Radioactive iodine found in Tokyo tap water
By DPA,
Tokyo : High levels of radioactive iodine were detected in tap water in Tokyo, authorities said Wednesday.
Chuck a ball to put out fire
By IANS
Kolkata : Now to douse a fire, you can do better than using a fire extinguisher or splashing buckets of water. Just free your arms and throw a ball into the leaping flames. And voila! The blaze would be gone.
Siam Safety Premier Co Ltd, a Thailand-based company, has come out with an innovative and environment-friendly technology to douse fire. The fire extinguisher is marketed in India by Shree Shyam Bearings Pvt Ltd (SSBPL).
New telecom network guidelines next month: minister
By IANS,
New Delhi : The government is expected to issue guidelines for third generation (3G) and wireless broadband (WiMax) networks by June, Minister for Communications and Information Technology A. Raja said here Friday.
"By June the guidelines will be issued for 3G and WiMax," Raja said at an industry conference, adding that these networks would be rolled out by January 2009.
Earth can recover faster from CO2 emissions
By IANS,
Washington : Cheer up -- the earth may yet be able to recover faster from rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than previously thought.
Ten technologies which MIT sees as impacting lives
By IANS,
New York : Technology Review, the magazine of innovation brought out by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Tuesday announced its annual list of 10 top emerging technologies, seen to impact the way we live and do business.
"These revolutionary innovations - each represented by a researcher whose vision and work is driving the field - promise fundamental shift in areas from energy to health care, computing to communications," the magazine said.
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.
Indian spacecraft will try to unravel moon’s origins
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India's lunar explorer, Chandrayaan-1, will try to unravel the moon's origins as it scouts for minerals and water there, according to project director M. Annadurai.
When Chandrayaan is launched Oct 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, about 80 km from Chennai, it will boost international space cooperation by carrying 11 scientific devices, six of them from European and American organisations, to study the earth's nearest celestial neighbour while it orbits 100 km above the moon.
Nobel laureate for GM food, against biofuel and cloning
By IANS,
Chennai : For Nobel laureate microbiologist Sidney Altman, biofuels and clones are "no, no" but genetically modified (GM) food is a big "yes".
The renowned professor at Yale University thinks biofuels "cannot be the solution" the mankind is looking for.
"There is no indication that biofuels can ever substitute fossil fuels," Altman said in the keynote address at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-organised interaction on "what business and society can learn from basic research" here Saturday.
Vast solar system detected 127 light years away
By IANS,
London : A vast solar system orbiting a sun-like star has been detected 127 light years from the earth.
The planetary system is believed to be the largest ever found beyond the sun.
Astronomers have confirmed the presence of five planets and have tantalising evidence of two more, reports the Telegraph.
The distance of the planets from their parent star follows a regular pattern, similar to that seen in our own solar system. The study is scheduled for publication in the journal Astronomy And Astrophysics.
China’s orbiter survives lunar eclipse
By IANS,
Beijing : China's solar-powered lunar probe satellite Chang'e-2 has successfully stood the test of a lunar eclipse and hours of flying in complete darkness.
‘India to have own satellite navigation system by 2015’
Chennai : India is expected to have its own satellite navigation system by the first quarter of 2015 with four of its satellites in...
Apple to offer newspaper subscriptions for iPad
By DPA,
San Francisco : Apple is ready to launch a subscription service for newspapers on its Pad tablet computer, according to a report by a Silicon Valley newspaper Wednesday.
Science with cartoons: Lucknow scientist invited to Europe meet
By IANS,
Lucknow : A Lucknow-based scientist, who uses cartoons to make complex scientific works easy to understand, has been invited to participate in a European science festival in Spain.
At the festival organised by the European Science Events Association (EUSCEA), P.K. Srivastava, a senior scientist with the chemical toxicology division of the Central Drugs Research Institute (CDRI), will make a presentation on 'sceintoons' invented by him in 1988.
Wireless sensor EcoNet to monitor environment
By IANS,
Toronto : A wireless sensor network under development will not only collect data from remote environmental locations but also help monitor them anywhere in the world.
A University of Alberta research team recently launched EcoNet, a functional model of a wireless sensor network (WSN) for environmental monitoring in the display house at the University's Agriculture/Forestry Centre.
China sends up 1st data relay satellite
By SPA,
Beijing : China has launched its first data relay satellite in preparation for the inaugural spacewalk by a Chinese astronaut scheduled for later this year, a state news agency said Saturday.
The Tianlian I satellite was launched on a Long March-3C carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province late Friday night, Xinhua News Agency said.
Science congress to draw road map for technology challenges
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Thiruvananthapauram : India's premier science congress beginning here Sunday will draw a road map to address the technological challenges and the direction in which the country should move to find innovative solutions to its myriad problems.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will set the agenda for the scientific community in his inaugural address and the tone of proceedings during the 97th edition of the Indian Science Congress (ISC 2010) at the sprawling Kerala University campus over the next five days.
IT investment region to come up around Hyderabad
By IANS,
Hyderabad: This information technology hub is expected to witness rapid growth in the IT sector with the setting up of investment region around the city.
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...
Interstellar dust darkens the universe
By Xinhua,
Beijing : The universe is dustier than previously thought, which is why astronomers now suggest it is twice as bright as it appears.
Astronomers have known about interstellar dust for a while, but they haven't been able to quantify just how much light it blocks. Now a team of researchers has studied a catalogue of galaxies and found that dust shields roughly 50 percent of their light.
Government approves release of 3G spectrum for BSNL and MTNL
By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Thursday approved the release of airwaves for two state-run companies for the launch of third generation (3G) mobile services in the country.
The airwaves, also referred to as radio frequency or spectrum, have been released for Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) that offers telecom services in Mumbai and the national capital, and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), which operates in all other parts of the country.
"We have approved the release of one block to MTNL and another block to BSNL," Communications Minister A. Raja told reporters here.
Obama views India’s moon mission as a challenge
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : As the White House hailed India's maiden moon mission as "encouraging" and "exciting", Democratic presidential hopeful, Barack Obama saw it as a reminder to revitalise the US space programme and not let other countries surpass it.
