UAE to launch joint remote-sensing satellite with GCC countries
By Xinhua,
Abu Dhabi : A senior official of the Defense Ministry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said that the ministry plans to launch a joint remote-sensing satellite with other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), local newspaper Gulf News reported on Tuesday.
The plan was revealed by Brigadier Khalifa Mohammad Al Rumaithi, Chief of Military Works of the UAE Armed Forces, at the Defense Geospatial Intelligence Middle East opened on Monday in Dubai.
Now ICMR is headless
By K. Jayaraman, IANS
Bangalore : After remaining headless for 10 months, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) finally got its chief 10 days ago, but now it is the turn of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the country's apex medical body, to be without a head.
Nirmal Kumar Ganguly, who had been director general of ICMR for over five years retired on Nov 10. The ICMR has been headless since then and the agency's scientists say they do not know what is happening.
Space mission equipment passes test
By Xinhua
Beijing : An airlock module for the Shenzhou VII spaceship and an extravehicular spacesuit - key elements of China's first spacewalk mission scheduled for later this year - have passed initial ground tests, a top scientist said yesterday.
"Both the airlock module and the extravehicular spacesuit passed the tests, which simulated the zero-gravity environment of space," Yang Baohua, head of the China Academy of Space Technology, said.
Beijing : An airlock module for the Shenzhou VII spaceship and an extravehicular spacesuit - key elements of China's first spacewalk mission scheduled for later this year - have passed initial ground tests, a top scientist said yesterday.
"Both the airlock module and the extravehicular spacesuit passed the tests, which simulated the zero-gravity environment of space," Yang Baohua, head of the China Academy of Space Technology, said.
Argentine scientists discover ‘master gene’ linked to cancer
By IANS
Buenos Aires : A group of Argentine scientists has discovered a "master gene" that determines why carcinogenic tumours survive.
Scientists of the Exact and Natural Sciences Faculty at the University of Buenos Aires and the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina carried out the research, reported Spanish news agency EFE.
For four years, the team studied tumours of the pituitary gland located at the base of the skull.
Cooling of unique arctic biodiversity vault begins
By IANS
Geneva : Work on cooling an underground vault that will preserve seeds of vital food crops from around the world for up to 1,000 years has begun in an arctic archipelago off Norway.
Refrigeration units Friday began pumping cold air deep into a mountain on the Svalbard archipelago that lies midway between Norway and the North Pole so as to speed up the opening of the fail-safe repository of vital crops.
India adds record 15.6 mn new phone users in March
By IANS,
New Delhi : Showing no signs of any slowdown and backed by heavy rural demand, India added a record 15.87 million new phone connections in March, to take its telecom density to nearly 40 percent, fresh data said Wednesday.
India, which already boasts of the second-largest telecom user base in the world after China's and ahead of the US, now has 429.72 million telecom subscribers, both in the wireless and mobile segments, with a record growth of 59.48 percent last fiscal.
New measurements reveal slimmer Milky Way
By Xinhua,
Berlin : New measurements adopted by an international team of researchers have revealed a much "slimmer" Milky Way compared with previous estimates.
According to a press release from Germany's Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) on Tuesday, the research led by Xiangxiang Xue of the National Astronomy Observatories of China has put the mass of the Milky Way at slightly under one trillion times the mass of the sun.
Hubble discovers 67 more galaxies
By IANS
New York : The Hubble space telescope has discovered 67 "lensing" galaxies in the distant universe, under the massive COSMOS project to map space.
Gravitational lensing occurs when light travelling towards us from a distant galaxy is magnified and distorted by unusually huge clusters of other galaxies.
NASA probe flies by Mercury in 1st visit since 1975
By Xinhua
Beijing : NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft on Monday flew within 200 kilometers above the surface of Mercury, making the first pass of the planet since 1975, media reported.
The car-sized probe traveled at about 25,800 kilometers miles per hour as it passed over Mercury on a mission designed to resolve some of the mysteries about the solar system's innermost planet, officials said.
Beijing : NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft on Monday flew within 200 kilometers above the surface of Mercury, making the first pass of the planet since 1975, media reported.
The car-sized probe traveled at about 25,800 kilometers miles per hour as it passed over Mercury on a mission designed to resolve some of the mysteries about the solar system's innermost planet, officials said.
Reksha in New Delhi combines old style and new tech
By Falah al-Fadhli, KUNA,
New Delhi : Over the past ten years, the Indian capital, New Delhi, has developed considerably in view of opening up to international markets and entry of foreign capital.
The active investment movement in New Delhi has stimulated and spurred migration from the countryside to the capital in pursuit of work, making it one of the most overpopulated and chaotic cities.
In spite of recent changes in the city, three-wheeled green-yellow Reksha hiring cars or Tok Tok are still favored by many commuters thanks to its old style, new technology and cheap fare.
India discovers 67 animal species, 29 plant species
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS,
New Delhi : Indian scientists have discovered 67 new animal species, including fishes, spiders and crop eating insects, and 29 plant species, including grass and flower varieties, last year.
"All these discoveries were made in 2007 and they are vital additions to the plant and animal science of India and the world," Ramakrishna, director of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), told IANS Thursday.
Crush of people kills two eclipse watchers in Varanasi
By IANS,
Varanasi : Two people were killed here Wednesday morning when thousands of people gathered at the banks of the Ganges to watch the solar eclipse.
"One person died because of drowning and the other got crushed in a stampede. The names of the deceased are yet to be determined" said P.C. Meena, deputy inspector general of police (DIG).
U.S. space shuttle Endeavour lifts off
By Xinhua
Washington : The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour, with seven astronauts aboard, lifted off at 2:28 a.m. EDT (0628 GMT) on Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida,NASA TV live broadcasting showed.
The shuttle is delivering a two-armed robot made by Canada, the first part of Japan's space laboratory Kibo and a collection of experiments to the International Space Station.
A laptop that looks into your heart
By Prashant K. Nanda
New Delhi, March 25 (IANS) An Indian medical technology firm has configured a laptop that can do a heart scan, abdomen scan and even a pregnancy test while retaining its basic functions like writing a note, preparing presentations and sending an e-mail.
