Iran says space program poses no threat to peace
By RIA Novosti
Tehran : A spokesman for Iran's government gave assurances on Tuesday that the country's achievements in space technology and research pose no threat to peace and stability in the world.
Gholam-Hossein Elham's comments come a day after Tehran's successful launch of the Explorer-1 research rocket, which is reportedly capable of carrying a satellite into orbit, and the unveiling of the country's first domestically built satellite, named Omid, or Hope.
Gene that aids drought-resistant plants identified
By IANS
London : A gene involved in regulating carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and water evaporation could help grow drought-resistant crops, a new study has found.
The discovery will enable understanding of mechanisms that regulate the stomata, central to the development of hardier crops that will thrive in arid zones.
Stomata are tiny pores on the plant leaf surface that absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and release moisture into the air.
Germans developing battery that never needs recharging
By DPA
Hamburg : Tired of mobile phones that always need recharging at the worst moments, researchers in Germany are developing a revolutionary new battery that will never need recharging.
Mobile phones, notebook computers and iPods are all devices dependent on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries to deliver power.
But the German researchers have developed a new class of inorganic ionic conductor with a structure analogous to that of the mineral argyrodite.
New gear will help save divers
By IANS,
Sydney : An electronic dive buddy built by University of Auckland engineering students could help save divers and make scuba diving a much safer sport.
Anatoly Kudryashov and Jenny Xu from the department of mechanical engineering designed a computerised system to automatically adjust a diver's buoyancy if they get into trouble. They were supervised by associate professor Vojislav Kecman.
Russia celebrates Sputnik’s 50th anniversary
BY RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the world's first-ever satellite, Sputnik 1, an event which changed the world forever.
The world entered the space age on Oct 4, 1957, when the USSR won the race to put the first satellite into orbit. Sputnik 1 was launched aboard a Soviet R-7 rocket from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.
Moon mission ‘historic milestone’ for India’s space programme: PM
By IANS,
Tokyo : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Wednesday termed the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, India's first unmanned scientific mission to the moon, as a "historic milestone" for the country's space programme and congratulated all its associated scientists from here.
"When completed, the mission will put India in the very small group of six countries, which have thus far sent space missions to the moon," Manmohan Singh, here on a three-day official visit, said in a message.
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.
NASA suspends recovery testing of next generation spacecraft
By IANS,
Washington: The US space agency -- NASA -- said Friday it has suspended the recovery testing of a test version of its next...
Sunita Williams heading back to space again
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington: Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams is all set to return to to the International Space Station, where she spent a record six months in 2006.
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.
British lab growing human body parts
By IANS,
London: British experts are growing human body parts like nose and ears in laboratory, Daily Mail reported Sunday.
HCL Technologies net up 18.5 percent
By IANS,
Mumbai : Software services major HCL Technologies Wednesday said net profit for the quarter ended Sep 30 went up 18.5 percent to Rs.300.75 crore from the like quarter in the previous fiscal.
Total income for the company increased 5.67 percent to Rs.1,295 crore for the first quarter of the company's accounting calendar, up from Rs.1,225 crore it logged in the previous corresponding quarter, the company said in a regulatory statement.
HCL said it bore a forex loss of Rs.151 crore during the period under review compared to Rs.80 crore in the like quarter last year.
Botanist on mission to save rare Indian herbal remedies
By Shudip Talukdar, IANS,
Lucknow : Ethno-botanist Deepak Acharya has spent eight years in the Satpura mountains in Madhya Pradesh, parts of which lie cut off from civilisation, driven by a single goal -- documenting and salvaging India's traditional herbal remedies before they are lost to the world.
Launch of UAE satellite postponed
By IANS,
Dubai : The launch of the United Arab Emirates' first remote sensing satellite DubaiSat-1, scheduled Saturday, has been postponed to July 29, WAM news agency reported.
The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) announced that the launch was postponed by the launching company -- International Space Company (Cosmotras) -- to undertake some safety and security tests.
Now, strawberries can be grown in space
By IANS,
Washington : Astronauts may now be able to satisfy their sweet tooth as researchers have found a strawberry that can grow in space with little maintenance and energy.
Cary Mitchell, professor of horticulture, and Gioia Massa, a horticulture research scientist at Purdue University in the US, tested several cultivars of strawberries and found one variety named Seascape, which seems to meet the requirements for becoming a space crop.
Our oceans home to 750,000 undiscovered species
By IANS,
London : The oceans are bustling with far greater diversity of life than previously thought, says the first Census of Marine Life -- 10 years in the making.
India test-fires Akash missile twice
Bhubaneswar: India Saturday successfully test-fired its Akash surface-to-air missile twice from a defence base in Odisha, an official said.
The indigenously-developed missile, with a 27-km...
Indian Muslim blogs nominated for Brass Crescent Awards
By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
In the world of blogs known as blogosphere, Indian Muslims are making their presence known. Two Indian Muslims blogs have won nomination to the 4th Brass Crescent Awards.
Indian Muslim Blog (IMB) on www.IndianMuslims.in, a collaborative blog that started in January 2006 and have a number of bloggers who write on topics related to India and Muslims is nominated for the “Best Group Blog” category.
Pune gears up for two-day international robotic competition
By IANS,
Mumbai/Pune : Pune gears up to see robots co-ordinate as a team as they form a pyramid to enact a high-tech 'dahi handi' (taking butter from a pot hanging high above) sequence at the two-day 7th ABU International Robocon Competition Saturday.
The event is the culmination of a yearlong competition among teams from over two dozen colleges spread across 17 countries of the Asia-Pacific region.
Nirma Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad and Maharashtra Institute of Technology, (MIT) Pune are representing India at the event.
E. coli bacterium model of super industrial efficiency
By IANS,
Washington : E. coli bacterium, one of the best-studied single-celled organisms around, is a master of industrial efficiency. This bacterium can be thought of as a factory with just one product - itself.
It exists to make copies of itself and its business plan is to make them at the lowest possible cost, with the greatest possible efficiency. Efficiency, in the case of a bacterium, can be defined by the energy and resources it uses to maintain its plant and produce new cells versus the time it expends on the task.
