India launches Israeli ‘spy satellite’
By IANS
Sriharikota/Bangalore/Chennai : India's space agency ISRO Monday successfully placed an Israeli "spy satellite" in the polar orbit after a textbook launch and reaffirmed its position among the elite group of nations capable of commercial launches - with three more orders in the queue.
The 300-kg Israeli satellite, Tecsar, was launched as scheduled at 0915 IST (Indian Standard Time) using the `core alone' configuration of the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C10), that is, the rocket without its usual six strap-on booster motors.
Instant Messaging cuts workplace interruptions: Study
By IANS,
Washington : Instant messaging could be a way to reduce interruptions at the workplace, rather than cause them, as is popularly believed.
A new study has found that instant messaging, or IM, is now being often used as a substitute for more disruptive forms of communication like the telephone, e-mail and personal chats.
This finding flies in the face of earlier research which concluded that IM - along with phones and e-mail - was the cause of increased interruptions at work and resulted in reduced output.
Spam drops worldwide after plug pulled on US server provider
By DPA,
San Francisco : The volume of spam on the Internet plunged by about two thirds this week after two US internet service providers cut the internet connections of a company that was using its servers to disseminate billions of unwanted email messages, internet security firms said Friday.
Symantec said the number of spam messages had fallen by some 120 billion per day, to around 60 billion. However it warned that many of the spam spewers would probably find new routes to distribute their messages and that the respite was likely only temporary.
World’s oldest submerged town dates back 5,000 years
By IANS,
London : Archaeologists surveying the world's oldest submerged town have found ceramics dating back to the end of the Neolithic era.
Their discovery suggests that Pavlopetri, off the southern Laconia coast of Greece, was occupied some 5,000 years ago - at least 1,200 years earlier than originally thought.
These remarkable findings have been made public by the Greek government after the start of a five-year collaborative project involving the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and The University of Nottingham.
Missing link between ancient, modern crocodiles found
By IANS
Rio de Janeiro : Brazilian paleontologists have found an 85-million-year-old fossil they say is of a creature that represents the evolutionary missing link between ancient crocodiles and the present species, Spain's news agency EFE reported.
The 80-percent-complete skeleton of the new species, dubbed Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi, was found at Monte Alto in Brazil's southeastern Sao Paulo state.
A team from the Museum of Paleontology and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro carried out an evaluation of the fossil.
Satellite for European navigation system successfully launched
By SPA,
Moscow : Space officials say a Russian rocket has successfully shot an experimental satellite for the EU's planned navigation system into orbit, the Associated Press reported.
Officials say the Giove-B satellite was fired into space from the Baikonur facility in Kazakhstan atop a Soyuz rocket.
The Russian and European space agencies say the launch early Sunday was successful.
The Giove-B is the second satellite in the EU's delayed Galileo system. The Galileo is meant to rival the American GPS system. It is scheduled to be operational by 2013.
China develops fastest super computer
By IANS,
Beijing : China has developed a super computer that runs at more than one quadrillion (one thousand million million) calculations per second, making it the fastest one in the country, experts have said.
The super computer named "Xingyun", has been developed in Tianjin, and works at double the speed of "Tianhe-1", the previous fastest machine in China.
The Tianhe-1 was developed by the National University of Defence Technology in October 2009, Li Jun, president of the Dawning Information Industry Co. Ltd., was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
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.
Nehru Planetarium to organise public skywatch
By IANS,
New Delhi : Ever look up and marvel at the beauty of the evening sky? Skygazers in the national capital now have the opportunity of studying celestial bodies as the Nehru Planetarium is organising round the year public skywatches, officials said Monday.
As part of International Year of Astronomy, the Nehru Planetarium will organise skywatching for the public besides series of lectures by noted astrophysicists and scholars in 2009.
China launches new search engine
Beijing: A new Chinese-language online search engine --Chinaso.com -- was launched Friday, marking China's first search service set up by the country's major news...
Customising Windows Vista: Have it your way
By DPA
Washington : Let's face it - If you're a PC user, sooner or later you'll have to switch to Windows Vista. Microsoft routinely drops support for older operating systems and Windows XP's days are numbered.
Vista will ultimately be the only option for many. But that doesn't mean you have to go to Vista cold turkey. You can install the operating system and set it up to work the way you want it to - even making it look like the operating system you're used to. All it takes is a little time and a bit of know-how.
Recycling radioactive waste no longer a problem
By IANS,
Washington : A new plant will help recover uranium from the ashes of radioactive wastes, which can then be recycled with an efficient, eco-friendly technology inspired by decaffeinated coffee.
The technique's future may even hold the key to recycling the most dangerous forms of radioactive waste in the near future.