"Though portable ultrasound machines are not new in India, this machine doubles up as a laptop and a multi-utility ultrasound machine. It is easy to use, carry and send body images even to your e-mail," A.B. Sivasankar, director (imaging) of Trivitron Medical Systems, told IANS.
Don’t fear, watch solar eclipse with proper gadgets
By IANS,
New Delhi : It is an excitement coupled with fear and superstition for many in India prior to the solar eclipse Aug 1.
Despite a well known scientific phenomenon behind the solar eclipse, people have not been able to do away with the superstitious beliefs related to the celestial activity.
"There are several false beliefs prevalent in our society regarding solar eclipse. Some people even lock themselves in their homes to avoid 'the bad rays' from the eclipse," Nehru Planetarium Director N. Rathnashree said.
New software that identifies unnamed faces to go public
By IANS,
London : A new software which can identify unnamed faces and then collate photographs of that individual on the net will go public soon.
The software works by scanning a person's configuration of eyes, nose and mouth and claims to be 90 percent accurate.
It can then comb the net for more photographs of the same person and, in tests, locate untagged picture which had not previously been seen by some of the people in them, reports the Telegraph.
The managers of Face.com, which created the software, told the Sunday Times that 5,000 developers were already using it.
Indian space agency aims $60 mn revenue from satellite manufacturing
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to play a major role in satellite manufacturing.
"We are targeting a revenue of around $60 million from manufacturing satellites for others," K.R. Sridhara Murthi, executive director of Antrix Corp Ltd, the commercial arm of the Indian space agency, told IANS.
New iguana species found in Fiji
By IANS,
Sydney : A new species of iguana, found by Australian and US researchers in central Fiji, takes the number of such existing Pacific species to three.
Scientists named the new iguana species Brachylophus bulabula. Bulabula is a doubling of bula, the Fijian word for 'hello,' thus signifying an even more enthusiastic greeting.
Rocket completes mission, India’s first moon spacecraft now in orbit
By Venkatachari Jagannathan and Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : With a perfect liftoff, India's first spacecraft to the moon entered its scheduled orbit early Wednesday, placing the country in a select group of six. The US, former Soviet Union, European Space Agency, China and Japan have sent spacecrafts to the moon earlier.
Kangaroos to be put on the pill
By DPA
Sydney : Australian scientists have come up with a contraceptive suitable for kangaroos that they claim could do away with the controversial killing of the nation's emblem, news reports said Saturday.
Koala colonies are already on the pill to keep numbers down.
The breakthrough comes after a standoff between sharpshooters and animal rights activists over a plan to kill the 3,000 kangaroos that have over-run a military base in Canberra.
The worst drought in a generation has raised Canberra's kangaroo population to epidemic proportions.
Researchers create most comprehensive moon map
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have created the most detailed and comprehensive map of the moon's complex landscape thanks to data provided by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).
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.
PM congratulates scientists for Chandrayaan’s successful journey
By IANS,
Muscat : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday congratulated scientists in the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for successfully putting India's first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1 into lunar orbit.
The prime minister, who arrived here Saturday afternoon on a three-day visit to the Gulf, sent his congratulatory message after receiving the news.
Chandrayaan-1 has travelled more than 380,000 km in 12 days after its launch from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh Oct 22 to enter the lunar orbit Saturday.
Google Earth helps discover massive meteor crater
By IANS,
London : Google Earth has helped spot a meteor crater in Egypt that lay undiscovered, which could help scientists size up risks of potentially catastrophic impacts.
Phoenix Mars Lander releases its robotic arm
By DPA,
Washington : The Phoenix Mars Lander has released its robotic arm to begin prodding the red planet's surface to look for chemistry that could support life, NASA officials said Thursday.
NASA officials hope the robotic arm can poke into the surface to substantiate evidence of ice or water in the northernmost areas of Mars that could have supported life. Chemical compositions can be analyzed aboard the craft and the results beamed back to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Huge river discovered flowing on Black Sea bed
By IANS,
London : A massive underwater river flowing along the bottom of the Black Sea has been found by scientists - a discovery that could help explain how life manages to survive in the deep oceans away from the nutrient-rich waters found close to land.
It is estimated that if on land, the undersea river would be the world's sixth largest in terms of the volume of water flowing through it.
Toy Story 2010: Lower prices, higher tech
By Andy Goldberg, DPA,
Los Angeles : That age old question of what to get a kid who has everything has finally been answered - and the good news is that it only costs $30.
China launches new navigation satellite
By IANS,
Beijing : China successfully launched a fifth orbiter into space Sunday as a part of its indigenous satellite navigation and global positioning network.
The satellite was launched at 5.30 a.m. from the Long March 3I carrier rocket, Xinhua reported.
The satellite will join other four satellites in orbit to form a network that will eventually consist of 35 satellites.
Tiny gold clusters can help clean car exhaust
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers are exploiting gold's exceptional ability to catalyse a wide variety of chemical reactions, including conversion of the poisonous pollutant carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide at room temperatures.
That process, in industrial terms, could potentially improve the effectiveness of catalytic converters that clean automobile exhaust and breathing devices, protecting miners and firefighters.
For this purpose, nanoclusters - gold atoms bound together in crystals smaller than a strand of DNA - are the size most treasured.
Sky gazers gather in Shimla to see solar eclipse
By IANS,
Shimla : A large number of skygazers gathered in this Himachal Pradesh capital Friday for a glimpse of the rare celestial spectacle - the annular solar eclipse, officials said.
Kamraj Kaisth, principal scientific officer of Himachal State Council for Science Technology and Environment, said a large number of people, especially school children, gathered on the historic Ridge to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon.
Tell how you can stop rape video circulation: SC to IT ministry
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the information technology ministry on how it (ministry) can assist in the reporting...
Retaining talent major challenge for Indian scientific organisations
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : Retaining an experienced nuclear scientist has become a major challenge now for the Indian nuclear establishment, with the private sector casting its net wide for talent, says a top scientist.
"Last year we lost around five percent of our scientists and engineers. Ten of them were groomed by me over two decades," Baldev Raj, director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), told IANS in an interview.
According to him, managing a scientific research organisation is tougher than running a company.
Mars to be closest, brightest Jan 27
By IANS,
New Delhi : Skygazers will get to watch the red planet Mars from close quarters as it comes closest to Earth and shines brightest Jan 27. It will not be so close or so bright over the next two years.