Astronaut takes a second, closer look at Brahmaputra
By IANS,
Guwahati : US astronaut Mike Fincke Tuesday took a close look here at the river Brahmaputra, which he had viewed from space some months ago.
"I saw the Brahmaputra from space. Today I have seen it with my own eyes. It is indeed a pleasure to be by the side of this great river," Fincke told IANS.
Fincke and his wife Renita, an engineer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), arrived here to attend a series of functions.
The visit is special for the couple as Renita originally hails from Assam.
Mars message mocks many
By IANS,
Ahmedabad : It was an e-mail message that promised a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gaze Tuesday night at the unique celestial event of Mars coming closest to Earth in 5,000 years. But, it turned out to be a hoax.
The e-mail message read: "Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting Aug 27 when Mars comes within 34.65 million miles off Earth."
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.
UAE company to invest $2 bn in solar energy technology
By IANS,
Abu Dhabi : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) based energy company Masdar has announced that it would invest $2 billion in solar energy technology, WAM news agency reported Thursday.
Masdar, which is owned by the Abu Dhabi government, plans to set up two plants for manufacturing solar panels.
The first plant would be based in Germany and would become operational in 2009 while the second one would be set up in Abu Dhabi and would become operational in 2010.
Chandrayaan enters lunar space for final journey
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first moon mission Chandrayaan-1 entered the lunar space early Tuesday for its final journey into the lunar orbit Saturday, an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.
"The operation to put Chandrayaan into lunar space went off very well. The complex manouvre was carried out around 5 a.m. by firing the liquid apogee motor (LAM) on board for about 150 seconds to place the unmanned spacecraft 380,000 km away from earth (apogee) and 1,000 km from the moon," ISRO director S. Satish told IANS.
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.
Scientists turn back Doomsday Clock
By DPA,
New York : Citing increased international cooperation to curb nuclear weapons and global warming, scientists Thursday moved the so-called Doomsday Clock back by one minute.
The clock was created by nuclear scientists in 1947 to symbolise the world's proximity to planetary catastrophe with midnight signalling the apocalypse. Following Thursday's move the clock now reads six minutes to midnight.
How to tune better with your iTunes
By Florian Oertel, DPA
Munich : If you own an iPod, there's no way around iTunes. Mac users have it on their computers as well, and it's also found on many PCs nowadays. Yet many don't realise just how much the software can really do.
Perhaps the most under-appreciated option is "intelligent" playlists. These are helpful for users with a huge volume of music on their computer but only an iPod Nano with only four gigabytes (GB) of memory in their pockets.
Indian rocket puts in orbit 10 satellites at one go
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India's space programme made history Monday with the successful launch of a Rs.700 million ($17.4 million) rocket that placed in orbit 10 satellites - two Indian and eight foreign.
At precisely 9.23 a.m., the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)-C9 rose into the sky, emitting thick orange flame, and placed in orbit an Indian cartography and a mini satellite to maintain leadership in the remote sensing domain. It also slung eight nano satellites into outer space - marking the world's second largest such mission.
Scientists breed ‘mighty mice’ with super stamina
By IANS
New York : They can run non-stop for up to six hours at 20 metres per minute and are said to be metabolically similar to Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong. Meet the 'mighty mice' bred by researchers at Case Western Reserve University.
This special breed eats 60 percent more than normal mice, remains fitter, trimmer and lives longer than wild mice, according to an article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Some female mighty mice have also had offspring at 2.5 years of age, an amazing feat because most mice do not reproduce after they are a year old.
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.
Firefox celebrates five years
By DPA,
San Francisco : The open source internet browser Firefox marked its fifth anniversary Monday, celebrating its rise from an unknown challenger to Microsoft's Internet Explorer to a formidable competitor that has been downloaded over one billion times by 330 million users around the world.
"Over the last five years we've been setting ourselves up for the next five. The web is moving faster, not slower, and modern browsers are set to handle it," said Chris Blizzard of the Mozilla Foundation.
ISS now ready for six astronauts
By DPA,
Washington : After more than 10 years of construction, the International Space Station is ready to double its crew to six astronauts from around the world in what will be its most international crew ever, the US space agency said Wednesday.
The equipment and supplies have been checked to ensure that there is enough space for three more permanent residents aboard ISS, NASA officials said at a press briefing.
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.
Class 4 Gurgaon student’s doodle to feature on Google
By IANS,
New Delhi : A Class 4 student of Gurgaon will have his doodle featured on Google all day Nov 14. This is the first time that a 'made in India' doodle will be featured on the popular search engine.
Beating a good 4,000 other competitors, Puru Pratap Singh's doodle is based on the theme 'My India - Full of Life'.
A Google doodle is a creative Google logo that appears on some special days, to commemorate scientific and artistic achievements, historic or seasonal events, and other local occasions.
Toronto firm celebrates ‘victory’ over Microsoft
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : A tiny Canadian IT firm, which won a big patent-infringement victory against software giant Microsoft Tuesday, couldnt have wished for a better Christmas gift. They are hoping the global publicity will spell growth in its fortunes.
Toronto-based i4i Inc, which will also get $290 million in damages from Microsoft for stealing its software Word, says its victory is "a war cry for talented inventors whose patents are infringed" by corporate sharks. Tuesday's victory will serve as a springboard for growth, i4i executives told the media Wednesday.
Ukrainian-Russian rocket blasts off from Baikonur
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A Ukrainian-Russian rocket has lifted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan with an Israeli communications satellite on board, a federal space agency spokesman said on Monday.
The Zenit-3SLB rocket was scheduled to orbit the Israeli AMOS-3 satellite on Thursday, but was hit by a number of delays.
Thinnest nanowire will make computing super fast
By IANS,
Sydney : World's thinnest nanowires will drive computers super fast in the near future using light, a new research claims.
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.
‘Sunshield’ to protect space telescope from extremes of heat, cold
By IANS,
Washington : Engineers have designed a 'Sunshield' to protect NASA's James Webb space telescope from extremes of heat and cold, radiation and small debris.