Indian-American scientist on trail of polluters
By IANS,
Washington : Cloaked in the clouds of emissions and exhaust that hang over the city are clues about the polluting culprits.
A University of Houston (UH) research team, headed by Shankar Chellam, is hot on their trail. The case hinges on unique identifiers found in fine particulate matter, a mixture of organic, inorganic or metal material.
This material is given off by natural sources, such as sea spray and grassfires, and manmade sources, such as vehicles and industrial operations, and then suspended in the air.
Curiosity lands on Mars
By IANS,
Washington : US space agency's nuclear-powered rover Curiosity touched down on Mars Sunday.
Propulsion problems solved, Jules Verne ATV on target
By Xinhua
Beijing : Jules Verne, Europe's first space station cargo carrier, has overcome problems with its propulsion system and has initiated orbit-raising maneuvers, European Space Agency (ESA) officials said Tuesday.
The 41,887-pound (19,000-kg) Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), was slated to use its onboard engines to raise its orbit by about 53 miles (85 km), to 214-miles (345-km), in preparation for a series of test maneuvers that should end with a docking with the International Space Station April 3, mission managers said.
Molecule sized data storage for computers in offing
By IANS,
London : Computers are getting smaller as the race is on to develop memory formats that store huge information in progressively tinier substances. Now Researchers are exploring ways of exploiting properties of carbon nanotubes to create a cheap, compact memory cell that uses little power and writes information at high speeds.
Elena Bichoutskaia of the School of Chemistry, Nottingham University, who is leading the study, said: "The electronics industry is searching for a replacement of silicon-based technologies for data storage and computer memory.
Intel’s offer to lower operational costs
By IANS
Jaipur : Intel Corp has launched a new processor technology to help small and medium businesses to reduce their operational costs.
The company's Indian subsidiary has developed a new processor - vPRO - and an upgraded version of Centrino pro-processor for managing the services of small and mid-size businesses.
Zenit rocket to orbit Israeli satellite in late April
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The launch of a modified Zenit rocket to put an Israeli communications satellite into orbit has been scheduled for April 24, Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said on Monday.
Russia started preparations for the launch of a Zenit-3SLB rocket with a DM-SLB booster and Israeli AMOS-3 satellite on board from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan in October last year.
"This weekend, the booster was delivered to site 31 [at Baikonur] for fuelling and fitting with the AMOS-3 satellite," Roscosmos said in a statement.
ETI Dynamics, Greenhouse Capital to export clean technology
New Delhi: New Delhi-based ETI Dynamics and Auckland-based Greenhouse Capital on Tuesday announced a partnership to invest $100 million in exporting clean technologies from...
Data on disk drive from Columbia space shuttle survived
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Precious information was found on a melted disk drive from Columbia space shuttle which broke up while returning to the earth on Feb. 1, 2003, media reported on Saturday.
The hard drive contained data from the CVX-2 (Critical Viscosity of Xenon) experiment, designed to study the way xenon gas flows in microgravity.
Lockheed begins construction of US presidential choppers in India
By Gulshan Luthra
New Delhi : Construction of the first lot of six VH 92 Super Hawk helicopters that transport the US president...
Korean Astronaut To Dock At Space Station Thursday
By Bernama
Seoul : A Russian spacecraft carrying South Korea's first astronaut will dock Thursday at the International Space Station (ISS) as scheduled after a three-day voyage in space, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency quoted officials as saying Wednesday.
Yi So-yeon, a 29-year-old female biosystems engineer who blasted off from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan on Tuesday with two cosmonauts, "spent her first night in space safely," the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said in a statement.
Indian American helps design cheaper, better solar cells
By IANS,
Washington : An Indian-American researcher is working with a team of Utah University engineers to design cheaper, lighter and better solar cells.
Dinesh Rakhwal, doctoral student in mechanical engineering, said: "We're coming up with a more efficient way of making germanium wafers for solar cells - to reduce the cost and weight of these solar cells and make them defect-free."
Facebook named world’s top social networking site
By DPA,
San Francisco : Facebook has overtaken MySpace to become the world's most popular social networking site with 132 million unique visitors in June, according to new figures from web tracking firm ComScore.
The study also found that Facebook's visitor growth far outpaced that of MySpace, with Facebook visits up 153 percent on an annual basis, compared to just three percent growth for MySpace. Other social networks showing strong global growth include Hi5 (100 percent) Friendster (50 percent), Orkut (41 percent) and Bebo (32 percent).
Space scientist from a star village
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : M.Y.S. Prasad, associate director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, has something common with Telugu movie stars Chiranjeevi and Krishnam Raju. All three are from Mogaltur village in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.
While Chiranjeevi and Krishnam Raju are movie stars turned politicians, Prasad sends rockets towards the stars.