Look towards the east an hour after sunset Jan 27 and Mars would be shining brighter than every other star in the sky except Sirius, which is slightly more dazzling in brilliant bluish white.
Mars rovers exceed all expectations to mark fifth birthdays
By DPA,
Washington : When the Spirit rover landed on Mars five years ago, no one expected it or its sister rover Opportunity to make it to their first birthdays, let alone their fifth.
The rovers had predicted life spans of just 90 days, but instead US space agency NASA this month marks the fifth anniversary of the mission that is still going strong.
Galileo may have discovered Neptune
By IANS,
Sydney : Galileo's notebooks contain hidden clues that is likely to clinch his discovery of Neptune in 1613, 234 years before the date of discovery accepted now, according to a new theory.
David Jamieson, who heads the Melbourne University (MU) School of Physics, is investigating the notebooks of Galileo from 400 years ago. He believes that buried in the notations is the evidence that he discovered a new planet that we now know as Neptune.
Only one hacking in last three years: Antony
By IANS,
New Delhi: India's defence establishment has recorded only one breach of security by hackers from outside in the last three years, parliament was informed Wednesday.
Researchers developing technique to image molecule in live cell
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers in the US are working on a new technique to create detailed high-resolution images that will show the atomic structure of cellular molecules.
A research team at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab is collaborating with scientists in Germany and Sweden to utilise high-energy X-ray beams, combined with complex algorithms, to overcome limitations in current technology.
India second-largest wireless market in the world: study
By Frederick Noronha, IANS,
Bangalore : Mobile telephony has grown rapidly in India, especially during the last three years, with India becoming the second-largest wireless market in the world, says a World Bank study.
The number of wireless subscribers in the country has reached 250 million, making India the second-largest wireless market in the world, says the study, The Role of Mobile Phones in Sustainable Rural Poverty Reduction.
Chinese institute award for Indian at Microsoft
By IANS
Bangalore : Smart Indian techie S. Somasegar, an employee of Microsoft India in Hyderabad, has been honoured with the Asian American Engineer Award, instituted by the US-based Chinese Institute of Engineers (CIE), the global software major said here Tuesday.
According to a company statement, the award recognises Somasegar's contribution to science and engineering.
As senior vice-president (developer division) of Microsoft Corporation and head of its India development centre, Somasegar is responsible for developer-related languages, tools and platforms.
UAE to launch remote-sensing satellite with GCC countries
By Xinhua,
Abu Dhabi : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to launch a joint remote-sensing satellite with other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Gulf News reported Tuesday.
The plan was revealed by Brigadier Khalifa Mohammad Al Rumaithi, chief of military works of the UAE armed forces, during an interaction at the Defence Geospatial Intelligence Middle East (DGIME) here.
The forum, aimed at promoting inter-operability and integration to support national security objectives and operational requirements, opened Monday in Dubai.
Climate change will set back ozone layer recovery: NASA
By IANS,
Washington : Global warming will set back the recovery of the ozone layer of the earth's atmosphere, warns a NASA study.
Previous studies have shown that while the build up of greenhouse gases makes it warmer in the troposphere, up to 10 km high from sea level, these gases actually cool the upper stratosphere, between 30 to 50 km high.
This cooling slows the chemical reactions that deplete ozone in the upper stratosphere and allows natural ozone production in that region to outpace destruction of the ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
Obama outlines new US space exploration plan
By IANS,
Washington : US President Barack Obama has outlined his administration's new space exploration plan, vowing to increase NASA's budget by $6 billion over the next five years.
Speaking at the Kennedy Space Centre Thursday, where America's moon missions originated decades ago, Obama said he was "100 percent committed to the mission of NASA and its future".
Obama said he wants to accelerate the development of a large, heavy-lift rocket to carry astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit. He called for a decision on the new rocket design in 2015.
‘Don’t worry about more lethal version of terror bomb’
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists allayed fears that terrorists could produce a new and more destructive version of an explosive used by 'shoe bomber' Richard Reid in 2001 and Palestinian Intifada.
Gerard Harbison, chemist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and colleagues analysed a variety of potential peroxide-based explosives in the same chemical class as triacetone triperoxide (TATP).
Greener computing – tips to save electricity costs
By DPA
Washington : These days, with energy costs skyrocketing, it pays to practise green computing. A typical computer uses anywhere from 65 to 400 watts of energy. While that may not put the computer in the same energy-sucking league as an air conditioner, the energy draw is not insignificant, especially when you consider that many computers are left on for a long time - if not all day and night - and that some households have multiple computers.
Scientists turn ancient cockroach fossil into 3-D model
By IANS,
London : An early cockroach ancestor that lived around 300 million years ago was unveiled in unprecedented detail here in a new 3-D 'virtual fossil' model.
Scientists at Imperial College London (ICL) made a comprehensive 3D model of a fossilised specimen called Archimylacris eggintoni, which is an ancient ancestor of modern cockroaches and termites.
This insect scuttled around on earth during the Carboniferous period 359-299 million years ago, which was a time when life had recently emerged from the oceans to live on land.
Astronauts start spacewalk to install Japan lab
By ANTARA News
Washington : Two astronauts from the US shuttle Endeavour stepped into space Thursday in the first of a series of spacewalks to install Japan's maiden laboratory at the International Space Station (ISS), NASA television showed.
Mission Specialist and lead spacewalker Rick Linnehan and Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman emerged at 8:18 pm Central Daylight Time (0118 GMT Friday), according to NASA, to begin the task of maneuvering phase one of the laboratory out of Endeavour's payload bay and attaching it to the orbiting station.
IBM creates world’s smallest 3D map
By IANS,
Washington : IBM scientists have created a 3D map of the earth so small that 1,000 of them could fit on a single grain of salt.
They accomplished this through a new, breakthrough technique that uses a tiny, silicon tip with a sharp apex -- 100,000 times smaller than a sharpened pencil point -- to create patterns and structures as small as 15 nanometre at greatly reduced cost and complexity.
Humans first covered their nakedness 170,000 years ago
By IANS,
Washington : A research suggests that humans first covered their nakedness some 170,000 years ago, something which helped them move out of Africa.
Atlantis starts home journey
By DPA,
Washington : The US space shuttle Atlantis separated from the International Space Station (ISS) Sunday to prepare for its home journey on the shuttle's last-ever mission before being retired.
