS,
Hyderabad : An Egyptian expert has arrived to restore a mummy from the age of the pharaohs and preserved at the State Archaeological Museum here.
Tarek el Awady, director of Scientific Research in Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), arrived Wednesday night on a six-day visit to restore the mummy, dating back to 2500 BC, but which is showing signs of decay now.
Microsoft sees record revenue through Windows 7
By DPA,
Seattle : The launch of Windows 7 propelled Microsoft to record third-quarter revenue of $14.5 billion, a 6-percent increase from a year ago, the world's largest software company said Thursday.
Microsoft earned $4 billion in net income, a rise of 35 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago.
Saudi prince buys into Twitter
By IANS,
London: Saudi billionaire prince Alwaleed bin Talal has invested $300 million in the microblogging company Twitter, becoming its latest major investor.
China sends up 1st data relay satellite
By SPA,
Beijing : China has launched its first data relay satellite in preparation for the inaugural spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut scheduled for later this year, a state news agency said Saturday.
The Tianlian I satellite was launched on a Long March-3C carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province late Friday night, Xinhua News Agency said.
Cranes Software acquires US-based firm
By IANS
Pune : Bangalore-based Cranes Software International Ltd (CSIL) has acquired US-based Engineering Technology Associates (ETA), a company specialising in computer-aided engineering products for the automotive industry.
Announcing the acquisition through a press release, Asif Khader, managing director, CSIL, said: "The acquisition gives Cranes access to lucrative Asian markets and thereby expands our operations of the Chinese design centre by forming alliances with leading Asian car manufacturers for end-to-end design and development specifications."
From launch to landing – Indian moon mission’s journey
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first probe into moon landed on the lunar surface Friday night after riding on Chandrayaan-1, the country's first unmanned spacecraft to the moon, after travelling around 384,000 km in 24 days days after blasting off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh Oct 22.
Soon after the launch at 6.22 a.m. 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).
Scientists find solar system similar to ours
By Xinhua
Beijing : An international team of astronomers has discovered a miniature version of our own solar system nearly 5,000 light years away, according to a report published Friday in the journal Science.
"We found a solar system that looks like a scaled-down analog of our solar system," Scott Gaudi of Ohio State University, who led the study, told reporters.
Beijing : An international team of astronomers has discovered a miniature version of our own solar system nearly 5,000 light years away, according to a report published Friday in the journal Science.
"We found a solar system that looks like a scaled-down analog of our solar system," Scott Gaudi of Ohio State University, who led the study, told reporters.
Scientists tag sharks to gather more detailed data
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists have tagged a nearly four-metre long white shark, nicknamed Thomas, to track its movements across the ocean and gather more detailed information.
The tag popped up at Swaub Reefs off Rockhampton and transmitted data late in August. Department of Conservation (DOC) Scientist Clinton Duffy had tagged Thomas off Ruapuke Island in Foveaux Strait in February.
"This is only 100 kilometres from where another tag popped up last year from a shark tagged at Stewart Island after having travelled over 3,000 km," said Duffy.
‘No fresh evidence to indicate Bay of Bengal tsunami’
By Avijit Chatterjee, IANS
Kolkata : The Geological Survey of India has allayed fears of a tsunami hitting the Bay of Bengal soon - though the findings of an Australian geologist suggest that a giant undersea earthquake could inundate India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
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.
India close to having its own satellite navigation system
By Venkatachari Jagannathan,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India successfully put its fourth navigation satellite into orbit in copy book style on Saturday, bringing the country...
NASA postpones launch of Dawn space probe
By DPA
Washington : The Dawn space probe's five billion km journey to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter will begin a day later than planned, the US space agency NASA announced.
The spacecraft's launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket has been postponed from Wednesday until Thursday morning. The blastoff is now scheduled for a launch window of 7.20 a.m. to 7.49 a.m. Thursday.
Chennai to host ‘AI’ conference for software architects
Thiruvananthapuram: Nasscom has joined hands with US-headquartered Envestnet, Inc. to host the Architecting Intelligence (AI) conference for software architects here on Saturday.
Envestnet is a...
In 2007, CSIR has a vision for 2001!