"I haven't spoken to the President (George Bush) about it. I saw that story, it was very interesting," White House spokesperson Dana Perino said Wednesday. "We noted it's very encouraging for India, I'm sure, very exciting."
Wipro-NewLogic tops in Bluetooth, wireless IP market
By IANS
Bangalore : Wipro-NewLogic, the semiconductor business unit of the IT bellwether, has been ranked as the number one supplier of wireless LAN (local area network) and Bluetooth IP (Intellectual Property) by Gartner in a recent survey.
The Austria-based NewLogic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Wipro Ltd. after the latter's flagship IT division (Wipro Technologies) acquired it in Dec 2005 for $56 million.
Saudi prince buys into Twitter
By IANS,
London: Saudi billionaire prince Alwaleed bin Talal has invested $300 million in the microblogging company Twitter, becoming its latest major investor.
NASA delays next Mars mission to 2011
By Xinhua,
Washington : NASA's next Mars mission, Mars Science Laboratory, will launch two years later than previously planned, in the fall of 2011.
"A launch date of October 2009 no longer is feasible because of testing and hardware challenges that must be addressed to ensure mission success," NASA explained in a statement on Thursday.
The window for a 2009 launch ends in late October. The relative positions of Earth and Mars are favorable for flights to Mars only a few weeks every two years. So the next launch opportunity after 2009 is in 2011.
Astronomers discover peanut-shaped two star system
By Xinhua
Washington : A pair of yellow super giant stars, orbiting so close to one another that they form the shape of a peanut, has been discovered in a nearby galaxy.
The U.S. astronomers who discovered it announced Tuesday in Astrophysical Journal Letters that similar conjoined giants might be the source of some unusual supernova explosions.
The stellar peanut inhabits a small galaxy called Holmberg IX, about 12 million light years from Earth. It was discovered using the Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona.
NASA develops mirror to look into galactic past
By IANS,
Washington : Once upon a time, shiny surfaces and mirrors were credited with magical powers that could look into the future. Now two centuries later, NASA is relying on them to look into the past.
The agency is developing a primary mirror 21.3 feet across, for use on the James Webb Space Telescope, to tell us about our beginning in the universe.
The primary mirror will serve as the telescope's eye and peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems, connecting the Milky Way to our own solar system.
WHO: 700 deaths from swine flu recorded
By DPA,
Geneva : The World Health Organisation Tuesday said the death toll from swine flu had risen to 700 globally.
By comparison, seasonal flu, the common variety of influenza which normally hits during the winter months, kills about 500,000 people each year.
An official at the WHO headquarters in Geneva said the organisation did not have a death ratio for the virus and was still compiling data.
The disease was first reported to have broken out in mid-April in North America, which remains the hardest-hit region.
Russian space freighter docks with ISS
By IANS,
Moscow : A Russian space cargo ship docked with the International Space Station (ISS) Saturday, delivering 2.5 tonnes of supplies to the station, an official said.
The Progress M-05M freighter docked successfully with ISS around 10.30 p.m., Xinhua reported citing Valery Lyndin, spokesman for the mission control centre.
The space ship lifted off Wednesday night from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
New language protects home computers
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have developed a security language to protect home networks from cyber attacks.
Companies, banks and other organisations take internet security very seriously, erecting firewalls and IT departments to protect them from attacks. But domestic and small office networks are just as vulnerable to hacking, malicious computer code, worms and viruses.
Geon Woo Kim of the Electronics and Telecom Research Institute (ETRI) Korea and colleagues who developed the specific codes said home networks have only a single gateway from the internet.
New H-1B visas rule bars multiple requests for same worker
By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : Amidst demands for raising the cap on H-1B visas for skilled professional, authorities have issued a new rule prohibiting employers from filing more than one petition for a single employee in a fiscal year.
The change is intended to promote a fair and systematic process for H-1B petitioners, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said Wednesday announcing the new rile.
Scientists find way of protecting computers against virus
By IANS,
Washington : Code Red, a virulent computer virus, wreaked havoc, infecting more than 350,000 machines in 14 hours in 2001, besides causing a worldwide loss of $2.6 billion.
Now techies at Ohio State University have discovered a way to contain worms like Code Red, which blocked network traffic to subway stations and 911 call centres in the US, and also sought to target the White House website.
"We wanted to find a way to catch infections in their earliest stages, before they get that far," said Ness Shroff, who led the team that worked on the project.
There’s an ethane lake on Saturn’s moon
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have discovered a lake-like feature on Saturn's satellite Titan, the second body in the solar system to posses a liquid surface, apart from the Earth.
Astronomers detected the presence of the ethane lake with the help of the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer or VIMS, on board NASA's Cassini orbiter.
The instrument, run by Arizona University (AU), identifies the chemical composition of objects by the way matter reflects light.
UN ecology experts look to new nature-given technologies
By DPA,
Bonn (Germany) : New technologies gleaned from observing nature are set to provide exciting applications in the decades ahead that will supersede current environmentally destructive practices, UN experts said Wednesday.
Ahmed Djoghlaf, general secretary of the UN Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), called on entrepreneurs to "wake up" to the new possibilities and to "work with nature, not against it."
Djoghlaf was speaking on the sidelines of the ninth conference of the parties to the CBD being held in the German city of Bonn.
He’s built an aircraft, now wants full-time job!
By Sanu George
Thiruvananthapuram : Saji Thomas is 45 years old from Kerala and, while God did not give him the faculties of...
Tweaking Vista – a bit more challenging than before
By DPA
Washington : It's difficult to call a new operating system your own until you've customised it to your liking.
Making small changes in how an operating system looks and works is commonly referred to as "tweaking", and tweaking Windows Vista can be a bit more challenging than with previous versions of Windows.
In part, that's because the way you customise Vista has changed a lot - and some of the tools that you might have used to tweak Vista's predecessors aren't supported under the new operating system.