Besides, the 'Sunshield' would also block solar heat to allow its cameras and instruments to operate optimally at 1.6 million km from the earth in 2013.
A satellite has to withstand the icy cold and the intense heat and radiation of a solar flare in space, which ranges between a super-hot 127 degrees Celsius and a frigid minus 243.
“Noah’s ark of plant life” launched in Arctic
By Xinhua
Beijing : A vault dubbed "Noah's ark of plant life" has been launched in the permafrost of a remote Arctic mountain to protect the world's crop seeds from man-made and natural disasters.
An opening ceremony was conducted Tuesday at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, as 100 million seeds from more than 100 countries were placed inside. The first day's deposits comprised 268,000 samples and filled 676 boxes.
Unique, magnetic death star fossil discovered
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have discovered microscopic, magnetic fossils resembling spears and spindles, among sediment layers deposited during an ancient global-warming event along the Atlantic coastal plain.
The researchers were led by geobiologists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and McGill University.
Fifty-five million years ago, earth warmed by more than nine degrees Fahrenheit after huge amounts of carbon entered the atmosphere over a period of just a few thousand years.
Zen Mobile launches Sonic 1 exclusively on eBay India
New Delhi : Zen Mobiles on Wednesday launched a new smartphone named Sonic 1 at a price of Rs.5,999 exclusively on eBay India.
The new...
Nuclear art sleuths analyse cultural heritage
By DPA
Vienna : Fake or real? This is one of the questions that has been bugging art experts all over the globe for centuries. Help for art detectives comes from an unexpected quarter: the UN nuclear watchdog, usually better known for investigating a country's nuclear programme or weapons aspirations.
Mapping a tiny but ruthless killer
By IANS,
London : Don't go by its size. The Etruscan shrew, one of tiniest known mammals that weighs just two grams, ranks among the quickest, most ruthless and adaptive predators.
It overcomes starvation by feeding twice its weight of crickets, cockroaches and spiders daily, preys that are nearly its size. Hence the attacks have to be quick as a flash.
“The Etruscan shrews trust in their sense of touch and the tactile shape recognition to an extent we do not know from other animal species,” said Michael Brecht of Bernstein Centre in Berlin.
Chandrayaan-1 has given space exploration a huge boost: Royal Astronomical Society
By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS,
London : The discovery of water on the moon by Indian maiden lunar craft Chandrayaan-1 is just the breakthrough international space scientists were waiting for in order to kick start the moon exploration programme again, the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) said Thursday.
"This is a massively impressive accomplishment," RAS Secretary Martin Barstow, a leading British astronomer, told IANS after American scientists made the stunning announcement that the Indian mooncraft had sent evidence of water on the lunar surface.
How hot was earth 50 million years ago?
By IANS,
Washington : A much clearer picture of the Earth's temperature nearly 50 million years ago, when Carbon Dioxide (CO2) concentrations were higher than current levels, has emerged.
Galaxy may host 17 bn Earth-size planets
By IANS,
Washington : At least 17 billion Earth-size planets may inhabit the Milky Way galaxy, RIA Novosti reported citing a new study by US astronomers.
Chandrayaan reaches ‘home’ in lunar orbit
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 Wednesday reached its intended operational orbit at about 100 km from the lunar surface for a two-year rendezvous with the moon.
“Chandrayaan has reached its home in the final orbit. The spacecraft is orbiting at an altitude of 100 km above the lunar surface. It will spin around the moon once in two hours,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS here.
Total solar eclipse begins in India
By IANS,
New Delhi : As dawn broke Wednesday, the century's longest total solar eclipse began with thousands of sky gazers craning their neck skywards to catch the glimpse of the rare celestial spectacle.
The sun rose eclipsed Wednesday morning at 5:28 a.m. at a local sunrise point in the Arabian Sea close to the western coast of India near Surat in Gujarat.
Thousands of people, children and adults, thronged the sky watching sites across the country with their solar goggles to watch the eclipse.
New headphones for deep, refreshing sleep
By IANS,
London: A headband with built-in earphones could lull you to deep sleep, without even waking a partner sleeping by your side.
College student gets first iPhone at Gurgaon mall
By IANS,
Gurgaon : Swati, a college student, beat thronging crowds to become the first customer to get an Apple iPhone from a mall in this satellite town Thursday midnight.
Swati was waiting at the Sahara Mall from 7 p.m.
The phone was handed over to her by by Sanjay Kapoor, president of Bharti Mobile Services. The iPhone is priced at Rs.31,000 for 8GB and Rs.36,100 for 16GB of memory space,
The phones are being given on first come first serve basis.
Symantec awards firms for digital safekeeping
By IANS
Mumbai : Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Reliance Communications, HDFC Bank and NCDEX (National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd) won the Symantec Asia South visionary awards for protecting their IT infrastructure and information with the company's anti-virus solutions and firewalls against hacking.
Russia to launch Thor 2R telecom satellite from Baikonur Feb. 10
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia is to launch a Proton-M rocket carrying a communications satellite on February 10 from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, a spokesman for the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said on Thursday.
The Thor-2R comsat, owned by Norway's Telenor Satellite Broadcasting, will provide Ku-band fixed telecommunications and direct-to-home television broadcasting services from Telenor's 1 degree West Longitude orbital location.
Milky Way is far fatter, say Sydeney astrophysicists
By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : Is our Milky Way galaxy fatter than we thought? A team of astrophysicists from the University of Sydney - including an Indian researcher - have calculated that it is 12,000 light years thick - double the previous estimate.
They made the amazing discovery not by gazing at our galaxy through a powerful telescope, but while being engrossed in a stimulating discussion and analysing data downloaded from the Internet.
UFO seen at China airport
By IANS,
Beijing : Air traffic at an airport in China was restricted for about an hour after a UFO was spotted over it, media reports said Thursday.
Scientists using videogame as psychological tool
By IANS
New York : Nintendo Wiimote is highly popular as a video-game, but by hooking it to a lab, computer researchers in the US have been able to extract clues about how a person performed a learning task.