The Shuttle with its crew of six astronauts eased away from the ISS at 1522 GMT for the return flight and its scheduled landing in Cape Canaveral, Florida Wednesday.
The shuttle had brought new Russian research equipment and a docking module to the ISS in the ongoing construction of the international station.
Microsoft, Yahoo meeting on takeover ends without results
By DPA
New York : Key officials from US software giant Microsoft and internet company Yahoo failed to reach agreement in talks over a multi-billion takeover bid, the Wall Street Journal newspaper reported Friday.
Microsoft had launched a takeover bid of originally $45 billon more than two months ago, which was rejected by Yahoo for being too low.
According to the paper, officials were unable to solve their differences of opinion during the meeting, which took place this week at Yahoo's headquarters in Sunnydale, California.
Ten Indian students leave for NASA
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Ten Indian students, winners of a competition organised by an educational website, Thursday left for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the US.
The students, along with their parents and school teachers, boarded the plane from New Delhi on their way to NASA, said a statement by Learnsmart India, the company that runs 24x7guru.com which conducted the Destination NASA Knowledge Challenge.
Truecaller launches new messaging app from India
New Delhi : Truecaller, an app that helps identify unknown numbers and also block spam calls launched a new app on Tuesday that offers...
Abu Dhabi to host international IT conference
By IANS/WAM,
Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi will host an international conference on information technology supported by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Thailand tree apes use song as warning
By DPA
Hamburg : Humans aren't the only "big apes" who use songs to impress one another. German researchers have found that gibbons in Thailand have developed an unusual way of scaring off predators - by singing to them.
Literally singing for survival, the gibbons appear to use the song not just to warn their own group members but those in neighbouring areas.
Stellar blast gamma ray was aimed at earth: NASA
By Xinhua,
Washington : Data from satellites and observatories around the globe show a jet from a powerful stellar explosion witnessed March 19 was aimed almost directly at the Earth, the US space agency NASA has reported.
NASA's Swift satellite detected the explosion - formally named GRB 080319B - and pinpointed its position in the constellation Bootes. The event, called a gamma-ray burst, became bright enough for human eyes to see.
Observations of the event are giving astronomers the most detailed portrait of a burst ever recorded.
Tagging Kerala’s tame elephants
By IANS,
Kozhikode (Kerala) : All tame elephants in Kerala will soon come to be identified by a 10-digit number, thanks to an electronic tag that is expected to carry information on these gentle giants that also have their moments of fury.
The close surveillance of elephants is expected to bring down incidents of elephant fury in Kerala where the animals are often used for ritualistic splendour during festivals.
NASA launches 2.7 bn-km voyage to Jupiter
By IANS,
London : NASA has launched a 2.7-billion km voyage to Jupiter that will try to discover the secrets behind the largest planet in the solar system.
Fossil of new crocodile species found in Brazil
By Xinhua
Beijing : Scientists in Brazil found the fossil of a new species of prehistoric predator dating back about 80 million years to the Late Cretaceous period that represented a "missing link" to modern-day crocodiles, media reported Friday.
Beijing : Scientists in Brazil found the fossil of a new species of prehistoric predator dating back about 80 million years to the Late Cretaceous period that represented a "missing link" to modern-day crocodiles, media reported Friday.
ISRO, NASA tie up for space exploration
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has joined hands with the US's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for space explorations, parliament was informed Wednesday.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan said the framework agreement was signed between the two space research organisations for cooperation in the “exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes”.
Female robot can sing like a pop star
By IANS,
London : A life-sized female robot, known as HRP-4, has been taught to sing just like a real pop star.
Intel founder gives $200mn to build world’s largest telescope
By Xinhua
Los Angeles : Intel Corp founder Gordon Moore and his wife Betty have donated $200 million to build the world's largest optical telescope, according to media reports.
The telescope will have a mirror nearly 100 feet across and three times the size of the current record holder. The donation went to Caltech (California Institute of Technology) and the University of California, said the Los Angeles Times.
Caltech officials said matching gifts from two other institutions are expected to bring the total to $300 million.
Google launches priority inbox, unveils spam killer
By IANS,
London : A new feature for its Gmail service will automatically filter the most important messages from spam, Google has announced.
Priority emails will be placed at the top of the inbox - while others will drop to the bottom.
The ‘Priority Inbox’ function is designed to help users manage hundreds of emails received daily, reports the Daily Mail.
The new application splits the inbox into three sections: 'Important and unread', 'Starred' and 'Everything Else'.
China Launches Two Natural Disaster Monitoring Satellites
By Bernama,
Taiyuan : China launched two satellites for monitoring ecological environment and natural disasters at around 11:25 a.m. here on Saturday.
China's Xinhua news agency reported that the two satellites, launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi Province, were carried by a Long March 2C rocket.
They were expected to enhance the country's capacity to prevent and reduce natural disasters, according to Bai Zhaoguang, a leading scientist and designer of the satellites.
India to rollout 3G services by mid-2008: A. Raja
By IANS
New Delhi : Indian mobile users will be able to use 3G services by the middle of next year, Communications and IT Minister A. Raja said here Thursday.
"We are hopeful that some spectrum for both 2G and 3G services will be vacated by the end of this year. I hope that could pave the way for a rollout of 3G services by mid next year," the minister said at a 3G summit.
On being asked how much spectrum would be vacated, the minister replied, "That is up to the defence ministry to decide."
China calls for technology transfer, fund to address climate change
By Xinhua,
Beijing : A senior Chinese official Thursday called on the international community to evolve a mechanism for technology development and transfer to address climate change problems.
Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said, "the core of the mechanism is technology transfer, including sufficient funds to support the transfer".
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 hits snags
By DPA,
San Francisco : Despite some initial glowing reviews, Microsoft has been flooded with complaints about its new Internet Explorer 8 and has seen early users downgrade to the previous version, Information Week has reported.
The software giant is hoping that its new browser will help stem a steady flight of surfers to rival products, most notably the open-source Firefox browser.
According to the latest figures, Firefox now controls 22 percent of the browser market compared to 67 percent for Internet Explorer, which once enjoyed more than 90 percent of the market.
Facebook hits one billion mark!