Scientists think of new way of creating synthetic tissues
By IANS,
Washington : Tissue engineering has long held promise for building new organs to replace damaged livers, blood vessels and other body parts. However, a major obstacle is getting cells grown in a lab dish to form 3-D shapes instead of flat layers. Scientists have now come up with a new way to overcome this challenge.
Researchers at the MIT-Harvard Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) are encapsulating live cells in cubes and arranging them into 3-D structures, just as a child would construct buildings out of blocks.
6,000-year-old skeletons of camels found in UAE
By IANS,
Abu Dhabi : A team of archaeologists from the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) has discovered the skeletons of at least 40 ancient wild camels dating back to over 6,000 years.
The team made the discovery at a place called Al Gharbia in the western region of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the state-run Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.
Chandra observatory detects new space X-ray source
By IANS
New York : Astronomers studying a nearby galaxy with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have detected a rare type of star system with a black hole that has begun glowing with a new X-ray source.
Usually, when astronomers study the galaxy, called Centaurus A, it's the giant X-ray jets emanating from its heart that steal the show, according to Gregory Sivakoff of Ohio State University.
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.
Wind pattern change may intensify global warming
By IANS,
Washington : Carbon dioxide released from the Antartic Ocean due to shifting wind patterns may drastically increase global warming, say scientists.
Many scientists think that the end of the last ice age was triggered by a change in earth's orbit that caused the northern part of the planet to warm.
This partial climate shift was accompanied by rising levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, ice core records show, which could have intensified the warming around the globe.
Google Earth integrates Street View’s 3D maps
By DPA,
Berlin : By combining two services, Google has now made it possible to pick points on the globe, look at them from outer space, and then zoom all the way in for a street-level view.
Lunar eclipse fails to hamper New Year revelry plans
By Nabeel A. Khan and Ankur Tewari, IANS,
New Delhi : The lunar eclipse that will start within minutes of the ushering in of 2010 may matter a lot to astrologers but is unlikely to affect plans of revellers who have booked pubs, lounges and restaurants in advance to party through the night.
"There is no effect of lunar eclipse on this New Year celebrations. We have already booked 50 percent of our seats at our branches," Sanjeev Anand, general manager of the bar BUZZ, told IANS.
Oxygen content in Ladakh up 50 percent: Scientists
By Ritu Sharma, IANS,
Leh (Jammu and Kashmir) : Anyone visiting Ladakh for the first time can be left gasping for breath due to low oxygen levels in the high altitude region. But a successful plantation drive has brought about environmental changes - driving up oxygen content by 50 percent and, most unusually, making it rain, say Indian scientists.
Flash in the sky appears and disappears
By IANS,
London : Astronomers have discovered a bizarre celestial object that emitted 40 flashes of light before disappearing again.
Described as a hibernating stellar magnet, this weird object initially misled its discoverers showing up as a gamma-ray burst, suggesting the death of a star in a distant part of the universe.
GII: A group that tracks Indian cyberspace
By Frederick Noronha, IANS,
Bangalore : Does India have too many "cyber law experts"? What's wrong with the Blackberry service in India? How is BSNL's IPO shaping up? These and several such issues routinely crop up on India-GII.
So what is India-GII? Located in cyberspace, it is a network of techies and others fleshing out cyber issues in the country, tracking its progress from one of the most expensive and monopolistic telecom markets to one of the most competitive.
India-GII describes itself as a "list (that) has existed since 1995".
Pentagon to replace 30 percent of its soldiery with robots
By IANS,
Washington : Pentagon is planning to replace by 2020 some 30 percent of its soldiery with robots, which are quietly transiting from the realm of science fiction to the actual battlefield.
Robots are increasingly taking over from soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. For example, there are unmanned aerial vehicles and ground robots for explosives detection.
A report by Erin Fults quoted Doug Few and Bill Smart of Washington University, who are leading this cutting edge innovation, as saying that machines still need the human touch.
Pirated Windows 7 generates $100,000 in India
By Rajat Rai, IANS,
Lucknow : About 50,000 pirated DVDs of Microsoft Windows 7 are estimated to have been sold here since the official launch on Oct 22, generating unaccounted business of around Rs.50 lakh (nearly $100,000).
The reason for the allure of the pirated versions: These cost Rs.40-Rs.250 in Naza Market in Hazratganj here, drawing buyers from not only the rest of Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttarakhand but also Nepal and Bangladesh.
600 mn-year-old plant fossils found in China
By IANS,
Beijing : Paleontologists in China have unearthed thousands of pieces of plant fossils dating back to about 600 million years, officials said.
NRI scientist offers tech solution to clean up Yamuna
By IANS
Agra : US-based Indian environmental scientist Subijoy Dutta Monday offered a low-cost, high-result water cleaning technology to cleanse the Yamuna River in the city of the Taj Mahal.
Founder president of Yamuna Foundation for Blue Water in the US and author of "Environmental Treatment Technologies", Dutta told IANS of his passion and commitment to restore the pristine purity and glory to Yamuna River, one of the worst polluted rivers in the world.
Advantage India after Israeli satellite launch
By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Bangalore : India has a cost advantage among the five nations that can make commercial launches of satellites in polar orbit, a top Indian space agency official said after the successful launch of an Israeli "spy satellite" Monday.
"India is now one among the five countries in the world to commercially launch any kind of satellite into polar orbit at around two-thirds of the international cost," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair told IANS on phone from Sriharikota.
Using the internet as a knowledge tool
By IANS
New Delhi : India's National Knowledge Commission is laying special emphasis on the internet to act as a "powerful and democratic source of information and knowledge" and is planning to open a series of web portals for the purpose.
"These portals should become a decisive tool in the popular movements in support of the right to information, decentralisation, transparency, accountability and people's participation," commission chairman Sam Pitroda has said.
ISRO emergency alert system for east coast fishermen
By IANS
Chennai : Fishermen in Bay of Bengal now have help on hand in case of any crisis as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Tuesday handed over emergency alert transmitters to the fishing community along the Tamil Nadu coast.