Although it has in the past been adapted as a tool of physical therapy for geriatrics, researchers at the University of Memphis have found another use for the game - psychological experimentation.
Data from the Wiimote permitted researchers, led by Dale Rick, to demonstrate that body movements change systematically along with change in mental processing.
Russian regulator rejects Google’s purchase of Rambler ad system
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia's Anti-Monopoly Service has denied the international Internet search engine Google the purchase of a contextual advertising system from the Russian Rambler Web search company.
Rambler Media Ltd. signed in July an agreement with Google on selling its Begun (Runner) contextual advertising system to the U.S.-based Internet search company for $140 million.
The Anti-Monopoly Service said it had rejected the bid as Google had failed to provide all the information necessary to clarify the financial aspects of the deal.
Probe begins into radioactive material accident
By IANS,
New Delhi : Scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, rushed to the capital Friday to probe the incident in which a radioactive substance caused burn-like injuries to four people in west Delhi, police said.
The substance was isolated and the area cordoned off. The prime minister and home ministry have been informed, they added.
Four people suffered burn-like injuries after coming in contact Thursday with the radioactive material in a scrap market in Mayapuri area.
Up above the world so high, tracking satellites in the sky
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : S.K. Shivakumar is 55 years old. For 32 years out of that, he has been the eyes and ears of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Shivakumar has lost count of the number of satellites he has tracked, but he thinks he is nearing his half century.
As the director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (Istrac), he is eagerly awaiting the Wednesday morning launch of India's first lunar orbiter Chandrayaan, so that he can start tracking it in slow motion.
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.
South Korea develops core technology for stealth fighter
By IANS,
Seoul : South Korea has developed the core technology for radar-evading stealth fighters and is preparing for a test flight of a fighter equipped with the technology, WAM news agency reported Monday.
It has been nine years since the Agency for Defence Development (ADD) and other South Korean defence research institutes began developing stealth fighter technology in 1999, the report quoted Yonhap News as saying.
Microsoft-Yahoo search deal imminent: Report
By DPA,
San Francisco : Microsoft and Yahoo will announce a search and advertising partnership Wednesday, capping months of negotiations aimed at challenging the Internet dominance of Google, The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday.
The paper's blog AllThingsD said that under the terms of the deal, Yahoo will use Microsoft's new search engine on its sites, while Yahoo would handle some advertising sales for Microsoft. The two companies will share search-related advertising revenue, the report said.
Neither companies would comment on the reports.
Nanotech breakthrough paves way for next-generation equipment
By IANS
Washington : Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have used nanotechnology to dramatically improve conversion between heat and power, paving the way for a new generation of products that are cheaper and run cleaner.
The latest breakthrough in the conversion, called the thermoelectric effect, would mean a host of more efficient and cheaper products - from semiconductors and air conditioners to car exhaust systems and solar power panels.
Global warming brings tropical birds to Hong Kong
By DPA,
Hong Kong : The sighting of two rarely seen tropical birds in Hong Kong could be due to climate change, bird experts here have said.
The birds - a great frigate and the white-tailed tropic-bird - were both spotted around Po Toi, Hong Kong's southern most island, over the last month.
It was the first time the white-tailed tropic has ever been spotted in Hong Kong and only the fourth sighting of the frigate.
Both birds are usually seen in more tropical climates such as the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
NASA’s MESSENGER to fly by Mercury
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft will make a flyby of Mercury on Jan. 14, which makes it the first to visit the planet in almost 33 years, NASA announced on Thursday.
MESSENGER will explore and snap close-up images of never-before-seen terrain of Mercury. These findings could open new theories and answer old questions in the study of the solar system, said NASA scientists.
Key to prevention of morphine tolerance found
By IANS
New York : Morphine tolerance - or patients getting used to the pain-relieving effects of the drug, leading to escalating dosage - could soon be a thing of the past.
Researchers at the Saint Louis University of Medicine have found a way of blocking a key substance that causes tolerance levels to rise.
The study could lead to new therapies that allow morphine to be administered without patients developing tolerance or experiencing a host of severe side effects that accompany increasing dosage.
Robot pinpoints best locations for seafloor lab
By IANS,
Washington : Sentry, an unmanned submersible, operating on its own in harsh environments, has helped scientists pinpoint and finalise the best locations for two sites of a proposed pioneering seafloor lab.
Successful site selection is a vital step in developing an extensive sensor network above and below the seafloor on the Juan de Fuca Plate, according to John Delaney, University of Washington oceanographer and chief scientist for a two-week mapping expedition.
Somnath congratulates ISRO scientists
By IANS,
New Delhi : Somnath Chatterjee, the speaker of the outgoing Lok Sabha, Monday congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the successful launch of the RISAT-2 spy satellite and an educational satellite.
"The country is proud of ISRO scientists for this remarkable achievement, which will provide a boost to India's capabilities in a number of areas, including disaster management and in better management of cyclones, floods, agriculture-related activities," Chatterjee said in his congratulatory message.
India’s Internet access hit after cable damage off Egypt
By IANS
Bangalore/New Delhi : India's Internet connectivity was disrupted Thursday after two undersea cables were damaged in the Mediterranean, although IT majors reported no impact on business. Smaller companies and individual surfers would, however, have to make do with slower speeds till the cables are repaired.
"Slow connectivity, choking and other problems have been caused across India due the cable damage," Internet Service Providers Association of India (ISPAI) President Rajesh Chharia said, adding it may take 10-15 days for normalcy to be restored.
NASA Restores Radio Contact with Mars Lander
By SPA,
Washington : The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said Wednesday it has resolved a malfunction that for several hours caused a break in communications with the Phoenix Mars Lander.
NASA said UHF (ultra-high frequency) radio transmissions had been disrupted between Phoenix and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which relays data and instructions between Phoenix and Earth-based controllers.
Indian American develops tool to image tumours
By IANS
New York : A team of researchers led by Indian American Sanjiv Gambhir has developed a new type of imaging system capable of picturing tumours to a precision of a trillionth of a meter.