As the man in charge of launch operations for India's first lunar mission that blasts off Wednesday, Prasad, 55, is now busy checking everything is in place, as the final countdown ticks on.
India’s lunarcraft hunts for ice on moon with NASA orbiter
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first lunarcraft Chandrayaan-1 Friday conducted a joint experiment with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) of the US's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to trace presence of ice in a dark crater near the North Pole of the moon, the Indian space agency said.
"The unique bi-static experiment was carried out jointly when Chandrayaan and Orbiter came closer while orbiting over the lunar North Pole where the permanently shadowed crater is located," the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here.
Endeavour poised for rare nighttime launch
By Xinhua
Beijing : Space shuttle Endeavour was poised for a rare nighttime liftoff Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center to the international space station, U.S. media reported.
Technicians at the center began fueling the shuttle late Monday afternoon with more than 500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) of supercold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen for the 2:28 a.m. EDT blast off as there were no major problems reported.
It will be the first shuttle launch in darkness since 2006. Only a quarter of all shuttles have been launched at nighttime.
No plans to put Indian on moon
By IANS,
New Delhi : India has no plans to put an astronaut on the moon -- as of now.
So said Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy in the Rajya Sabha Thursday.
NASA delays flight of Endeavor to avoid space jam
By IANS,
Washington : NASA has postponed the launch of its Endeavor space shuttle by 10 days after a scheduling conflict with Russia's Progress space freighter.
Mongolia seeks increased links with India in IT, mining
By IANS,
New Delhi: Mongolia Monday said it was looking for increased trade and commerce with India in the fields of mining and information technology.
Mongolian leaders, including Prime Minister Sukhbaataryn Batbold and chairman of the Mongolian State Great Hural (Parliament) D. Demberel made known their wish list during their meeting with visiting Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
A parliamentary delegation led by the speaker is on a five-day day visit to Mongolia.
Scientists duplicate keys with help of zoom lens
By IANS,
Washington : Computer scientists can now duplicate keys without looking at them; all they need is a photo or an image of the object, thanks to a new software.
They successfully decoded the image of a key, lifted from a distance of 195 feet with a cellphone camera, fed it into their software which then produced the information required to create copies.
In yet another example, they used a five-inch telephoto lens to capture images from the roof of a campus building and duplicate keys sitting on a café table more than 200 feet away.
World of Warcraft has roots in Everquest
By Heiko Haupt, DPA
San Diego : Start up the computer, go online and explore a strange fantasy world using a gaming character you've created on your own: the idea has become a familiar one thanks to the mass phenomenon known as World of Warcraft.
It may surprise some gamers to learn that the principle is hardly new. The first online role playing games started appearing as far back as the 1990s. Success would have to wait for the developers, however. It wasn't until 1999 that the title Ultima Online and the near-legendary Everquest helped the genre break through.
Atlantis astronauts end third spacewalk
By DPA,
Washington : Two astronauts from the space shuttle Atlantis ended the mission's third and last spacewalk after successfully installing an oxygen tank on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS).
The spacewalk on Monday lasted five hours and 42 minutes for astronauts Robert Satcher Jr and Randy Bresnik, who also performed other maintenance upgrades.
Atlantis is scheduled to begin its return journey to Earth on Wednesday, with touchdown at Cape Canaveral expected on Saturday.
Vietnam Launches First Satellite
By Prensa Latina
Hanoi : Vietnam will soon launch its first telecommunications satellite from South America, Deputy Director Nguyen Quang Hung of State Vinast Agency's Satellite Information Center informed on Wednesday.
The device arrived today at the Kourou launch base in the French Guiana Overseas Department and will be launched by the European Arianespace consortium at the end of March or early April, to be transferred to the National Post and Telecommunication Agency of Vietnam, indicated Hung.
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.
Pollution a reason for birth of girl children?
By IANS,
New York : Women exposed to high levels of certain kinds of pollutants are less likely to give birth to male children.
That's the startling finding of a new study that reviewed data on pregnant women in San Francisco who were exposed to high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) - a group of banned environmental pollutants - in the 1950s and 1960s.
And it's not an isolated finding either, reports ScienceDaily.
New technology purifies exhaust gas from diesel engines
By IANS,
London : The bulk of Danish vehicles fleet runs on diesel, which is causing air pollution in urban areas, from carbon particles, nitrogen oxides and unburned hydrocarbons.
A new four-year project at Ris� DTU (Danish Technical University) is developing an effective method for purifying flue gases, especially exhaust gases, from diesel engines.
The computer helper: restarting your PC
By Jay Dougherty, DPA,
Washington : With each new version of Windows, Microsoft promises that you'll have to restart your computer less often. But that promise never seems to materialise. Restarting a Windows PC is not only a dreaded task - thanks to the amount of time required to load Windows - but always seems to be required when you least desire it.