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS
New Delhi : The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India's oldest and largest scientific institution, has not just been headless for nine long months, but in 2007, to go by its website, it has a vision for 2001!
The vision document flashing on its website, the institute's global interface, says: "CSIR in 2001 would be a model organisation for scientific industrial research and path setter in the shifting paradigms of self financing research and development (R&D).
Future robots will perform surgery in remote locations
By IANS,
Washington : Robots may possibly play more complex roles in future such as performing surgeries in remote or dangerous locations like the battlefield or in space.
Duke University engineers have taken the first concrete step towards realising this space age future, based on feasibility studies conducted in their lab.
On a more immediate level, the technology that they have developed could make existing medical procedures safer and better for patients.
NASA postpones Discovery launch
By Xinhua,
Washington : NASA has for the fourth time delayed the launch of its space shuttle Discovery due to technical reasons, the US space agency has announced.
After meeting all Friday at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, shuttle managers decided against launching it in a week. The launch date for Discovery is currently "under review", NASA said in a statement. The launch had been targeted for no sooner than Feb 27.
Tishman Speyer opens its first IT park in India
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Tishman Speyer, one of the world's leading developers of real estate, Tuesday unveiled its first property in Asia, commissioning the first phase of the Waverock IT Park here.
The US-based developer also launched the second phase of the project, a joint venture between Tishman and ICICI Ventures, which has come up at a special economic zone at Nanakramguda, Gachibowli, an IT district on the city's outskirts.
Countdown to India’s mission moon begins
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : As the countdown for the Wednesday launch of lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 on board the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C11) started early Monday, this spaceport off the Bay of Bengal coast was bustling with activity, excitement and a bit of anxiety.
With the countdown starting at 5.22 a.m., about 1,000 top scientists and technologists are working round-the-clock to send India’s first spacecraft mission beyond earth orbit from the picturesque spaceport, located on an island about 80 km from Chennai.
India to launch maiden mission to moon on April 9 next year
By NNN-APP
New Delhi : India has planned to launch its maiden mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-I on April nine next year.
Media reports said the mission planned by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Hyderabad.
Quoting Mylswamy Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-I, the reports said “a launch windows are available for the next two days in case the launch does not happen on that day.”
Scientists can now predict quake effects within seconds
By DPA
Rome : Italian scientists have said they can now predict the destructive powers of an earthquake just seconds after the start of a tremor, thus providing a potentially life-saving advance warning to affected populations.
Researchers at the University of Naples and at the National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV) in Rome analysed more than 200 earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 4.0 to 7.4 on the Richter scale and found that the waves generated in the first few seconds of a tremor carry enough information to determine its destructive potential.
Measles? Third red spot seen in Jupiter’s atmosphere
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Recent imagery reveals a storm system has changed color in the planet Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere, creating a third "Red Spot" to join the centuries-old Great Red Spot and the 2-year-old Red Spot Jr.
The third reddish storm is west of the Great Red Spot in the same latitude band of clouds and is much smaller.
Ramco Systems launches new resource planning software
By IANS
Mumbai : Tamil Nadu-based software solution provider Ramco Systems Ltd (RSL) Monday launched a full-fledged enterprise resource planning (ERP) software service.
Named as Ramco OnDemand ERP, the new service was web-enabled ERP that would oversee IT infrastructure, maintenance and support needs, said a statement issued by the company.
Elaborating on the modalities of the ERP systems, it pointed out that firms could benefit from shortened implementation time, which would be reduced to a week from months.
India’s moon mission rides on basketballer turned rocket scientist
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : As a Kerala state player, George Koshy used to shoot the ball into the basket during his college days. Today, as a rocket scientist with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the tall, 58-year-old M.Tech from IIT-Bombay is the project director for Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden unmanned moon mission, and on his broad shoulders rests the venture's success.
China to launch 10 satellites in 2008
By Xinhua
Beijing : China plans 10 space launches this year including the Shenzhou VII spaceship, according to a scientist from China's top space program research institute.
The 10 launches include two environmental satellites, a meteorological satellite and a communications satellite for Venezuela, according to Yang Baohua, head of the China Academy of Space Technology.
The launch of Shenzhou VII this year will spacewalk by taikonauts and lay the foundation work for China's space station construction.