The new system, which uses Raman spectroscopy, will be of great use to doctors who are currently hampered by the limited extent to which they can see such tumours.
Using a microscope modified to detect Raman nanoparticles, Gambhir's team was able to see targets a thousand times smaller than what is currently obtainable.
Google Helps US Intelligence Expand
By Prensa Latina
Washington : US intelligence bought Google data base to enhance espionage on the Internet through restricted Intellipedia network for the 16 intelligence agencies.
San Francisco Chronicle says several branches within the community, among them the National Security Agency, the CIA and FBI, are now able to process information collected from Google.
The contracts are part of the accords the company sales team promoted with the Feds that already signed similar pact with the Coast Guard, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
‘Electric’ pants stop bedsores
By IANS,
London: A special underwear has been designed to jolt the buttocks with electricity so it can help prevent bedsores, the BBC reported Monday.
Indian American scientists design bamboo-based fabrics
By IANS
New York : As "sustainable" become the new global buzzword among ethical dressers, it is boom time for eco-friendly bamboo-based fabrics.`
And now giving such fabric the extra edge are Indian American chemists Subhash Appidi and Ajoy Sarkar of Colorado State University.
They have discovered a way of making bamboo fabric - the current leading option in the "ethically produced" clothing market - that is not only resistant to the sun's damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation but also has anti-bacterial properties.
Scientists seek the fifth dimension
By IANS
Washington : The universe comprises three dimensions of space and one of time, but researchers are exploring the possibility of the fifth.
Sound like an episode from the "Twilight Zone"? Almost, but not quite, according to John Simonetti and Michael Kavic of the College of Science at Virginia Tech, reports Sciencedaily.
"The idea we're exploring is that the universe has an imperceptibly small dimension (about one billionth of a nanometer) in addition to the four that we know currently," Kavic said.
New integrated media platform for overseas Indians
By IANS
New Delhi : For persons of Indian origin (PIOs), staying connected with India has been made easy with a new digital integrated media platform, www.pioTV.com, which was launched by Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi here Thursday.
"I hope this new initiative will help NRIs and PIOs all over the world to connect with India, its politics, society, culture and economy," Ravi said while unveiling the website.
The new website is designed to supply a diverse range of India-related content besides acting as an interactive platform for its users.
Googling also damages the planet: report
By IANS,
London : Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate the same amount of harmful carbon dioxide as boiling an electric kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research quoted Sunday.
A typical search generates about seven grammes of CO2 whereas an electric kettle generates about 15 gm, The Sunday Times quoted a Harvard University physicist as saying.
“A Google search has a definite environmental impact,” says Alex Wissner-Gross, whose research due out soon.
Seismicity study was done before selecting Jaitapur: NPCIL
By IANS,
Mumbai: The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) Tuesday asserted that it had conducted comprehensive seismicity study before selecting Jaitapur for a nuclear power plant.
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."
Google, YouTube to get Russian site blacklist updates
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: Google and YouTube will receive updates regarding "blacklisted" websites in Russia, the country's communications oversight agency said.
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...
Milkweed plant evolves new defences to outwit caterpillars
By IANS,
Washington : Some plants are discarding elaborate defences against predatory caterpillars and evolving more favourable stratagems to ensure survival, according to a study.
The latest example is the milkweed plant, which, according to genetic analysis, instead of resisting predators, is now putting greater efforts into repairing themselves faster than their foe monarch butterfly caterpillar can eat them.
Virgin’s Branson unveils model of tourist spaceship
By IANS
New York : The feisty founder of Virgin Group Richard Branson unveiled here Wednesday a model of the spacecraft that he hopes will usher in organised space tourism as early as next year.
"Two thousand and eight really will be the year of the spaceship," Branson said unveiling a scale model of the new craft at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. He added that his SpaceShipTwo would start testing later this year.
India-Malaysia To Electronically Link Up Their Customs Network
By P. Vijian, Bernama,
New Delhi : Impressed with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department's comprehensive computer network for clearance and administration, India will soon sign a pact to electronically link up with the department.
Department director-general Datuk Seri Abd Rahman Abd Hamid said that China and Japan were also keen to connect with Malaysia.
"They are impressed with us...India wants to learn our system and interface with our Customs...so do China and Japan.
Phoenix lander finds water on Mars
By DPA,
Washington : The Phoenix Mars mission has found water in a soil sample after spending the last two months examining the red planet for evidence that it could support life, NASA scientists said Thursday.
The spacecraft's robotic arm has dug several trenches in the Martian soil near the planet's north pole and been heating soil samples in a series of small "ovens."
It had earlier spotted chunks outside the rover that scientists had identified as ice, but data sent back by the most recent soil sample for the first time showed water inside Mars' dirt, researchers said.
NASA delays Discovery launch
By DPA,
Washington : NASA has delayed the launch of the space shuttle Discovery by 24 hours to allow more time to review data about a suspect valve in the liquid hydrogen fuel tank, officials said Thursday.
NASA earlier this week postponed a Tuesday launch to the early hours of Friday morning after detecting a problem with the fill and drain valve. The latest plan is to proceed with the launch about midnight Friday (0400 GMT Saturday).
Apple, Intel join Google in bidding for Nortel patents
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Auction for thousands of wireless technology patents belonging to failed telecom giant Nortel began Monday.
Researchers identify gene that may help improve rice yield
By IANS,
Washington : A gene in rice identified by scientists, that controls the size and weight of the grains, might open the way to high-yield variant and benefit vast numbers for whom it is staple.
"Our work shows that it is possible to increase rice yield by enhancing the expression of a particular gene," said Hont Ma, professor at the Pennsylvania State University.
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."
U.S., China space debris still orbiting Earth
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Debris from the U.S. intercept of a spy satellite in February and from China's anti-satellite test in Janaury 2007 is still orbiting Earth, according to a space debris expert.
T.S. Kelso's CelesTrak satellite tracking software shows some 15 pieces of the busted up USA 193 spysat are still flying around, although when the successful intercept was reported, estimates were that all pieces would re-enter Earth's atmosphere within 40 days.