What's behind all of this restart madness, anyway, and is there a way to cut down on the number of times you need to restart? Read on for some answers.
Indian scientists evolve avalanche prediction system
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : In a boon for armed forces personnel deployed in high-altitude areas, defence scientists have developed a system for forecasting avalanches with maximum accuracy to enable corrective measures to be taken.
The system, developed by researchers of the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), can predict any given day as an "avalanche day" or "non-avalanche day".
India and China new pharma R&D hubs: study
By IANS,
New York : India and China are the new pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) hubs, with India having an edge in the race, a industry study released Wednesday said.
It said India was more mature in chemistry and drug-discovery activities than China. Chinese firms were more prevalent in less lucrative segments such as pre-clinical testing, animal experimentation and manufacturing.
India to witness partial lunar eclipse June 26
By IANS,
New Delhi : Look towards the east after sunset Sunday and you will see upper part of moon's disk darkened as parts of India witness a partial lunar eclipse.
The lunar eclipse is visible in eastern Asia, Australia, Antarctica, parts of the Americas and the Pacific Ocean, a statement from Ministry of Earth Sciences said Wednesday. This eclipse would be the last one in 2010 for India.
"Visibility in India will be at the end of the eclipse. The ending of the eclipse is visible from the extreme northeastern states at the time of moonrise during the eclipse," it said.
Andaman to get biomass power plant: Javadekar
New Delhi : Environment, Forests and Climate Change Minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Wednesday that his ministry has allotted Rs. 5 crore for a...
Space industry part of efforts to achieve vision 2020 – Malaysian PM
By NNN-Bernama
Ipoh (Malaysia) : The country's involvement in space industry is part of broader efforts to attain the Vision 2020 objective of turning Malaysia into a developed country, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
He said to bring about progress, the government had to implement various initiatives, one of which was Malaysia's foray into space science.
Kepler orbiting Sun as scheduled: NASA
By Xinhua,
Los Angeles : Kepler, a telescope that will scour the Milky Way for evidence of Earth-like planets, is orbiting the Sun as expected, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said Saturday.
Aboard a three-stage Delta 2 rocket, the Kepler telescope blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida around 7:50 p.m. Friday and successfully reached its orbit about an hour later.
Microsoft to strip Internet Explorer browser from European Windows
By DPA,
San Francisco : Microsoft is to strip its Internet Explorer browser from the new version of its Windows 7 operating system that it sells in Europe, the company announced Thursday.
Microsoft said the move was designed to meet criticism from European Union (EU) regulators who have launched an investigation into whether bundling the browser with the operating system is in breach of European anti-trust rules.
Scientists design first see-through computer chip
By IANS,
Washington : Korean scientists have fabricated a functional computer chip that is almost completely clear - the first of its kind.
The technology could spur development of clear computer and TV screens, embedded in glass or transparent plastic.
Besides, see-through electronics would make your room or wall more spacious by allowing such devices to be stacked in small clear spaces.
180 Google satellites to bring entire planet online
California : When you are busy chatting or surfing the internet, do you know that nearly 4.8 billion people - or two-third of the...
NASA to launch Discovery shuttle to ISS on Tuesday
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : The launch of the shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station is scheduled for 1:36 a.m. EDT [05:36 GMT] on Tuesday, a NASA spokesman told RIA Novosti on Monday.
The spokesman said Discovery's technical systems are in order and the launch could only be delayed due to a sudden change in the weather.
According to shuttle weather officer Kathy Winter, there is an 80% chance the shuttle will be launched on Tuesday.
New approach helps solar cells harvest light more efficiently
By IANS,
Washington : Lacing solar cells with nano-sized metallic particles will vastly improve their ability to harvest light more efficiently and cheaply.
Like plants, solar cells turn light into energy. Plants do this inside vegetable matter, while solar cells do it in a semiconductor crystal doped with extra atoms.
Current solar cells cannot convert all the incoming light into usable energy because some of the light can escape back out of the cell into the air.
Laughing gas threat no laughing matter
By IANS
London : Although laughing gas makes up only nine percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, it carries 300 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide, according to a study.
Yet, unlike carbon dioxide and methane, laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, has been largely ignored as a worrisome greenhouse gas.
"It can survive in the atmosphere for 150 years, and it's recognised in the Kyoto Protocol as one of the key gases we need to limit," said David Richardson of the University of East Anglia in Norwich.
Spacecraft lands near Mars’ north pole
By SPA,
Pasadena, California : NASA's newest outpost in the solar system is a polygon-cracked terrain in Mars' northern polar region believed to hold a reservoir of ice beneath.