At a function held at the Coast Guard premises here, State Fisheries Minister K.P.P. Samy handed over five transmitters, each costing about Rs.10,000, free of cost to fishermen.
Scientists on track to slow down aging in humans
By IANS
Washington : Researchers have identified 25 genes regulating lifespan in two organisms separated by 1.5 billion years - of which 15 are very similar to that of humans.
And thanks to that similarity, it may now be possible for scientists to target the genes to help slow down aging and treat related conditions.
The findings of the study have been published online in the journal Genome Research.
The two organisms are the single-celled budding yeast and the roundworm C. elegans - both commonly used models for aging research.
Martian soil may contain toxic compounds harmful to life: NASA
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Martian soil could contain a toxic substance that would make it less likely that life formed there, data gathered by NASA's Phoenix lander on the red planet has revealed.
Earlier NASA said Phoenix analysers detected water in the soil, which suggested that Mars could have the conditions for life. However, if the presence of perchlorate were confirmed, the probability of detecting living organisms there would be reduced.
Agra gets its second wonder- a 6D theatre
By IANS,
Agra : You feel your chair moving back and forth and left to right, smell scent, feel a cool breeze, a sudden water splash and also have goose pimples when you find yourself in the midst of bats and spider webs. This isn't a scary tale but India's first-of-its-kind six-dimensional theatre experience developed here.
Indian cinema chain Adlabs in association with Cinema Park Network Friday launched The Adlabs Cinema Park.
Indian-American develops imaging system to track moods
By IANS,
Toronto : We might never know what evil lurks in the hearts of humans, but Prabir Bhattacharya's computers might.
The Indian-American scientist at Concordia University is developing a computer image processing system that detects and classifies facial expressions.
The system aims at taking and analysing photos of individuals, potentially in areas of high traffic where security is a primary concern, such as an airport.
HCL sets up development centre in Australia
By IANS,
New Delhi : Information technology services provider HCL Technologies Ltd (HCL) has set up a new global development centre in Sydney as a part of its expansion plan in Australia and New Zealand, the company announced Thursday.
With total staff strength of over 500, the Sydney centre is part of HCL's global delivery strategy to offer customers support from various locations across the globe.
At present, HCL has delivery centres in India, China, Poland, Singapore and Ireland and has recently announced plans to open another in North Carolina, US.
Hafeez Contractor to build third phase of Kerala Technopark
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Hafeez Contractor, one of the best-known architects of India, will build the third phase of an IT park in Kerala.
Kerala-based architectural firm Iyer and Mahesh will partner with Hafeez to construct the 300-million square feet third phase of the 11.5 million Technopark campus, officials said Thursday.
An agreement was signed and handed over to the Technopark CEO R.K. Nair by Hafeez and Iyer and Mahesh Wednesday evening, after a competitive bidding process.
Coral reefs growing in cold, deep ocean
By IANS,
London : In the icy, inky depths of the Atlantic ocean, 800 metres below the surface, lie a range of hills covered with large coral reefs.
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) researcher Furu Mienis studied the formation of these unknown cold-water kins of the better-known tropical corals.
These reefs can be found along the eastern continental slope from Morocco to Norway, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and on the western continental slope along the east coast of Canada and the US. Mienis studied the area to the west of Ireland.
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.
Defunct U.S. spy satellite falling from orbit
By Xinhua
Washington : A defunct U.S. spy satellite is falling from orbit and could hit the Earth in late February or March, agencies reports said Saturday.
"Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters.
Washington : A defunct U.S. spy satellite is falling from orbit and could hit the Earth in late February or March, agencies reports said Saturday.
"Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters.
Nitrogen dioxide level exceeds limit in 10 cities
By IANS,
New Delhi : Air pollution is increasing at an alarming rate in the country with the national capital being one of the 10 cities where nitrogen dioxide levels have exceeded prescribed standards, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has said.
"Nitrogen dioxide levels are exceeding the prescribed standards in 10 cities, namely Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Asansol, Bengaluru, Jamshedpur, Faridabad, Meerut, Patna and Pune. There is an increasing trend of nitrogen dioxide levels in Asansol and Bengaluru," Ramesh said.
Next-gen robots to tirelessly serve households
By IANS,
London : A new generation of service robots will soon be able to relieve us of heavy, dirty, monotonous or irksome tasks at home, according to scientists.
They would work long hours, efficiently, tirelessly and without ever complaining and virtually for free after an initial investment.
Named Care-O-bot 3, the one-armed wonder can even pick up an apple juice bottle and placed it next to the glasses on the tray and serve them to guests.
Taiwan uses global positioning system to catch bike thieves
By DPA
Taipei, Feb 16 (DPA) The Taiwan police are using the global positioning system (GPS) to catch bike and motorbike thieves, a radio station reported Saturday.
The police in Taichung, a city in central Taiwan, hit upon the idea after receiving many complaints from people whose bikes and motorbikes parked near Taichung railway station were stolen, the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) reported.
The police installed the GPS under the saddles of several bikes and motorbikes and parked them near the railway station to trap potential thieves.
Chief scientist: China’s lunar orbiter project costs only 1 bln yuan
By Xinhua
Xichang, Sichuan : China's milestone lunar orbiter project only costs 1 to 1.4 billion yuan (about 133 to 187 million U.S. dollars), the same amount as the money used to construct 2 km of subway in Beijing, said Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the lunar exploration program.
Ouyang said the amount is not an astronomical number for China's economy and will boost the development of national science and technology instead.
Xichang, Sichuan : China's milestone lunar orbiter project only costs 1 to 1.4 billion yuan (about 133 to 187 million U.S. dollars), the same amount as the money used to construct 2 km of subway in Beijing, said Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of the lunar exploration program.
Ouyang said the amount is not an astronomical number for China's economy and will boost the development of national science and technology instead.
Chandigarh named ‘challenger’ location in A.T. Kearney-Nasscom study
By IANS,
Chandigarh : Chandigarh is a 'challenger' location for the information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry, a recent study says.
The study titled 'Location roadmap for IT-BPO growth: Assessment of 50 leading cities' has been jointly conducted by the global consultancy major A.T. Kearney and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), an Indian IT industry lobby.