A recent analysis shows the last piece of clutter will decay about 100 days post-intercept, Kelso reported.
After the Moon, India eyeing human space flight
United Nations, Oct 22 (IANS) After the success of its first Chandrayaan moon mission, India is now looking at exploration of outer space using planetary missions including a human space flight programme, a UN panel was told.
"Having achieved self-reliance in end-to-end space programme, the Indian space programme is entering into space exploration phase mainly to explore inner solar system and build such capabilities for exploring outer solar system," a member of the Indian parliament said Wednesday.
ISRO to launch rockets to study solar eclipse
By IANS,
Chennai : The Indian space agency will launch a series of rockets from its two centres between Thursday and Sunday to study Friday's solar eclipse and its aftereffects.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready to send up a series of sounding rockets - rockets carrying instruments to measure the physical parameters of the upper atmosphere - from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and Thumba in Kerala to study the effects of the solar eclipse.
Your card details could be ‘robbed by radiowave’
By IANS,
London: Millions of credit and debit card users could be "robbed by radiowave" because of a new contactless technology, the Daily Mail reported.
International Space Station’s orbit raised 3 miles
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The orbital altitude of the International Space Station (ISS) has been increased by 5 kilometers (3 miles), a spokesman for the Russian Mission Control Center said on Thursday.
"The correction of the orbit of the ISS started at 8:16 a.m. Moscow time [5:16 a.m. GMT] by using thrusters on the Russian module Zvezda," the spokesman said, adding that the procedure had lasted 123 seconds.
He said the correction was made without the participation of the space station's crew.
The powerful are not compassionate, shows study
By IANS,
Washington : Can a powerful person be compassionate? The answer is no. They even have a weak desire to know or be friends with a distressed individual, according to a new study.
Gerben A. van Kleef of the University of Amsterdam and his colleagues from the University of California, Berkeley, examined how power influences emotional reactions to the suffering of others.
They suggested that powerful people's tendency to show less compassion and distress towards others reinforces their social power.
China to launch 100 satellites during 2011-15
By IANS,
Beijing : China has set a target of completing a space mission of "100 rockets, 100 satellites" between 2011 and 2015, according to a space official.
India successfully tests two nuke capable missiles
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar: India early Saturday successfully tested two nuclear capable missiles Dhanush and Prthvi II in Orissa, official said.
"Both the missiles were successfully lunched same time at 5.30 hours," SP Dash, director of the Integrated Test Range of Chandipur in Balasore district, told IANS.
While Prithvi II surface to surface ballistic missile with a range of 350 km was launched from Chandipur, some 230 kms from state capital Bhubaneswar, Dhanush, a naval version of Prthivi with same range was launched from a naval ship off Orissa coast.
India plans to launch reusable rocket by 2010
By NNN-PTI
Banglore : India plans to launch a reusable rocket for the first time by 2010, says its space agency chief.
"Our target (for the first launch) is before 2010," Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), G Madhavan Nair, told PTI.
The space scientists have already designed a "demonstrator" to measure parameters of the vehicle and further work is in progress, Nair, also Secretary in the Department of Space and Chairman of Space Commission, said.
NASA cancels solar probe launch due to bad weather
By DPA,
Washington : High winds forced US space agency NASA to cancel the planned launch of a solar probe Wednesday.
The countdown for the launch of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was called off because the wind load was higher than allowed, NASA said. An earlier launch was also delayed due to bad weather, and a NASA meteorologist had cautioned Tuesday that high winds could threaten Wednesday's launch.
Scientists closer to non invasive cancer therapy
By IANS,
Sydney : Swinburne University of Technology researchers have edged closer to bringing non-invasive cancer treatment to reality, thanks to advances in photothermal therapy.
The therapy, a promising experimental approach, involves introducing a reactive compound (gold nanorods) into a patient's tumour, which will absorb laser light to heat up the tumour cells and identify them.
Satellite-wreckage threat to others: Official
By RIA Novosti,
Korolyov (Russia) : The wreckage of the US and Russian satellites that collided Tuesday poses a serious threat to other satellites on the same orbit, a Russian Mission Control official told journalists Friday.
"The 800 km is a very popular orbit for remote Earth sensing and telecommunications satellites," said Vladimir Solovyov, head of the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
3G: The Untold Story and What it means to a Mobile User
By Hitesh Raj Bhagat, IANS,
Today (Dec 11, 2008) is a big day. Third generation or 3G mobile networks are finally here, for MTNL users in parts of Delhi and NCR. Mumbai will follow as soon as the pilots in Delhi are successful.
India has been making do with ancient mobile technology for long now. The current Second generation or 2G networks were designed to carry only voice, which does not require high data transfer speeds. With the advent of new technologies -- video streaming, mobile TV and mobile gaming, higher transfer speeds were necessary.
Connect science, policy for progress on climate change: Pachauri
By DPA,
New York : The chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Monday said there remained a "glaring gap" between the policy and science on climate change.
"We need to connect science and policy," Rajendra Pachauri said at a news conference organised by the United Nations Environment Programme.
The IPCC shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with former US vice president Al Gore.
Oldest evidence of leprosy traced to India
By IANS,
Washington : A child's 4,000-year-old skeleton that surfaced in India's Rajasthan state could be the oldest evidence of leprosy, says a new study.
The analysis was conducted by biological anthropologist Gwen Robbins from Appalachian State University working with an undergraduate, an evolutionary biologist from University of North Carolina at Greensboro and archaeologists from the Pune-based Deccan College in India.
Two air force planes film total solar eclipse
By IANS,
Agra : An AN-32 transport aircraft and a Mirage-2000 trainer of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Wednesday successfully chased the sun's shadow to film the total solar eclipse, the longest one of the 21st century.
Two separate missions from Agra and Gwalior were flown for the experiment, an official said.
The AN-32 aircraft carrying scientific equipment, cameras and scientists took off from Agra and landed back after a three-hour flight, while the Mirage-2000 trainer flew from Gwalior and took images of the celestial spectacle from 42,000 feet.