By IANS,
London : Popular social networking site Facebook has broken the record for one billion active users, according to its founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Virtual orchestra software coming soon
By DPA
Munich : Coming soon to a computer near you is a software that allows you to conduct a virtual orchestra by waving a stick, just like a professional conductor.
The gestures can be correctly interpreted as telling the playback device to go faster or slower, forte or piano. A team of developers in Munich, Germany devised the system, which has yet to be commercialised.
The software detects the gestures in three dimensions and transmits them from the sensor, using Bluetooth, to the computer that is 'playing' the virtual orchestral instruments.
Remains of 10,000-year-old giant sloth found
By IANS/EFE,
Brasilia : Scientists have found bones in Brazil that belonged to a 20-foot-tall sloth that lived some 10,000 years ago.
iPhone debuts big in BlackBerry country
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Apple's iPhone 3G debuted in the country of BlackBerry Friday with an unprecedented response.
In cities across Canada, people started making lines at stores as early as 2 a.m. to lap up the magic wireless device. Rogers Communications, the exclusive carrier of iPhone in Canada, had a tough time controlling the crowds as supplies sold out quickly at its stores.
In fact, at its flagship store in downtown Toronto, the iPhone was sold out immediately after it opened at 8 a.m.
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.
Man on Moon revolutionised ideas behind vehicles, medicine
By IANS,
Washington : Forty years ago, on July 20, 1969, the United States achieved a historic feat when Apollo 11 landed on the moon.
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," were Neil Armstrong's prophetic words that opened the pathway for new medical procedures and 'holistic reinvention' of vehicles.
America's race to the moon also launched a generation of scientists. They were inspired by a sense of patriotism and the wonders of space.
Dubai unveils new website for business community
By IANS,
Dubai: Dubai has unveiled a new advanced and user-friendly website for the emirate's business community to improve public access to business-related information and procedures, the WAM news agency has reported.
The new website, developed by the Department of Economic Development (DED), is the first of many steps planned for the near future to improve the business community's interaction with the department, officials said.
Scientists find strange ring circling dead star
By Xinhua,
Washington : Using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists have found a bizarre ring of material around the magnetic remains of a star that blasted to smithereens, NASA reported Wednesday.
The stellar corpse, called SGR 1900+14, belongs to a class of objects known as magnetars. These are the cores of massive stars that blew up in supernova explosions, but unlike other dead stars, they slowly pulsate with X-rays and have tremendously strong magnetic fields.
China’s Internet users world’s largest
By IANS,
Beijing : China has overtaken the US and now has some 221 million web users - the world's largest Internet using population.
The number was 210 million by the end of last year, trailing the US by some five million, figures issued by the China Internet Network Information Centre showed.
Despite a rapidly increasing Internet population, China's ratio of Internet users to the total population is still lower than the global average, the ministry said.
After India lands probe on moon, focus back on spacecraft
By IANS,
Bangalore : A day after landing India's first probe instrument on the surface of the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was Saturday getting ready to activate eight other scientific instruments on board the country's first unmanned lunar spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, that is now orbiting the moon and will do so for the next two years.
Clear weather for sun eclipse observation in west China
By Xinhua,
Yiwu, Xinjiang : Eclipse tourists who swarmed to small towns in west China's Xinjiang and Gansu were happy to be greeted by bright sunshine on Friday.
"The weather would be favorable for the eclipse observation," said Carolyn Ng, a program manager and science education specialist from NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of America).
Intel unveils high-efficiency quad-core processors
By IANS
Hyderabad : Intel Corporation Thursday launched the industry's first quad-core processors designed for multi-processor servers and high-end desktops to give higher performance at lesser power.
The six new processors in the quad-core Xeon 7300 series, deployed to run multiple applications in data centres, businesses and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), perform two times faster than dual cores with three times more output per watt.
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.
India launches Israeli ‘spy satellite’
By IANS
Sriharikota/Bangalore/Chennai : India's space agency ISRO Monday successfully placed an Israeli "spy satellite" in the polar orbit after a textbook launch and reaffirmed its position among the elite group of nations capable of commercial launches - with three more orders in the queue.
The 300-kg Israeli satellite, Tecsar, was launched as scheduled at 0915 IST (Indian Standard Time) using the `core alone' configuration of the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C10), that is, the rocket without its usual six strap-on booster motors.
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.
Why little fish diet to stay alive
By IANS,
Sydney : Like humans, little fish also diet - not to look more presentable, but out of dire necessity. They don't want to get on the wrong side of more dominant fish and risk being gobbled up.
A new study, by researchers at James Cook University, has also found that bigger fish use the threat of punishment to keep competitors in line.
Computers aiding in creation of new products
By IANS,
London : From cars and mobile phones to computers and furniture, most products in the market are created virtually on a computer before actual production.
Under the Functional Digital Mock-Up (DMU) project, researchers from four Fraunhofer institutes are developing value additions to digital product development.
An electric car window slides smoothly upward at the press of a button. While power windows are certainly convenient, they can also pose a safety risk.
Free software saves Kerala schools Rs.11 crore
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : By opting for the free and open software platform (FOSS) for the state-sponsored IT@School project, Kerala's General Education Department has saved Rs.11 crore.
The project's Executive Director K. Anvar Sadath said if proprietary software were used in the 11,065 laptops and computers to be supplied in schools, a minimum of Rs.11 crore would have been spent in procurement of software.
China likely to launch its first moon orbiter Wednesday
By Xinhua
Beijing : China is likely to launch its first moon orbiter Wednesday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province.
"The satellite will be launched between Oct 24 and 26," China National Space Administration (CNSA) said, adding that the launch time has been tentatively scheduled at 6 p.m. local time.
The circumlunar satellite, named Chang'e I after the Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, and the carrier Long March 3A have passed all pre-launch tests and have been transported to the launch site, CNSA said.
Solar powered-plane breaks non-stop flight record
London : The solar-powered plane Solar Impulse 2 broke the endurance record of 72 hours of non-stop flight over the Pacific on its round-the-world...
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.
Astronomers banking on new tech to trace ETs
By IANS,
Washington : Astronomers are banking on a promising new technology to trace extra-terrestrials in the same way that one locates "a needle in a haystack".
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) comprises hundreds of small dishes that combine modern, miniaturised electronics and innovative technologies with computer processing.