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.
Microsoft says malware threats rise 43 percent
By DPA,
San Francisco : Worldwide threats from malicious software that cripple computers with spy programmes, viruses and worms have increased 43 percent over the past year, Microsoft said Monday in its Security Intelligence Report.
The software giant said that the rise occurred despite a significant improvement in the security of its operating systems, as hackers targeted individual programmes and naive users.
Microsoft said that 90 percent of new vulnerabilities over the past year targeted programmes, while only 10 percent honed in on operating systems.
Facebook gets notice for tobacco promotion
By IANS,
Chandigarh : Popular social networking website Facebook has been caught in a 'smoky' row. An anti-tobacco activist here has served a notice to the website, accusing it of "promotion of smoking culture" through its web pages.
Anti-tobacco activist Hemant Goswami Tuesday said he has served a notice to Facebook Inc. in California (US) and Facebook Ireland Ltd, which run the social networking website facebook.com, for violation of Indian laws that ban advertisement and promotion of tobacco products.
NASA extends Cassini’s probe of Saturn’s moons
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Finished with its four-year primary mission to Saturn, the Cassini orbiter has turned its cameras upon the ringed planet's mysterious moons as it kicks off a two-year extended mission.
Internet shapes global Tibet protests
By IANS,
New Delhi : The emergence of social networking sites has come as a boon for cyber-dissidents who use these internet tools not just to create a buzz on the web but also as a platform to organise protests and flash strikes.
On Facebook, there are nearly 15 groups that come up on a word search for 'tibet'. But, the largest by far is that of "Free Tibet", which had a membership count of 88,460. When accessed on Thursday afternoon, it had over 8,700 posts, 1,727 photos, 360 discussions topics and 51 videos.
A cactus took 52 years to bloom
By IANS,
London : A British couple are elated after their cactus began to bloom - a good 52 years after it was planted.
John, 90, and his wife Barbara Long, 85, patiently waited all these years for the cactus to bloom. They had bought the plant in 1958.
The cactus is outside their home in Hitchin, and has reached a height of 10 feet. "I can't describe the excitement," The Sun quoted Barbara as saying.
iPhone set to surpass BlackBerry in mobile market
By IANS,
Toronto: Apple's iPhone is set to overtake Research In Motion's BlackBerry in the global smart phone market by next year, according to Forbes online.
Currently, BlackBerry enjoys about three percent of the world's mobile phone market, while Apple's has about two percent share of the market. But BlackBerry's lead over iPhone is shrinking and Apple will overtake RIM by early next year, Forbes said Friday.
Nuclear energy the holy grail of lunar explorers
By DPA
Beijing : It may be decades into the future but lunar scientists from China and other nations are already eyeing the immense potential of nuclear fusion from a precious mineral found on the moon's surface, a top scientist said Wednesday.
"To explore the moon is to solve the resource issues of the Earth," Qiao Xiaolin, an adviser to China's lunar exploration programme, told DPA over telephone.
"Nuclear energy is the most hopeful form," said Qiao, a professor at the Harbin Institute of Technology in north-eastern China.
Chang’e-1 captures pictures of moon’s polar areas
By Xinhua
Beijing : China's first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, has successfully captured pictures of the moon's polar areas, Chinese officials said on Thursday.
The Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense released on Thursday a picture of the moon's polar areas, the first-ever such picture taken by Chinese.
"We have obtained good quality pictures," said spokesman Pei Zhaoyu of China National Space Administration (CNSA).
New software to help empty stadiums during bomb threats
By IANS,
Washington : Imagine trying to get out of a stadium with 70,000 fans after a bomb explodes, or even a bomb threat. For an evacuation on this scale, there are no dress rehearsals or practice drills - just simulation software.
A new breed of simulation software - dubbed SportEvac - is being funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) as part of the Southeast Region Research Initiative (SERRI), and developed and tested by the National Centre for Spectator Sports Safety & Security (NCS4) at the University of Southern Mississippi.
Effective way found to produce anti-flu vaccines
By IANS,
Washington: A rapid and effective way to produce vaccines against new flu strains has been developed by scientists.
The virus that causes flu frequently changes its genetic code, making it difficult for scientists to think up an effective vaccine.
But now, University of Miami computer scientist Dimitris Papamichail and researchers from Stony Brook University have developed a way to produce shots against new strains.
Mars comes close to Earth
By IANS
New Delhi : Sky-watchers had a good day out Wednesday as Mars came closest to Earth since 2003 and was visible to the naked eye from the eastern sky.
Astronomers said Mars' closeness to Earth would remain a record at least till 2016. Currently, Mars is some 87 million km away from Earth and experts say it is pretty close.
Nehru Planetarium director N. Rathnasree said Mars was closest to Earth at 5.30 in the morning and sky-gazers across the country also witnessed it in the evening.
Failure of imported components behind loss of satellites?
By V. Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : The recurring loss of Indian satellites because of power supply glitches may be due to the failure of imported components, according to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists.
ISRO has lost two of its satellites earlier -- Chandrayaan in 2009 and INSAT-2D in 1997 -- and INSAT-4B partially now.
Scientists of the Indian space agency are working to fix the power snag that switched off 12 transponders of the INSAT-4B communications satellite Wednesday night.
Smartphone games a hit in Tokyo
By IANS,
Tokyo: Social networking games installed on smartphones are the rage at a game show in Tokyo.
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.
Lots of watts don’t rev up vacuum cleaner
Berlin, May 18 (DPA) When buying a vacuum cleaner, consumers should not be led astray by high wattage.
The amount of electricity used has little to do with performance, according to a recent test of 17 vacuum cleaners by Stiftung Warentest, the Berlin-based independent German consumer-protection group reported in its April issue.
Suction power depended on the appropriate interplay of the basic device, nozzle construction, suction pipes and airflow, the group added.
Chandrayaan-1 to get within 500 km of moon Tuesday
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 will cruise closer to the moon early Tuesday when it makes the transition from the earth's elliptical orbit into deeper space, a top space agency official said Monday.