Healing from space for victims of depression
By IANS,
Washington : A futuristic NASA programme to help astronauts cope with space flight blues will also benefit people with similar conditions back home.
"This project has great potential as a self-guided treatment for many people," said NASA project leader James Cartreine, a member of National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) Neurobehavioral and Psychosocial Factors Team.
"Depression is the number one cause of disability days in the US, but it's not only about days lost. Depression also results in presenteeism - showing up for work but not really working," he added.
Discovery undocks from expanded space station
By DPA,
Washington : The space shuttle Discovery has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) to head back to Earth after a week on a milestone construction mission that has doubled the capacity of the orbiting laboratory.
The mission astronauts installed a fourth set of solar panels, completing the power plant needed to double the station's electrical generating capacity. The power allows the station to sustain six long-term residents instead of the current crew of three, and more occupants could arrive as early as May.
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.
Russian cockroach conceives, delivers babies in space
By RIA Novosti
Voronezh (Russia) : A cockroach called Nadezhda (Hope) has given birth to the first creatures ever conceived in space, Russian scientists said.
Nadezhda conceived during the Foton-M bio-satellite Sep 14-26 flight. "We recently received the first batch of 33 cockroaches conceived in micro-gravity," Dmitry Atyakshin said in Voronezh Tuesday.
Though the newborn creatures already eat and drink, micro-gravity conditions may have had an impact on the natural darkening of their chitinous carapace, a part of a cockroach's exoskeleton.
New web resource aims to help Asia’s youth avoid internet dangers
By SPA
Singapore : The Business Software Alliance (BSA) launched an educational Web resource on Tuesday to help youths across Asia understand and avoid the many risks they face on the internet.
According to DPA "The internet has spawned a new generation of youths who spend significant amounts of time in cyberspace, where they are exposed to illegal or unwholesome content, or are lured into unlawful activities," said Jeffrey Hardee, BSA's Vice President for the Asia-Pacific region.
Russia puts six US satellites into orbit
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia's Soyuz spacecraft put six US communications satellites into orbit Tuesday, an official said.
79,924 panchayats have broadband connections
By IANS,
New Delhi: As many as 79,924 panchayats (village councils) in India had broadband connectivity by February this year, says the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
Data on the DoT website shows the numbers have been achieved against the target of providing all 242,279 panchayats with broadband connectivity by May 2012.
With 182.88 million rural subscribers in January, the rural tele-density stood at 22.18 percent.
As many as 564,225 villages had public telephones by January and the number for rural broadband connections stood at 462,168 in February.
Venezuela uses Vietnamese method to boost rice harvest
By EFE,
Caracas : Venezuela has began a project to grow rice using Vietnamese technology, a method that replaces chemical fertilisers with fish in water channels between the rice plots.
Officials hope the crop yields would increase by as much as 30 percent after using the method.
In a national broadcast, President Hugo Chavez Wednesday praised the "great advances" in agriculture achieved by the Vietnamese, whom he called a "fighting people".
The pilot project will be carried out in a 65,000-hectare area in Apure state.
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.
Now, ISRO scientists develop hydrogen fuel cells to power bus
By NNN-PTI,
Bangalore, India : India's space scientists have developed hydrogen fuel cells to power an automobile bus by leveraging their know-how of the homegrown cryogenic technology for rockets.
The two-year effort has yielded positive results and the scientists are now readying for the fuel cells to be fitted into a bus.
"That's not exactly the cryogenic technology... (It's) liquid hydrogen handling and that's where we have some expertise. So, we have finalised the design", Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation, G Madhavan Nair told PTI here.
Gizmo lovers excited over likely launch of 3G iPhone Monday
By Himank Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : Even as gizmo lovers await the official launch of Apple's new iPhone towards the end of the year, the market in India is abuzz - as in the US - that the company would debut the iPhone ver.2 or the 3G model as early as Monday.
Apple Inc is hosting the World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) starting Monday in San Francisco and it was during the same conference last year that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced the launch date for the original iPhone.
Hyderabad IT Summit to replace GITEX India
Hyderabad, Sep 13 (IANS) The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to hold a Hyderabad IT Summit in March 2008. This event will replace the Global Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX India), held annually in the city since 2002.
The state government is scouting for a partner for the event, where many global and national IT companies are expected to participate. A key feature of the three-day event will be an India-US software conference, which is likely to be attended by software giants from both countries.
Scientists develop fast, accurate test to detect bio-terror agent
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have developed a simple, accurate and highly sensitive test to detect and quantify ricin, a highly lethal toxin with potential use as a bioterrorism agent.
Ricin, a protein extracted from castor beans, can be in the form of a powder, mist, pellet or solution. When injected or inhaled, as little as one-half mg of ricin is lethal to humans.
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.
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.
New software will track unauthorised presence at airports
London, Dec 10 (IANS) A new software will soon help airport staff maintain strict vigil and promptly track unauthorised persons and objects.
The airport apron is a beehive of activity. Ground staff drive baggage trolleys to the aircraft, load air freight containers in the hold and refuel the aircraft. But which persons, vehicles and objects are moving around on the apron?
Are all the people authorised? Are people getting into hazardous situations? For the security staff who have to supervise the terrain on the monitor, it is almost impossible to keep track of everything.
Kerala firm launches window solar water heater
By IANS
Kochi (Kerala) : Power electronics company Hykon India has introduced a window collector solar water heater, claimed to be the first in the country.
Hykon Window Solar Collectors can be installed on balconies and windows of flats, apartments and individual villas where conventional rooftop water heaters do not fit in.
Transmitting data 16 times faster @ 640 billion bits per second
By IANS,
Washington : Every second, millions of phone calls and cable TV shows are dispatched through fibres as digital zeros and ones formed by chopping laser pulses into bits.
This slicing and dicing is generally done with an electro-optic modulator, a device for allowing an electric signal to switch a laser beam on and off at high speeds. Reading that fast data stream with a compact and reliable receiver is another matter.