Hours after the Phoenix Mars Lander softly landed Sunday in the Martian arctic plains, it dazzled scientists with the first-ever glimpse of the Red Planet's high northern latitudes.
A flood of images sent back by Phoenix revealed a landscape similar to what can be found in Earth's permafrost regions _ geometric patterns in the soil likely related to the freezing and thawing of ground ice.
Russian astronauts to Moon by 2025: official
By Xinhua
Moscow : Russia will send astronauts to the Moon by 2025 and establish a permanent station there between 2028 and 2032, a senior official said here Friday.
Russia, which sent the first cosmonaut to the space in 1961, has forged a long-range blueprint for its space industry up to 2040, said Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).
Ocean sank 1,100 km into earth, raising chain of volcanic islands
By IANS,
Sydney : Researchers have discovered how an entire ocean destroyed itself 50 to 20 million years ago when its floor sank 1,100 km into the earth between Australia and New Zealand.
Using new computer modelling programmes, Monash University geoscientist Wouter Schellart was able to reconstruct the resulting cataclysm when the ocean's tectonic plate sank into the earth's interior, forming a long chain of volcanic islands at the surface.
Microsoft delays Windows Vista switch to June 2008
By Xinhua
Beijing : Computer manufacturer feedback saying customers still want to purchase Windows XP has prompted Microsoft Corp. to delay a scheduled transition to its newer Windows Vista software to the end of June 2008.
The world's largest software maker introduced Windows Vista in January with the plan to phase out sales of its predecessor, Windows XP, by Jan. 30, 2008.
Advanced Micro Devices to focus on Indian computer market
By IANS,
Kolkata : Global computer-microprocessor manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Monday described India as an "investment hub" and said it would give more focus on the Indian computer market in the coming years.
"India is a great innovation centre for our company. The consumption of our products has increased here and we certainly view India as an investment hub," AMD corporate vice-president-Asia Pacific region Ian Williams told reporters.
He said AMD has four centres of excellence in India - two each in Hyderabad and Bangalore.
Iran pledges support for Iraq in fight against terrorism
Tehran: Tehran will continue supporting Baghdad in its fight against terrorism as Iraq's security was intertwined with that of Iran, President Hassan Rouhani has...
Measles? Third red spot seen in Jupiter’s atmosphere
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Recent imagery reveals a storm system has changed color in the planet Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere, creating a third "Red Spot" to join the centuries-old Great Red Spot and the 2-year-old Red Spot Jr.
The third reddish storm is west of the Great Red Spot in the same latitude band of clouds and is much smaller.
Climate change will set back ozone layer recovery: NASA
By IANS,
Washington : Global warming will set back the recovery of the ozone layer of the earth's atmosphere, warns a NASA study.
Previous studies have shown that while the build up of greenhouse gases makes it warmer in the troposphere, up to 10 km high from sea level, these gases actually cool the upper stratosphere, between 30 to 50 km high.
This cooling slows the chemical reactions that deplete ozone in the upper stratosphere and allows natural ozone production in that region to outpace destruction of the ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
Astro-pundits debate do’s and don’ts for solar eclipse
By IANS,
New Delhi : Chant the surya mantra, avoid eating out and postpone work and any major assignments, some astrologers warn about the impending eclipse Wednesday. Others, however, dismiss these warnings as "eclipse hysteria".
Astro-pundits are predicting a mixed bag when it comes to the solar eclipse.
The solar eclipse hemmed in between two lunar eclipses - one on July 7 and another Aug 6 - will affect those with Cancer in their birth charts, according to some astrologers.
Britain introduces biometric data collection in India
By IANS
New Delhi : Indian applicants will now have to wait longer to obtain a visa for the United Kingdom, as Britain will start collecting fingerprints and digital photographs of all visa seekers at its application collection centres in the country from Wednesday.
While Britain already has biometric data centres in around 130 countries, it encountered a legal problem in India due to restrictions on the transmission of the data electronically.
China sets eyes on Mars
By IANS,
Beijing : China will upgrade its lunar probe spacecraft for Mars exploration in the future, the country's top space scientist has said.
Botanical institute setting up on-line herbarium
By IANS,
Lucknow : The National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) here is setting up a digital herbarium through which about 250,000 plant specimens would be made available on-line to scientists across the globe.
"In order to facilitate research work, we decided to set up the herbarium that will provide the desired plant specimen at the click of the mouse," Tariq Husain, a scientist in the taxonomy and biodiversity division of the institute, told IANS.
The computer helper: mastering My Documents
By DPA
Washington : Odd as it may seem, one of the biggest problems many computer users face is knowing where their documents are - and how to move or save them.
Without this fundamental knowledge, it can be tough to locate important documents when you need them - or to feel like you're in control of your own computer.