It endows researchers with the capability to search for possible signals from advanced civilisations elsewhere in our galaxy - if they are transmitting in this direction.
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.
Israeli scientists revive extinct date palm
By Ofira Koopmans, DPA,
Tel Aviv : Israeli scientists have succeeded in getting a 2,000-year-old date seed to sprout and grow into a palm of a native type that had been extinct for hundreds of years.
That, they say, makes it the oldest known seed ever germinated.
The seed - nicknamed Methusaleh after the oldest person in the Bible - was found in the ancient fortress of Masada, on a hilltop in the Judean desert by the Dead Sea where Jewish zealots committed mass suicide to avoid surrender to the Romans in the first century CE.
Mideast, South Asia Internet Access Jammed
By Prensa Latina,
Cairo : Ruptured submarine optic cables in southern Italy affect, for the second consecutive day, access to the internet and international phone services in the Middle East and South Asia.
Tedata Company confirmed that at least three cables connecting Europe with the Middle East and South Asia were severed.
According to the source, the disruption that affects 80 percent Egyptian connection with the Internet began early Friday and continues Saturday mid day.
Yahoo’s Flickr to provide online video service
By Xinhua
Beijing : Yahoo's online photo-sharing site Flickr will release online video service which represents the latest example of Yahoo trying to catch up with Google in a crucial battleground, media reported Wednesday.
Flickr's new technology is aimed at amateurs and hobbyists looking for a better way to share short video clips with family and friends.
NASA delays Endeavour launch by 24 hours
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : The launch of space shuttle Endeavour has been delayed again by 24 hours to "allow technical teams additional time to evaluate lightning strikes at Launch Pad 39A that occurred during Friday's thunderstorm," NASA said Saturday.
The launch of Endeavour that was to have gone ahead Saturday will now take place Sunday.
Two previous launches were postponed after hydrogen gas was found to be leaking from a vent line connected to the external tanks. NASA technicians carried out repairs realigning a fuel plate and installing new seals to rectify the problem.
Interactive websites shape popular perception: study
By IANS,
Toronto : An attractively designed website, encouraging interaction with a target audience, helps shape popular perceptions about an organisation or the groups it represents.
S. Shyam Sundar of Pennsylvania State University and colleagues are trying to fathom how such interactivity influences public perception of an organisation.
In previous studies of such websites, Sundar had found that candidates were rated more positively if their site had some interactive features, independently of the quality of content.
Endeavour heads for space station on home makeover mission
By Xinhua,
Washington : US space shuttle Endeavour carrying seven astronauts aboard headed Saturday for the international space station on a home makeover mission.
The shuttle with a beautiful orange full moon as backdrop blasted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida Friday night. According to NASA, the launch went smoothly without any technical issues popping up.
After successfully jettisoning its rocket boosters and external tank, Endeavour now is safely in orbit and all systems are running well, US space agency NASA's real-time launch blog reported.
Martian surface hints at groundwater torrents
By Xinhua
Beijing : Scientists said surface features of the Red Planet hint at a watery past where torrents of groundwater carved out deep canyons, formed sweeping fans of sediment and cemented together huge fault lines, media reported Tuesday.
"Groundwater probably played a major role in shaping many of the things we see on the Martian surface," said George Postma, a sedimentologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Beijing : Scientists said surface features of the Red Planet hint at a watery past where torrents of groundwater carved out deep canyons, formed sweeping fans of sediment and cemented together huge fault lines, media reported Tuesday.
"Groundwater probably played a major role in shaping many of the things we see on the Martian surface," said George Postma, a sedimentologist at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Evidence of first Indian settlers found in Tamil Nadu
By NNN-PTI,
New Delhi : A team of Indian scientists have discovered genetic evidence that tribal villagers living in Tamil Nadu were among the first migrants from Africa to settle down in India.
Geneticists led by Prof Ramaswamy Pitchappan of Madurai Kamaraj University have found out that the marker gene in the group of people from a small village Jyothimanickam near Madurai matched those of the first settlers in India.
The findings point to the fact that the villagers are among the direct descendants of the first settlers.
Top scientists, technocrats bag awards
By IANS
Visakhapatnam : Renowned scientists and technocrats-turned bureaucrats were honoured with special awards and gold medals for their contribution to the development of science and technology at the 95th Indian Science Congress (ISC) here.
Second satellite for Galileo project to be launched
By Xinhua
Brussels : A second satellite for the European Union's Galileo satellite navigation project will be launched on April 27, the European Commission said Monday.
The EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said that the second satellite would be launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan at 4:15 a.m. local time, April 27 (2215 GMT, April 26) and the project would become operational as planned by 2013.
Solar system’s 3rd plutoid named Makemake
By Xinhua,
Beijing : A dwarf planet orbiting outside Neptune has been designated the third plutoid in the solar system and named Makemake, the International Astronomical Union said on Saturday.
The red methane-covered dwarf planet formerly known as 2005 FY9 or "Easterbunny" is named after a Polynesian creator of humanity and god of fertility.
Just last month the IAU, which names planets and other heavenly bodies, decided to create a new class of sub-planets called plutoids.
New format to ensure disruption-free images on TV
By IANS,
London : Video coding techniques still have their flip side - digital images are not always disruption-free. Now, an extension of the coding format known as H.264/AVC will help protect the most important data packets to ensure they reach the receiver.
For instance, your favourite detective series has just reached its climax when a thunderstorm raging outside interferes with the digital image on your TV.
Found: World’s oldest living tree, age 9,550
By IANS,
London : A 9,550-year-old spruce, the world's oldest living tree, has been found in Dalarna province of Sweden.
The tenacious specimen has survived by growing between erect trees and smaller bushes in pace with the dramatic climate changes over time.
For many years the spruce tree has been regarded as a relative newcomer in the Swedish mountain region.
"Our results have shown the complete opposite. The spruce is one of the oldest known trees in the mountain range," said Leif Kullman, of Umeå University.
Google’s multiple-access password software hacked
By IANS,
New York : US internet giant Google's password system that controls multiple access to almost all of its web services was hacked through an innocuous message sent to a google employee in China, a media report said Tuesday.
Though Google had disclosed in January that intruders had stolen information from its computers in the cyber attack in December 2009, the extent of the theft has been a closely guarded company secret till now.