India’s tech hub is a stressed out city
By Maitreyee Boruah, IANS,
Bangalore : India's technology hub is being racked by more and more suicides. Over 200 people, including youngsters between 10 and 14 years, commit suicide every month in the city as they suffer from stress or financial insecurity or loneliness, say police, social workers and doctors.
Bangalore police records show that in the first seven months of this year 1,444 people in the city killed themselves. That is an average of 206 suicides a month.
Model to predict volcanic eruptions
By IANS,
Washington : As explosive volcanoes produce tremors at similar frequencies for minutes, days or weeks before they erupt, researchers have developed a way to predict these eruptions.
First South Korean astronaut returns to earth
By Xinhua,
Moscow : The Russian Soyuz spacecraft with South Korea's first female astronaut Yi So-yeon aboard landed safely in the Kazakh steppe on Saturday, according to the Mission Control Center.
The spacecraft carrying Yi, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko undocked with the International Space Station (ISS) and started trip home earlier Saturday.
The Soyuz capsule landed in the Kazakh steppe at 12:51 Moscow time (0851GMT), 20 minutes later than the planned time and 420 km from the planned landing site, the Misson Control said.
Scientists make windpipe from stem cells, usher in new era of surgery
By IANS,
London : British scientists were hailed Wednesday after the first tissue-engineered windpipe, built from the patient's own stem cells, was successfully transplanted into a young woman with a failing airway.
Scientists at Bristol University were in a European team that conducted the operation on a young woman from Colombia living in Spain, they announced Wednesday. The operation was performed in June at the Hospital Clinic in Barcelona.
Plant roots being modified to be better at finding water
By IANS,
London : Most of the water brought by irrigation to grow crops evaporates even before reaching plant roots, a huge waste of resources that contributes to the global food crisis. Scientists are now modifying roots to improve the plants' ability to find water.
Tel Aviv University researchers are genetically modifying plants' root systems to improve their ability to find the water essential to their survival.
Two NASA rovers weathered Martian dust storm
By Fakir Balaji
Hyderabad, Sep 25 (IANS) Two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, launched in 2003 by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), weathered a massive dust storm on that planet this July, a senior NASA scientist told the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here Tuesday.
Device turns heat into sound, then electricity
By IANS
Washington : Physicists in US have developed a small device that they claim can turn heat into sound and then into electricity.
Google Earth reconstructs ancient Rome in 3D
By IANS,
London : Google Earth has launched a 3D reconstruction of ancient Rome as it may have been in 320 AD.
The virtual traveller can now see every building as it stood in Rome at that time. In reality, just 300 buildings of classical Rome have survived, in most cases in ruins.
The 3D model is visible on the website as a layer. The layer floats a few metres above the satellite image of present-day Rome so that users can have a sense of locating where the ancient structures once stood.
China’s army goes digital
By Xinhua
Nanning (China) : While digital technology allows commanders of China's People's Liberation Army's (PLA) to electronically monitor borders round the clock, cooks in the barracks conjure up tasty dishes using recipes from e-books through computers in the kitchen.
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.
Parrot fossil found in Scandinavia
By IANS,
Washington : The discovery of a parrot fossil in Scandinavia dating back some 55 million years, indicates that they were once common in colder climes like Norway and Denmark.
Parrots today live only in the tropics and the southern hemisphere, but this new research suggests that they first evolved in the north, much earlier than had been suspected.
Indian space centre plans manned space probe by 2015
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), a unit of the country's premier Indian space research programme, plans to send two humans into space by 2015, an official said here Sunday.
Speaking to IANS, director of the VSSC unit here K. Radhakrishnan said the project is awaiting a final clearance from the central government.
"The pre-project approval of Rs.95 crore ($19 million) has already come and the approval of the main project is being awaited," said Radhakrishnan.
Birds can practically smell out predators
By IANS,
London : Birds can detect and avoid predators by smell, an ability earlier thought to be associated with other animal species, according to latest research.
Birds are not only capable of identifying enemies through chemical signals, but also alter their behaviour depending on perceived risk levels, a recent study found.
The use of smell to detect chemical signals can be useful for birds say in feeding and orientation. However, it can boost their chances of survival if they can know whether the smell detected is associated with a predator, reports Sciencedaily.
When the tricolour was still but hearts fluttered
By IANS,
Bangalore : Perhaps for the first time since India adopted the saffron-white-green tricolour as its flag, millions of hearts across the country fluttered but not the flag itself when it reached the lunar surface, around 384,000 km away, Friday night.
The heart beat was faster at Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO's deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40 kms from Bangalore city centre, and its telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac), much closer to the city.
Arianespace to launch India’s communication satellites
By IANS
New Delhi : The government has decided to place the contract for launching of GSAT-8/INSAT-4G communication satellites with Arianespace of Europe.
The decision was approved by the union cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday.
The cabinet approval has however put a rider, saying "The cost of the project should not exceed $67.5 million or Rs.2.97 billion", said Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi while briefing newsmen on the decisions of the cabinet.
$40,800 bid to name butterfly after a loved one
By IANS
New York : An unidentified person bid $40,800 for the naming rights of a new species of butterfly -- and scientists will use the money to continue their research.
Researchers at the University of Florida discovered the new owl butterfly in Mexico's Sonoran desert earlier this year and decided, in a first, to offer its naming rights in an online auction.
The new butterfly's scientific name is Opsiphanes blythekitzmillerae, but its popular name, chosen by the winning bidder, is Minerva -- in memory of Margery Minerva Blythe Kitzmiller of Ohio.
Volcano eruption under Antarctica ice sheet confirmed
By Xinhua
Beijing : Evidence of a powerful volcano, which erupted under the ice sheet of West Antarctica around 325 BC and might still be active now, has been confirmed by British scientists, according to media reports Monday.
A layer of volcanic ash and glass shards frozen within an ice sheet in West Antarctica was identified in an article published in the journal Nature Geosciences by Hugh F. J. Corr and David G. Vaughan.
India launches Israeli ‘spy satellite’
By IANS
Sriharikota/Bangalore : India's space agency ISRO Monday successfully placed an Israeli "spy satellite" in the polar orbit after a textbook launch, a top official said.