The good news is that becoming a master of the My Documents folder is not as tough as it seems.
Over 300 use China’s fastest supercomputer
By IANS,
Beijing : The number of registered users of China's fastest supercomputer has crossed 300, the authorities said.
New Indian research chair at UCLA to study consciousness
By IANS
Los Angeles : The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) here will soon have another Indian chair.
The chair - to be named Dr Mani Bhaumik Chair of Consciousness Study - will be set up at the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology of the UCLA.
The university already has the Navin and Pratima Doshi Chair in Indian History, set up by Los Angeles-based millionaire Navin Doshi in 1999.
Beverly Hills-based physicist Mani Bhaumik, who co-invented the laser technology that made LASIK surgery possible, will fund the new chair, named after him.
China’s first lunar probe completes long journey to moon successfully
By Xinhua
Beijing : China's first lunar probe, Chang'e-1, completed its nearly two-million-km journey to the moon successfully Wednesday and entered its working orbit.
The probe, following instructions of the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC), started its third braking at 8.24 a.m. and entered a 127-minute round polar circular orbit at 8.34 a.m.
"It marks success of the probe's long flight to the moon," said Luan Enjie, chief commander of China's lunar probe project.
Planetary collision created Earth and Moon
By IANS,
London : The Earth and Moon were created as the result of a giant collision between two planets the size of Mars and Venus, research says.
The research from the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, shows that the Earth and Moon must have formed much later - perhaps up to 150 million years after the formation of the solar system, 4,567 million years ago.
Shenzhou VII locks in for return to earth after space walk
By Tham Choy Lin, NNN-Bernama,
Beijing : The Shenzhou VII space mission that pulled off China?s first spacewalk has entered into the journey back to earth and can expect a euphoric welcome on Sunday evening.
The return capsule carrying astronaut Zhai Zhigang, who performed the historic feat, and two other astronauts will touch down at about 5.40pm in the steppes of central Inner Mongolia, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Man behind Bose audio systems in Inventors’ Hall of Fame
By Parveen Chopra, IANS
New York : Amar Bose, a pioneer in modern acoustics who is known for the high-end audio products bearing his name, has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the US, which has previously honoured Thomas Edison, Graham Bell and the Wright Brothers.
Born in the US to a Bengali father and a German mother, Bose's name is in the 2008 list of 18 inventors to be honoured, 11 of them posthumously, by the Ohio-based Hall of Fame in May.
Giant fish discovered in the Atlantic
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have discovered a new species of fish, a grouper that grows to more than six feet and weighs almost 500 kg.
These Atlantic goliaths are not the same groupers that swim in Pacific waters, though they look identical.
"For more than a century, ichthyologists have thought that Pacific and Atlantic goliath grouper were the same species, and the argument was settled before the widespread use of genetic techniques.
Can Chandrayaan find water on Moon?
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's Chandrayaan-1 has begun its journey to the Moon -eagerly to find water on its surface - but there is a disappointing news from the Japanese lunar explorer Selene that has been circling the Moon for about a year.
Scientists, who are operating Selene, say that new images taken by a stereo camera onboard the spacecraft indicate that there may not be water or ice in Shackleton crater, the most likely place on Moon that was thought to have water.
The findings were published online Thursday by the American journal Science.
Microsoft releases first Vista service pack
By DPA
San Francisco : Microsoft released its first major update to its Windows Vista operating system Wednesday, prompting a flood of complaints from users who said the service pack fouled up their computers.
Microsoft made the free update available via its Windows Update website and said the software improved the stability, security and performance of the Vista. However it also warned that the service pack could clash with some security software and other programs customers may have installed on their machine.
Prehistoric rhinos roamed in Mexico, say scientists
By EFE,
Mexico City : The rhinoceros fossils kept in a museum in western Mexico belonged to an ancient rhino species called Teleoceras hicksi that lived more than four million years ago, scientists have said.
The fossils were found in the Jalisco state in the 1960s and preserved at the Regional Paleontology Museum in the state capital Guadalajara.
"When we learned that nobody had studied the fossils, we took the initiative and today we're describing for the first time a species that had been identified only in the US, lead researcher Ruben Guzman Gutierrez told EFE Thursday.
New smartphones with killer applications could replace PCs
By Andy Goldberg, DPA
Las Vegas : Think that cellphone in your pocket is pretty neat? Think again. Spurred by the phenomenal launch of the iPhone, the prospect of a Google phone and open networks, inventors and entrepreneurs around the world are feverishly developing plans to expand what mobile phones can do.
"They want to combine the computing power of the latest phones with social networks and location-tracking technologies to create a new generation of cell phones," says Simon Blitz, who runs a large cell phone wholesale company in the US.