NASA gives “go” for Atlantis’ Sunday launch
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA announced Saturday afternoon that it will try to launch the space shuttle Atlantis on Sunday.
The Mission Management Team concluded after a meeting on Saturday that "we are 'go' for a Sunday launch attempt," said a briefing posted by NASA at its official website. Sunday's launch attempt is set for 3:21 p.m. EST (2021 GMT).
Huge asteroid flies past Earth
By Xinhua,
Washington : An asteroid as big as a 10-storeyed building flew past Earth Tuesday, the US space website has said.
The space rock was perhaps a bit larger than one thought to have created a colossal explosion in the air above Siberia in 1908 that flattened 500,000 acres (2,000 square km) of forest.
Asteroid 2009 DD45 was closest to Earth Tuesday at about 8.40 a.m. It was some 72,000 km away, which is twice the height of a geostationary communications satellite.
Micro-organisms placed in outer space
By DPA,
Washington/Moscow : Two International Space Station (ISS) crew members installed an experiment outside the craft during a nearly five-hour long spacewalk.
US Commander Mike Fincke and Russian flight engineer Yury Lonchakov Tuesday completed the spacewalk around 2110 GMT, about one hour earlier than planned.
The spacewalk's main objective was to place a European Space Agency container of micro-organisms outside the station to examine the effects of extreme temperatures and radiation. Fincke and Lonchakov also photographed the Russian parts of ISS.
Iran, US claim progress in latest round of n-talks
Vienna: Iran and six world powers are making progress in the latest round of talks over Iran's long-disputed nuclear programme, said top diplomats of...
Solar-barbecued chicken a hit in Thailand
By DPA,
Bangkok : Solar energy has found a unique outlet in Thailand with one innovator using the sun's rays to roast chicken at his roadside stall, drawing the attention of Japanese researchers and hungry motorists, news reports said Monday.
With temperatures and fuel prices rising around the globe, Sila Sutharat's solar-seared chicken, sold at a roadside in Phetchaburi town, 90 km southwest of Bangkok, recently attracted a team of Japanese researchers keen to learn his cooking techniques, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported.
Launch of Mars lander delayed
By DPA
Washington : The planned launch of the Phoenix Mars lander has been pushed back, according to NASA.
Phoenix is now scheduled to be fired into space from Florida's Kennedy Space Centre aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket Saturday at either 5.26.34 a.m. or 6.02.59 a.m.
Poor weather at the space centre kept NASA from fuelling the rocket Tuesday afternoon and led to the decision to delay the launch.
Washington : The planned launch of the Phoenix Mars lander has been pushed back, according to NASA.
Phoenix is now scheduled to be fired into space from Florida's Kennedy Space Centre aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket Saturday at either 5.26.34 a.m. or 6.02.59 a.m.
Poor weather at the space centre kept NASA from fuelling the rocket Tuesday afternoon and led to the decision to delay the launch.
Study shows comet much more like asteroid
By Xinhua
Beijing : A chemical analysis of samples of rock dust retrieved from a comet showed that the comet is much more like an asteroid than scientists had expected, media reported Monday.
A lot of the material detected in a comet called Wild 2 was formed very close to the sun in the early solar system and was somehow later transported to the outer solar system.
Beijing : A chemical analysis of samples of rock dust retrieved from a comet showed that the comet is much more like an asteroid than scientists had expected, media reported Monday.
A lot of the material detected in a comet called Wild 2 was formed very close to the sun in the early solar system and was somehow later transported to the outer solar system.
Safe method to clean up toxic nano-materials developed
By IANS,
Washington : A natural, nontoxic method for biodegrading carbon nanotubes could help diminish environmental and health concerns about using such materials.
A Pittsburgh University research team has found that carbon nanotubes deteriorate when exposed to the natural enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP), according to a report co-authored by Alexander Star, assistant professor of chemistry in Pitt's School of Arts and Sciences.
‘Block the sun, control global warming’
By IANS,
Toronto : Canadian and US scientists want to block the sun to cool the earth and limit global warming.
Research and field-testing on what they call "geo-engineering" of the earth's atmosphere to limit risk of climate change must begin quickly, say scientists from the University of Calgary in Canada, and the University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon University in the US.