"The liquid apogee motor (LAM) on board will be fired around 5.00 a.m. Tuesday for about five minutes to make the transition and position the spacecraft at about 500 km from the moon's surface and over 384,000 km away from the earth," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS here.
Railways U-turn on offering exclusive women train coaches to men
Kolkata : In a victory of sorts for female commuters who did not shy to clash with their male counterparts, the Eastern Railway...
Astrology channel launched on YouTube on 12.12.12
By IANS,
Agra : AstroSageIndia, said to be the country's first multi-language astrological YouTube channel was launched Wednesday, on the special date of the century - 12.12.12 at 12:12 p.m.
Solar Energy Corp to develop India-centric technology and products
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
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.
‘Switch off TV, save 10 percent of your power bill’
By Joydeep Gupta, IANS,
Poznan (Poland) : Simple things like switching off your TV and computers, instead of keeping them on standby, can help save 10 percent of your electricity bill.
"I don't understand why people aren't doing it," says Diana Urge-Vorsatz, expert member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), referring to simple things that people can do every day to reduce power bills and fight climate change at the same time.
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).
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.
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.
How do people respond to e-mails?
By IANS,
Washington : Over the last decade the e-mail has grown from a novelty into a necessity. But how do people respond to e-mails? Do they respond to the most important first, making sure the process is efficient?
Or do they send e-mails randomly, when they are at their computers or when they have time, without any regard to efficiency?
These are questions that Luís Amaral, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University, and his associates set out to answer.
NASA postpones spacewalk due to ‘health issues’
By DPA
Washington : A planned Sunday spacewalk to attach an expansion to the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed to Monday due to unspecified "health issues", officials at the US space agency NASA announced.
The spacewalk by astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, docked late Saturday with the ISS, has been rescheduled.
A NASA spokesman refused to clarify the nature of the health issue or identify any astronaut suffering problems.
Searching for life, NASA finds salt on Mars
By Xinhua
Washington : The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said that its Mars Odyssey Orbiter found evidence of salt deposits on Mars, giving hope the environment could have supported primitive life.
These deposits point to places where water was once abundant and where evidence might exist of possible Martian life from the red planet's past, said NASA on its website Thursday.
NASA could land probe on asteroid hurtling towards Earth
By IANS,
London : NASA is considering plans to land a probe on an asteroid that is on a potential collision course with the Earth.
The plan mirrors the plot of the 1998 Hollywood film "Armageddon", in which the White House sends a spaceship to land on an asteroid which is hurtling towards the Earth.
Asteroid 1999 RQ36, which has a 1-in-1,000 chance of hitting the Earth before the year 2200, would cause an explosion equivalent to hundreds of nuclear bombs detonating at once, reports the Telegraph.
Combined PCs beat second fastest supercomputer in mapping Milky Way
By IANS,
Washington : Legions of personal computers (PCs), engaged in a project to map the Milky Way, beat the world's second fastest supercomputer in sheer performance.
At this very moment, tens of thousands of PCs worldwide are quietly working together to solve the largest and most basic mysteries of our galaxy.
Enthusiastic volunteers from Africa to Australia are donating the computing power of everything from decade-old desktops to sleek new netbooks to help computer scientists and astronomers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute map our Milky Way.
India successfully launches Israeli satellite Polaris into orbit
By KUNA
New Delhi : India Monday launched an Israeli satellite "Polaris" from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
The satellite was put into orbit by indigenously developed Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), a spokesman of the Indian Space Research Organisation told reporters, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Last year, Italian satellite Agile was also put into the orbit by PSLV, the spokesman said.
Polaris is a radar-imaging, remote-sensing satellite and weighs about 300 kgs.
Madhya Pradesh to have its own science policy
By IANS
Bhopal : In a move aimed at increasing science awareness among common people, especially children, youth, farmers and artisans, Madhya Pradesh will soon have its own comprehensive science policy.
Minister for Science & Information Technology Kailash Vijaywargiya told IANS Friday document would be prepared keeping in view the SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) of the state and will help make science popular, meaningful and useful to the common people.
Murthy bids adieu to Infosys, once again
Bangalore: For the second time in three years, Infosys chairman N.R. Narayana Murthy will Saturday bid adieu to the iconic company he co-founded with...
Whale songs heard for first time around New York
By IANS,
New York : Scientists have, for the first time, recorded the beckoning calls of endangered fin, humpback and North Atlantic right whales in the waters around this US city.
"This is an exciting time for New Yorkers. Just think, just miles from the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State building, Carnegie Hall and Times Square, the great whales are singing," said Chris Clark, director of the Bioacoustics research programme at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Google, Bing sidelining Yahoo in search market
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
New York : Once the world's online search leader, Yahoo's share has sharply declined, putting it in danger of losing its relevance in a market increasingly dominated by Google with a staggering 65.6 percent share
Russia’s Glonass satellite system to be fully operational in 2010
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia's Glonass satellite system is expected to become fully operational in 2010, if it receives sufficient financing, the head of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) said on Saturday.
Glonass (Global Navigation Satellite System) is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), which is designed for both military and civilian use, and allows users to identify their positions in real time.
Now, mobile application to minimise accidents
By IANS,
Tel Aviv: A GPS traffic application like Waze can help minimise road accidents with better deployment of police at the most accident prone sites, shows a study.
Scientists develop brightest ever x-ray source
By IANS,
Washington : The x-ray has just got 100 million times brighter, thanks to next-generation light sources like free electron laser oscillator - or the X-FELO.
X-FELO will open up breakthrough scientific opportunities in various research fields. Its characteristics are ideally suited for bulk-sensitive, hard x-ray photo-emission spectroscopy.
Existing technology uses undulators to create bright x-ray beams of spontaneous emission at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne.
E-mail alerts to warn pilots about volcanic eruptions
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists from New Zealand are developing a new system to alert pilots on flights via e-mails about volcanic eruptions by detecting the lightning their ash clouds trigger.