Optical transmission key to secure, rapid indoor communications
By IANS,
Washington : Light is better than radio waves when it comes to some wireless communications, a new study has found.
Optical communications systems could provide faster, more secure communications with wider bandwidth and would be suitable for restricted areas like hospitals, aircraft and factories.
Sending information via light waves either in physical light guides or wirelessly is not new, but existing wireless systems either require direct line of sight or are diffused and have low signal strength.
Bangaloreans upset as clouds play spoilsport during eclipse
By IANS,
Bangalore : Compromising on their daily dose of sleep, hundreds of Bangaloreans woke up early morning to witness the century's longest solar eclipse Wednesday, but clouds played spoilsport during their much awaited adventure.
Around 200 scientists, research scholars and other people gathered at the Lalbagh Botanical Garden at 5.30 a.m. here but thick clouds unfortunately came in their way to witnessing the celestial spectacle.
Tomorrow’s phones may be powered by body heat
By DPA
Hamburg : Making calls from a cell phone without a battery, using just the warmth of your hand? Perhaps that's no more than a pipe dream right now. But new circuits being developed by researchers in Germany are already making it possible to harness body heat for generating electricity.
Numerous items of medical equipment are attached to a patient's body in the intensive care ward. They monitor the heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, pulse and breathing rate.
This tends to produce quite a jumble of cables as all these devices require their own electricity supply.
Watch out for Venus, Moon conjunction on New Year’s Eve
By IANS,
New Delhi : As the sun goes down Wednesday evening, two of the brightest objects in the winter sky - Venus and Moon - will get together to bid farewell to 2008.
A beautiful conjunction of Venus and the slender crescent Moon will be visible in the southwestern sky for hours after sunset on New Year's Eve.
"The winter sky is very clear and you can have a spectacular vision of the celestial activity even with naked eyes," Nehru Planetarium director N. Rathnasree told IANS.
World record: Artificial insemination of blackbuck
By IANS
Hyderabad : Scientists here have succeeded in artificial insemination of a blackbuck by using a non-invasive method, leading to the birth of a live fawn. Encouraged by the feat, they now plan to implement it for saving other endangered species also.
Scientists at the Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) of the prestigious Centre for Cellular Molecular Biology (CCMB) here are excited about the success achieved for the first time in the world.
Scientists invent bionic eyeball to cure blindness
By DPA,
Hamburg : German scientists have invented a wireless bionic eyeball that can restore vision to patients who have become blind due to retina damage or disease.
The new prosthetic device caps 12 years of research to help these patients. This work has resulted in a unique system - a fully implantable visual prosthesis.
The scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems in Duisburg, Germany, say that the bionic eye can bypass the damaged retina.
The system comprises an implant and an external transmitter integrated in an eyeglasses-frame.
Yahoo launches voice-search via mobile
By DPA
San Francisco/Las Vegas : Yahoo Wednesday unveiled a powerful new version of its OneSearch technology for mobile phones that allows users to initiate searches faster using voice or text.
The new search module is believed to be the first voice-activated search available via cell phone. The company has already signed partnerships with 29 carriers around the world.
It will also make search instantly accessible on the idle screen of many phones and is seen by the company as a key plank of its strategy to make Yahoo the starting point for mobile consumers.
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.
Astronauts stop operation of torn solar array
By DPA
Washington : Space Shuttle Discovery astronauts discovered what appeared to be a tear in a solar array wing installed during a spacewalk aboard the orbiting International Space Station, halting an operation to reposition and activate the 17.5-tonne solar array and truss.
US astronauts Scott Parazynski and Douglas Wheelock spent more than seven hours outside in an operation with other crewmembers inside the station Tuesday.
Site for Agra international airport to be finalized by March
By IANS,
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday announced that a suitable site for the proposed international airport at Agra would be finalized by March next year.
S Korea to change astronaut candidate under request by Russia
By Xinhua
Seoul : South Korean Science Ministry may change the candidate for South Korea's first astronaut under request by Russian evaluators, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday.
The Russian evaluators wanted to change Ko San, who was selected by South Korean Science Ministry last September as the country's first astronaut candidate, to Yi So-yeon, Yonhap quoted an unnamed official of the ministry as saying.
The official hinted that the Russian side made the request as Ko may have violated training protocol, Yonhap said.
eBay settles Skype software suit
By DPA,
San Francisco : E-commerce giant eBay has settled its long-running legal feud with the founders of Skype, clearing the way for a $2-billion sale of the internet telephony pioneer, the company announced Friday.
Under the terms of the settlement, Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis will get a 14 percent stake in the consortium buying Sykpe from eBay in return for an undisclosed cash investment and the withdrawal of their lawsuits.