Chandrayaan gives first glimpse of moon’s darkest craters
By IANS,
New York : India's first unmanned moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, is providing scientists with the first look inside the moon's coldest and darkest craters, US space agency NASA has said.
The NASA radar on board the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has sent back its first images which "show the floors of permanently-shadowed polar craters on the moon that aren't visible from Earth," NASA said in a press release.
"Scientists are using the instrument to map and search the insides of the craters for water ice," it said.
What to look for in a photo printer
By DPA,
Washington : the best digital camera on the block, but that won't matter if your prints are no good. The fact is that to get the most out of digital photography, you need to devote as much time to learning about photo printers as you do about digital cameras.
Part of the challenge lies in knowing which photo printer will best suit your needs. Another part is understanding which features that are commonly touted by printer manufacturers really matter.
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.
Smart cars with black boxes
By IANS,
London : Computer scientists in the US are developing technology that will transform cars into intelligent vehicles fitted with aircraft-style black boxes that can record information about driving behaviour during accidents.
The car, which is being developed by researchers at computer chip giant Intel, will record information about the vehicle speed, steering and braking along with video footage from inside and outside the vehicle, The Telegraph reported.
Researchers rely on 3-D imaging to detect autism early
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers are examining 3-D imaging to reveal correlations in facial features and brain structures of autistic children, in a bid to develop a formula for the condition's earlier detection.
Autism is a brain disorder characterised by a complex of social, communication and behavioural difficulties.
Rovers 1st to record full meteor shower from Mars
By Xinhua
Beijing : The Mars rovers have recorded another first; recording a full shower of shooting stars by instruments located on Mars.
United Kingdom astronomers predicted the event by tracking a comet's path near Mars, then comparing their forecast with Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) satellite data of the red planet's ionosphere — the upper reaches of atmosphere teeming with charged particles.
Just as on Earth, meteor showers on Mars can occur when a planet passes through the dusty trail of a comet.
Meteor to strike Earth likely disintegrates in sky
By Xinhua
Beijing : U.S. scientists said a meteor expected to strike the Earth likely disintegrated in the sky, media reported Friday.
Some witnesses account a meteor that streaked across the Pacific Northwest skies hit the ground southwest of Ritzville in central Washington, sending local officials on a fruitless hunt for the crater.
Biometrics is no guarantee for secure data
By DPA
Darmstadt (Germany) : Police are not the only ones taking fingerprints these days. Starting on Nov 1, fingerprint data will even be stored in the passports issued by many countries.
As fingerprints are unique, they have also drawn attention from manufacturers of equipment designed to limit access to computers.
After all, pressing your fingertip against a reading device is simpler than learning and inputting a password. But are fingerprint sensors really more secure? The answer is both yes and no.
Risk of autism linked with mercury emission: study
By IANS,
Washington : There is a significant link between mercury emissions and increased incidence of autism, according to latest research.
Researchers Raymond F. Palmer of the University of Texas, Stephen Blanchard of Our Lady of the Lake University and Robert Wood found that community autism prevalence is reduced by one to two percent with every 10 miles of distance from the pollution source.
"This is not a definitive study, but just one more that furthers the association between environmental mercury and autism," said Palmer.
NASA’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.
China Mobile tests signal station on Mount Everest
By DPA
Beijing : China Mobile has successfully tested a mobile signal station built on Mount Everest at 6,500 metres ahead of next year's Olympic torch relay on the highest peak of the world.
The world's highest mobile telecommunications station was tested Tuesday on the 8,844-metre-high mountain, the official China Daily quoted the country's main mobile service provider, China Mobile, as saying.
NASA’s Mars rover Spirit begins new chapter
By IANS,
Washington : After six years of unprecedented exploration, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will no longer be a fully mobile robot.
NASA has designated the once-roving scientific explorer a stationary science platform after efforts during the past several months to free it from a sand trap were unsuccessful.
The venerable robot's primary task in the next few weeks will be to position itself to combat the severe Martian winter.
India has only 130,000 scientific researchers: minister
By IANS
New Delhi : India has a mere 130,000 scientific researchers against seven times that number in China, and the government is taking steps to address the imbalance, parliament was told Wednesday.
"We have just 130,000 researchers against some 700,000 to 800,000 in China," Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibil said during question hour in the Rajya Sabha.
"The Scandinavian countries have 7,000 researchers per million of population. In India, the figure is 156," he added.
US astronauts vote from space
By DPA,
Washington : Two NASA astronauts did not let their distance from Earth deter them from voting in the US presidential election Tuesday.
Commander Mike Fincke and Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff voted from their current home in the International Space Station - 322 km above Earth and orbiting at 28,200 km per hour - and beamed back a message urging others to exercise their franchise.
Indian rocket puts 10 satellites in orbit at one go
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India Monday significantly boosted its space capabilities with the copybook launch of a Rs.700 million ($17.4 million) rocket that simultaneously placed in orbit 10 satellites - two Indian and eight foreign.
The launch firmly established India as a major player in the $1 billion global satellite launch market, a significant milestone in the country's 45-year-old space programme.
Electrotherm launches new e-bike
By IANS,
Ahmedabad : Engineering firm Electrotherm, which manufactures the electric bike YO Byke, Tuesday launched another battery-operated two-wheeler, the Yoelectron.
Addressing the media at the launch, Electrotherm chairman and managing director Mukesh Bhandari said the success of its YOSmart in the 250W category goaded the company to come out with another premium model.
NASA astronauts complete spacewalk, install Columbus lab
By RIA Novosti
Washington : Two U.S. astronauts completed an almost eight-hour spacewalk to install a European science laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said on Tuesday.
The installation of the $2bln Columbus segment, the first to be controlled by the European Space Agency, on the station's Harmony module was carried out by ISS Expedition 16 crew members Rex Walheim and Stanley Love.
Washington : Two U.S. astronauts completed an almost eight-hour spacewalk to install a European science laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said on Tuesday.
The installation of the $2bln Columbus segment, the first to be controlled by the European Space Agency, on the station's Harmony module was carried out by ISS Expedition 16 crew members Rex Walheim and Stanley Love.
NASA plans to put man on Mars b 2037
By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Hyderabad : The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to put man on Mars by 2037, a top official of the US space agency said here Monday.