Water flowing into Arctic warmest in 2,000 years
By IANS,
London : Water flowing from the North Atlantic Ocean into the Arctic Ocean is at its warmest level for more than 2,000 years.
E-mail etiquette: A matter of survival
By Jay Dougherty, DPA,
Washington : Business people send out some six trillion e-mail messages each year, according to US-based Ferris Research. That's probably not much of a surprise to most office workers today, who have seen e-mail usurp meetings and face-to-face conversations as a primary form of communication.
NASA beams chants of ‘Jai Guru Deva’ into outer space
By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : If there were any outer space aliens out there Monday at the crack of dawn Indian time, chances are they were grooving to a song with the words "Jai Guru Deva... Om".
The words form the beautiful refrain of a famous Beatles song, "Across the Universe", which was beamed into outer space in a celebration of the band's music at 0530 Indian time (midnight GMT).
Link between seeing and processing visual information uncovered
By IANS,
Sydney : Researchers have isolated an important new link between how we see and the way our mind processes that visual stimulation.
Queensland (University) Brain Institute (QBI) scientists Jason Mattingley, Ross Cunnington and their colleagues have demonstrated the human brain does indeed have a mechanism to capture observed and executed actions.
"Data gathered from these experiments show that a particular part of the brain encodes specific actions, regardless of whether those actions are executed or passively observed," Mattingley said.
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.
Low on self-esteem? Have a ‘parasocial’ relationship
By IANS,
Washington : Admiring celebrities, even from afar, can help people with low self-esteem to see themselves in a more flattering light, according to a new study.
The study, by researchers from the University at Buffalo and State University of New York, illustrates how such “parasocial” relationships can benefit people facing difficulties in interpersonal relationships.
The researchers based their study on 100 undergraduates to examine the relationship between self-esteem, parasocial relationship closeness and self-discrepancies.
Russia plans new spacecraft by 2015
By Xinhua
Moscow : Russia is planning to build a new-generation piloted spacecraft by 2015, Vitaly Lopota, president of Russia's top spacecraft manufacturer Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, said Tuesday.
Since 2000, Energia has been developing a reusable manned spacecraft to replace the Soyuz and Progress launch vehicles in making regular flights to the international space station and even the Moon and Mars, Lopota was quoted by RIA news agency as saying.
Technology will help improve tax compliance: Chidambaram
By IANS,
Ghaziabad: Finance Minister P. Chidambaram Saturday said the government has introduced "world-class" technology that improved tax compliance, resulting in a boost to the exchequer.
Russian bio-satellite makes safe landing
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The re-entry module of the Foton-M bio-satellite successfully landed at 11.58 a.m. Moscow time (7.58 a.m. GMT) Wednesday in northern Kazakhstan, RIA Novosti reported.
The satellite was launched Sep 14 on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan carrying gerbils, snails, cockroaches and many other creatures sealed in special containers and filmed by a video camera during the flight, as part of experiments carried out by the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP).
Discovery astronauts begin spacewalk for ISS work
By DPA,
Washington : Two astronauts from the Discovery space shuttle began a spacewalk Sunday to carry out further work on the International Space Station (ISS).
Discovery astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan were set to spend more than six hours installing a new nitrogen tank on the ISS and to carry out further work installing a robot arm on the Japanese module Kibo.
It is the third and final spacewalk scheduled during the current 14-day Discovery mission.
Global warming will push up sea level
By IANS,
Amsterdam : Sea levels worldwide are expected to rise by several metres in the coming centuries if global warming continues unabated.
Solar, wind energy to provide villagers with hot water
By IRNA-AzerTAj
Baku : The Institute of Radiation Problems of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences has prepared the rural hot water supply system by the use of the solar and wind alternative energy.
By utilizing wind and solar energy in March-October, it is possible to ensure normal temperature conditions of the device and improve environmental sanitation and hygiene for villagers.
India launches rocket carrying latest communication satellite
By IANS
Sriharikota : A rocket carrying India's latest communication satellite lifted from this launch pad in Andhra Pradesh Sunday evening after a series of delays caused by a technical glitch.
The launch of the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle GSLV-F04 was originally scheduled for 4.21 p.m. but was successively delayed as scientists worked furiously to get over the glitch, an official here said, without specifying what the problem was.
Brand logo can make you think differently
By IANS
New York : Whether you are a Mac person or a PC person, even a brief exposure to the Apple logo may make you behave more creatively, according to a new study.
Most people are exposed to thousands of brand images daily and it is assumed this does not affect those exposed in any way. But the new study has demonstrated that even fleeting glimpses of logos can affect people quite dramatically, ScienceDaily reported.
The study, by Duke and Waterloo University researchers, has been published in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.
Iran awaits lift of sanctions to resume crude exports
Tehran: Iran has signed a preliminary document with South Africa to resume its oil exports when the western sanctions against Tehran are lifted, a...
‘Solar tsunami’ offers new clues about sun
By IANS,
London : It was the breathtaking solar event that sparked spectacular displays of Northern Lights across much of the northern hemisphere.
Computer programmed to read human faces
By IANS,
Sydney: Scientists have programmed computers to read human expressions and to tell whether one is in pain.
"Each facial expression is made up of many different components - a twitch of the mouth here, a widening of the eyes there - some lasting only a fraction of a second," said Simon Lucey of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
"Our computer program looks at these components, matches them against a list drawn up by expert psychologists and decides what expression just flitted across a face," said Lucey, a computer scientist.
Yahoo unveils new search engine, but can anyone catch Google?
By DPA
San Francisco : Yahoo Inc. has unveiled a new internet search technology in a bid to close the gap on search leader Google, but executives at Yahoo admitted that the best they could hope for was to "chip away" at their rival's lead.
The new Yahoo Search, previously codenamed Panama, was launched Tuesday and introduces features like 'universal search', which automatically includes different content types in search results.
Thuraya to launch satellite mobile services in Asia-Pacific
By IANS
Dubai : Thuraya, the United Arab Emirates-based world's largest provider of handheld mobile satellite services, is set to commercially launch its operations in the Asia-Pacific markets by January with the launch of its third satellite on Monday.