Studies on geo-engineering or solar radiation management (SRM) should be undertaken collectively with government funding, rather that unilaterally by nations, argue the scientists.
NASA scientists isolate clues to the secret of life
By IANS,
Washington : NASA scientists analysing meteorite dust have discovered new clues to a long-standing mystery about how life works on its most basic, molecular level.
"We found more support for the idea that biological molecules, like amino acids, created in space and brought to earth by meteorite impacts help explain why life is left-handed," said Daniel Glavin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt.
"By that I mean why all known life uses only left-handed versions of amino acids to build proteins," added Glavin, who co-authored the study.
New solar, n-power forms answer to global warming
By IANS
New Delhi : Concentrated solar power and thorium-based nuclear power are the ways to generate energy without causing climate change, Nobel laureate and head of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) Carlo Rubbia said here Friday.
Chinese taikonaut begins spacewalk
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang slipped out of the orbital module of Shenzhou-VII spacecraft Saturday afternoon, starting China's first spacewalk or extravehicular activity (EVA) in outer space.
Donning a $4-million homemade Feitian space suit, Zhai waved to a camera mounted on the service module after pulling himself out of the capsule in a head-out-first position, the video monitor at the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC) showed.
"I here greet the Chinese people and people of the world," the 42-year-old taikonaut reported to ground control.
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.
World’s oldest submerged town dates back 5,000 years
By IANS,
London : Archaeologists surveying the world's oldest submerged town have found ceramics dating back to the end of the Neolithic era.
Their discovery suggests that Pavlopetri, off the southern Laconia coast of Greece, was occupied some 5,000 years ago - at least 1,200 years earlier than originally thought.
These remarkable findings have been made public by the Greek government after the start of a five-year collaborative project involving the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and The University of Nottingham.
India considering manned space mission
By IANS
Bhopal : India is considering a manned mission to space soon, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said Thursday.
"We are seriously considering a manned space mission. But we will first have to study and prepare a report within a year on newer technologies to develop capsules to send men to space and bring them back safely," Nair told a press conference here.
The study report would be sent to the government for approval, he said.
E-mail etiquette: A matter of survival
By Jay Dougherty, DPA,
Washington : Business people send out some six trillion e-mail messages each year, according to US-based Ferris Research. That's probably not much of a surprise to most office workers today, who have seen e-mail usurp meetings and face-to-face conversations as a primary form of communication.
Three New Species Of Snouted Beetle Found In Thailand
By Bernama,
Bangkok : The discovery of three unidentified new species of snout beetles in Thailand's tropical forests', is an indication of the biodiversity still to be discovered in the country's woodlands, a group of Thai entomologists announced.
New to the world's record of beetle species, the three newly discovered were named Articerodes thailandicus, Articerodes ohmumoi and Articerodes jariyae.
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.
Haryana launches e-tendering for its projects
By IANS
Chandigarh : The Haryana government Thursday launched an e-tendering facility for its projects.
The process has initially been launched in the public works department (PWD) as a pilot project.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda launched the facility for the prime minister's rural roads project involving 15 tenders worth Rs.2.66 billion.
Hooda announced that e-tendering will be started in other government departments shortly.
Insat-4CR launch delayed by two hours
By IANS
Sriharikota : The launch of India's latest communication satellite Insat-4CR has been rescheduled by two hours to 6.10 p.m. after three delays caused by a technical hitch 15 seconds before the scheduled blast-off.
The satellite was to be launched at 4.21 p.m. by the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle GSLV-F04 and was initially put off by 50 minutes.
It was then pushed back to 5.40 p.m. and again.10 p.m. as scientists worked furiously to get over the technical glitch that had arisen, an official here said, without specifying what the problem was.
Universe’s biggest star discovered
By IANS,
London : The biggest star, with a mass 320 times greater than the sun's, has been discovered at the edge of our galaxy by British astronomers.
Scientists at the University of Sheffield found the stellar giant - named R136a1 - using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile and data from the Hubble Space Telescope.
The star is located in the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small "satellite" galaxy which orbits the Milky Way, the Telegraph reported.