"We are planning many missions. Our long-term game-plan is to put man on Mars by 2037, so that by 2057, when the International Aeronautical Congress (IAC) holds its centenary, we should be celebrating the 20th year of putting man on the red planet," NASA administrator Michael Griffin told the delegates at the first plenary of the 58th IAC on the inaugural day.
Astronauts finish Hubble repairs
By DPA,
Washington : Two US astronauts Monday put the final vital maintenance touches on the Hubble Space Telescope, replacing old insulation and a guidance sensor on the ageing satellite before its scheduled release back into orbit Tuesday.
The seven-hour-plus space walk completed a marathon five straight days of work in a risky mission by the Atlantis shuttle that entailed a stand-by shuttle on the launch pad in Florida for a rescue mission if needed.
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.
Space telescope launched to spy on black-holes
By DPA,
Washington : After several delays, the US space telescope GLAST Wednesday was heading for a mission expected to shed light on black holes and the gravitational forces causing the universe to expand.
GLAST was launched on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1600 GMT.
GLAST's five-year, $700 million agenda includes up-close spying on the violent explosions and other cosmic catastrophes that astronomers have been observing through the Hubble space telescope and sophisticated observations from Earth.
Over 1,000 aircraft needed in India by 2028: Airbus, Boeing
By IANS,
Hyderabad: Airbus and Boeing, the two leading aircraft makers in the world, Thursday forecast robust growth of Indian civil aviation, projecting the aircraft demand of over 1,000 by 2028.
Raising India's plane demand forecast for next two decades following signs of recovery, Airbus Industrie projected that the country will require 1,032 aircraft valued at $138 billion while its competitor Boeing put the figure at 1,000 valued at $100 billion.
Airbus said the requirement would be to serve strong demand for passenger air travel and freight, and to replace ageing fleets.
Asia’s first human DNA bank comes up in Lucknow
By IANS,
Lucknow : Asia's first -- and the world's second -- human DNA bank has been set up at the Biotech Park in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow district, said an official Wednesday.
"DNA Identification System (DIS) will be one of the most important functions of the DNA bank that will facilitate establishing identity of individuals within a few seconds," Biotech Park's CEO P.K. Seth told IANS.
The members of the DNA bank will receive a microchip based DNA card containing information of their fingerprints, and anthropological details, said Seth.
Strange molecule in sky cleans acid rain
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have stumbled upon an unusual molecule that helps break down pollutants, especially the compounds that cause acid rain.
Marsha Lester and Joseph Francisco, of Pennsylvania and Purdue Universities, found the molecule that had exercised scientists for more than 40 years.
Somewhat like a human body metabolising food, the earth's atmosphere has the ability to "burn," or oxidise pollutants, especially nitric oxides emitted by factories and automobiles. What doesn't get oxidised in the air falls back to earth in the form of acid rain.
Online learning helps schoolchildren fare better: study
By IANS,
Sydney : Educationists have developed a new web-based tool that helps primary schoolchildren to concentrate better and develop literacy skills.
The interactive educational software called 'Abracadabra' is designed to help struggling school students aged five to eight years learn basic literacy skills to equip them for the future.
The tool has just undergone a 10-week trial that has been described as a success.
Cosmic census estimates 50 billion planets in our galaxy
By IANS,
London : A cosmic census conducted for the first time has revealed that there are at least 50 billion planets in our Milky Way galaxy.
Social networking in outer space
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London : Get yourself a Bebo account right away if you want to send a message to outer space.
An interstellar radio telescope normally used to detect asteroids that could hit Earth is being taken off duty Oct 9 to transmit messages from Bebo users into space.
The messages are expected to reach a recently discovered planet in 2029. They will be sent from a telescope of the Russian National Space Agency in Ukraine.
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."
Study space science, break my records, Sunita tells students
By IANS
Ahmedabad : Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams, on a week-long visit to Gujarat, Saturday advised students to study space science for the exciting opportunities it offers and also to "break my records".
Speaking at a felicitation programme in her honour by Gujarat University, Sunita said space science was increasingly concerned with making the earth safe from the "effects of vacuum, a darkness that is beyond black and the massive temperature deviations in space".
Young engineers launch device to save power
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Seven engineers, all in their mid-20s, have developed a new device that they claim will save power losses from computers and gadgets running on electricity.
"The product, 'Spara', is ready and will be launched when our office at the Technopark's Technology Business Incubation opens Wednesday," said Nelvin Joseph, CEO of Artin Dynamics, the start-up firm floated by the seven engineer-entrepreneurs.
Addressing reporters here Tuesday night, Joseph said his company dealt with artificial intelligence and will develop products and services with this in mind.
Britain secret file says massive UFO spotted
By IANS,
London : A spaceship that was "20 times the size of a football field" was spotted hovering over Britain's Manchester airport nearly 15 years back, says a secret defence ministry file that was released Thursday.
The huge spacecraft was seen by a UFO expert in 1995 and its sketch was sent to the defence ministry, The Sun reported Thursday, citing the secret files.
The UFO was described as oblong with a curved front and a series of small nozzles at the rear.
That's not the only UFO sighting.
Higher CO2 levels delaying autumn leaf colour change
By IANS
London : Scientists across Europe have been recording a strange phenomenon -- a progressive delay in leaves changing colour and falling in autumn, and an earlier re-greening in spring.
Till now, the phenomenon was ascribed to rising global temperatures or global warming.
But a new study by researchers at Southampton University says the increasing level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is to be blamed for the phenomena, sciencedaily.com reports.
Australia, India join hands to fight pollution
By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : Australian and Indian scientists have joined hands to monitor and clean up the pollution that has become the bane of steadily increasing industrialisation across the world. As a start, they will monitor pollution spreading in groundwater.
30 launches planned in next three fiscals: ISRO chief
Thiruvananthapuram : The Indian space agency has a roadmap of 10 launches per year for the next three financial years or a total...
World’s largest experiment to test particle physics theory underway
By IANS,
Washington : A machine that took 20 years to build could either shake the foundations of particle physics or entrench it more firmly, besides addressing some of the most fundamental questions facing science now.
CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a historic multi-billion dollar project involving over 8,000 scientists from 85 countries. CERN is the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, located in Geneva, Switzerland.