"The launch of Thuraya-3 is a significant milestone in the company's progress towards realizing its strategic vision of becoming a dynamic, world leading, multi-regional mobile satellite operator," Thuraya chief executive Yousuf Al Sayed told the Emirates News Agency (WAM).
Helmet-crested, duck-billed dinosaur discovered
By Xinhua
Beijing : U.S., Mexican and Canadian scientists on Tuesday announced the discovery of helmet-crested, duck-billed dinosaur that lived about 7 million years ago.
The composition of its skull -- with a nose on top of its head and elongated nasal passages -- meant its call was probably one of its most unique aspects, said Terry Gates, a Utah Museum of Natural History paleontologist.
Beijing : U.S., Mexican and Canadian scientists on Tuesday announced the discovery of helmet-crested, duck-billed dinosaur that lived about 7 million years ago.
The composition of its skull -- with a nose on top of its head and elongated nasal passages -- meant its call was probably one of its most unique aspects, said Terry Gates, a Utah Museum of Natural History paleontologist.
Five space walks, mock repairs planned for Discovery
By DPA
Washington : US space shuttle Discovery plans a full schedule of five space walks on its next mission to the International Space Station (ISS), set to begin Oct 23, NASA officials said.
Discovery's crew is to bring up and install the Harmony module to serve as a port for additional international laboratories constructed in Japan, Germany and elsewhere.
But NASA officials said Friday they expect to add a fifth space walk to test some new repair equipment that could be used to fix heat-shield damage that can happen to shuttles during launch, according to spaceflightnow.com.
‘Chandrayaan orbit to be raised to 267,000 km Wednesday’
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : The earth orbit of India's first lunar spacecraft will be raised to 267,000 km Wednesday, an official here said.
"The Chandrayaan spacecraft, orbiting at a distance of around 165,000 km apogee (farthest point from earth) will be raised Wednesday to around 267,000 km. As of now, everything is normal and as per our expectations," Chandrayaan-1 project director M. Annadurai told IANS.
Ten technology trends to look out for in 2009
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
The year that went by set the foundation for those technologies that are expected to take off in 2009, with focus on energy efficiency and mobility - a bit greener and a lot more faster. Here are 10 of them to watch out for this year:
Mobile Applications: With the India's mobile telecom network expected to grow from over 300 million subscribers now to over 400 million by the end of 2009, mobile applications (m-apps) will become central to entertainment, information, banking and other services - and, of course, revenues for telecom companies.
Martian orbit on Indian spacecraft’s radar Wednesday
Bangalore : India's tryst with Mars begins early Wednesday when its inter-planetary spacecraft readies to enter the Martian orbit in a maiden attempt to...
‘Chandrayaan could spark lunar land grab’
By IANS,
London : India's lunar mission could spark off a land grab on the moon, a British paper speculated Tuesday.
The Chandrayaan satellite signals the “possibility of a race for mineral wealth on the lunar surface”, particularly helium-3, The Guardian newspaper reported.
While planet Earth was believed to have only 15 tonnes of helium-3, moon is thought to contain up to five million tonnes.
‘Caterpillar fungus’ could be India’s answer to Viagra
By Asit Srivastava, IANS,
Lucknow : Foreign drugs like Viagra and Cialis used for treating erectile dysfunction may soon get their Indian counterparts from a `caterpillar fungus' found in the high altitudes of Uttarakhand.
The caterpillar fungus locally called as `Keera ghas' or 'Yarchagumba' is said to have aphrodisiac properties, which will be used to manufacture drugs in a project undertaken by the Uttarakhand government, say the officials of the Herbal Research and Development Institute (HRDI) in Gopeshwar district.
India, France to launch tropical weather satellite in 2009
By IANS,
New Delhi : India and France will jointly launch a satellite next year to understand climate change and the tropical weather phenomena including monsoons.
The joint working group of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French Space Agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) met in Goa Saturday and Sunday to review the progress made on this.
ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair and CNES president Yannick d'Escatha discussed the various modalities and technicalities involved with the launch of satellite Megha Topiques.
French astronaut tends mini garden in space
By Xinhua
Beijing : A French astronaut is tending a miniature garden on the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the first experiment inside the orbiting laboratory's new European research module.
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Leopold Eyharts is growing tiny seedlings inside the space station's Columbus laboratory, which he helped deliver during last month's STS-122 shuttle flight.
Space shuttle Discovery heads home after 14-day mission
By DPA,
Washington : The US space shuttle Discovery began its earthward journey Wednesday after completing a 14-day mission to carry out further construction and maintenance work on the International Space Station (ISS).
The shuttle is scheduled for landing Saturday at the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Caneveral, Florida.
Discovery undocked from the ISS for the return journey after a mission in which astronauts carried out three spacewalks chiefly devoted to installing and preparing the Japanese scientific laboratory module Kibo.
India, Russia in talks on moon exploration
By IANS,
New Delhi : India and Russia are cooperating vis-a-vis the Chandrayaan-2 satellite for joint moon cooperation.
NASA delays Hubble repair mission
By DPA,
Washington : Uneasy about ongoing tropical storms, the US space agency NASA Sunday announced a two-day delay in launching the Atlantis shuttle mission to repair the Hubble telescope.
Atlantis will launch Oct 10 instead of Oct 8 from the Kennedy Space Centre on the Florida Atlantic coast, NASA said.
The mission is complicated because a second shuttle must be ready on the launch pad immediately after Atlantis takes off to serve as a back-up in case of problems with the mission.
Kanyakumari sees celestial play as moon blocks sun
By IANS,
Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu) : Thousands of people in this Tamil Nadu city watched the longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium that began at 11.06 a.m. Friday. Scientists and students from several parts of the country have converged here to study the celestial spectacle.
An annular solar eclipse occurs when the sun and the moon are exactly in line, but the apparent size of the Moon's shadow is smaller than the visible disc of the sun, making it appear like a ring of fire. The eclipse is expected to peak to annular eclipse at 1.15 p.m.