NASA worker rushing from Russia with ISS toilet pump
By Xinhua,
Beijing : With the Saturday launch of the shuttle Discovery already underway, a NASA employee is rushing back from Russia with a special pump to fix a malfunctioning toilet on the International Space Station.
The space station's Russian-built toilet has been acting up for the past week. The three male residents have temporarily bypassed the problem, which involves urine collection and not solid waste.
Russia to create manned assembly complex in orbit
By Xinhua
Moscow : Russia is going to create a manned assembly complex in orbit, the chief of the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) Anatoly Perminov said here on Saturday.
"We shall create this complex in order to make dockings in orbit, build craft there and send them to the Moon, Mars and other planets," Perminov was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as telling a new briefing.
"This proposal was on the whole approved at the meeting of the Russian Security Council on Friday, but a specific time has not been determined," he said.
Microsoft set to unveil Internet Explorer 8
By IANS,
Redmond : After two beta tests and a soft release, Microsoft Corp is all set to officially launch its latest internet browser Thursday night.
The company will launch Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) at 9:30 p.m. Indian time, an official statement said.
Microsoft, whose share in the browser market took a beating with the emergence of rivals like Mozilla's Firefox, Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari, is aiming to regain its lost ground with the new browser.
Microsoft's market share dropped to about 67 percent last month as compared to over 90 percent three years ago.
India to launch ocean-watching satellite this month
By IANS,
Chennai : Some time between Sep 20 and 25, India will launch a specialised satellite to watch over the Indian Ocean, an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said Monday.
Oceansat 2 will be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) into a sun-synchronous orbit 720 km above the earth, the official said on phone from ISRO's launch centre at Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), 70 km from here.
The PSLV will also carry a number of small "nano" satellites, the official said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Google reportedly planning to launch its own mobile
By DPA,
New York : Google reportedly hopes to strengthen its presence in the world of mobile telephony with plans to introduce its own high-tech phone sometime in 2010, according to press reports.
Reports by the Wall Street Journal and other outlets cite sources close to Google stating that the company, known primarily for its online search functions, is expected to release a phone dubbed Nexus One that runs Google's Android operating system.
Not all forests act against global warming
By IANS,
Washington : The notion that forests remove carbon dioxide from the air and prevent global warming has some complications, says a new study. There's a kind of forest that does remove carbon dioxide, but does not help prevent global warming because it heats up so much itself.
Forests can directly absorb and retain heat, and, in at least one type of forest, these effects may be strong enough to cancel out a good part of the benefit in lowered carbon dioxide, says a discovery by chemistry researchers at the Weizmann Institute (WI), Israel.
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.
India launches remote-sensing satellite Oceansat2
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India successfully launched its 16th remote-sensing satellite Oceansat-2 and six small Europeans satellites on board a rocket that blasted off from here at 11.51 a.m. Wednesday.
The 44.4-metre tall, 230-tonne Indian rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) freed itself from the launch pad at the spaceport and lifted itself up, lugging the 960-kg Oceansat-2 and the six nano satellites all together weighing 20 kg.
Smartphone games a hit in Tokyo
By IANS,
Tokyo: Social networking games installed on smartphones are the rage at a game show in Tokyo.
China’s first lunar probe enters moon’s orbit
Beijing, Nov 5 (Xinhua) China's lunar probe Chang'e-1 successfully entered moon's orbit Monday, becoming China's first circumlunar satellite.
Chang'e-1, following the instructions of the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC), started braking at 11.15 a.m. at a position around 300 km away from the moon and entered the moon's orbit at around 11.37 a.m. after completing the braking, according to the BACC.
Car that changed the world – Tin Lizzie turns 100
By Reino Gevers, DPA,
Hamburg : When the Ford Model T went into production in 1908, it marked the beginning of an era when motoring became affordable to the masses and an end to the horse and cart age.
Thousands of enthusiasts the world over are this week celebrating in Richmond, Indiana, the centenary of the car affectionately known as "Tin Lizzie".
It is just one of several events leading up to the Oct 1 anniversary when the first Model T drove off the assembly line.
US pulls Patriot missile systems from Turkey
Ankara : The US has decided to withdraw its border protection mission in Turkey which was deployed against possible threats from Syria, a...
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."