Scientists identify structure of key bacteria component
By IANS,
London : Scientists have identified the structure of a key component of the bacteria behind such diseases as whooping cough, peptic stomach ulcers and Legionnaires' disease.
The research sheds light on how antibiotic resistance genes spread from one bacterium to another. These findings may open the way for development of more effective treatments and curtail spread of antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotic resistance spreads when genetic material is exchanged between two bacteria, one of which has mutated to be resistant to the drugs.
Hubble discovers 67 more galaxies
By IANS
New York : The Hubble space telescope has discovered 67 "lensing" galaxies in the distant universe, under the massive COSMOS project to map space.
Gravitational lensing occurs when light travelling towards us from a distant galaxy is magnified and distorted by unusually huge clusters of other galaxies.
Greenhouse gases increased sharply in 2007
By IANS,
Washington : Global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the primary driver of climate change, increased by 0.6 percent or 19 billion tonnes last year.
Additionally methane rose by 27 million tonnes after nearly a decade with little or no increase. National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists released these and other preliminary findings as part of an annual update on agency's greenhouse gas index, which tracks data from 60 sites worldwide.
US scientists find fresh evidence of life on Mars
By IANS,
Pasadena (California) : There is fresh evidence pointing to life on Mars in the distant past, US scientists claim.
In two new studies, the scientists report that Mars once hosted vast lakes, flowing rivers and a variety of other wet environments that had the "potential to support life".
They reached this conclusion on the basis of data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) and two other instruments on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
Indian-origin scientist pioneers ‘green’ steel technology
By Neena Bhandari
Sydney(IANS) : Millions of tonnes of waste plastic will be recycled into steel. The breakthrough Australian 'green' steel technology, which cuts coke and coal demand and reduces emission, has been invented by a Mumbai-born University of New South Wales (UNSW) materials scientist, Veena Sahajwalla.
Sahajwalla, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kanpur, told IANS: "Plastic is simply another form of carbon. In making steel there's essentially no difference between the polyethylene plastic in shopping bags and a natural resource like coal."
Astronauts enter space station’s new module, fix balky toilet
By Xinhua,
Washington : The U.S. space shuttle Discovery's crew and residents on the International Space Station opened the newly installed Japanese Kibo science module and solved the pressing toilet issue on Wednesday.
At 5:09 p.m. EDT (2109 GMT), Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide entered the bus-sized module for the first time, followed by his fellow space shuttle and space station crew members.
Hoshide floated toward a television camera with a sign that said "welcome" in English and Japanese.
TERI to set up 15 biotech labs in northeast India
By IANS
New Delhi : Environmental watchdog and research organisation The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI) will set up 15 laboratories in northeastern India to help students with environmental and biotechnological experiments.
The 15 laboratories would be set up in the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura with facilities to provide computer education, taxonomic studies, microbiological and biotechnological experiments among schoolchildren.
Come rain or shine, India’s lunar mission to keep Oct 22 date
By IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh): Come rain or shine, India's maiden moon mission to be launched from here Oct 22 will proceed as scheduled, with scientists at work to weatherproof the project.
Except for a a severe cyclone, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C11 will blast off from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) here as scheduled.
Chinese people to select country’s 10 best scientists
By IANS,
Beijing : The Chinese public will help select the country's 10 best scientists and technicians in a vote that will show "respect for knowledge and innovation".
Security flaw tarnishes Firefox download record
By DPA,
San Francisco : The new version of the Firefox browser was downloaded over eight million times in its first 24 hours of release in what organisers claimed was a world record.
But the success was tempered by reports from a software security company that Firefox 3.0 contained a serious security flaw that potentially lets an attacker take over a PC if a user clicks on a booby-trapped link.
According to the Mozilla foundation that released the new browser, the software was downloaded 8.3 million times in its first 24 hours of release starting Tuesday morning.
Harbhajan breaks into top 20 in ICC ODI bowlers’ chart
By IANS
Dubai : Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh climbed five places to enter top 20 while pacer Ishant Sharma climbed up 96 places to be placed 154th in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) One-day Internationals (ODI) bowlers rankings.
Harbhajan, the only Indian in top 20, is 18th with 618 rating points while the Delhi's Ishant, 19, who has made significant impact on his first tour to Australia. He has claimed six wickets in four matches in the ongoing Commonwealth Bank Triangular Series.
Teacher reaches to stars, 21 years after Challenger disaster
By DPA
Washington : Barbara Morgan taught math and reading in the Rocky Mountains, then English and science in the Andes but she wanted to go to even greater heights. The 55-year-old Californian has now taken her classroom to space.
Morgan took off last week as part of the space shuttle Endeavour's seven-member crew.
Even before the astronaut has had the chance to teach for students via satellite, she gave a lesson in perseverance.
No threat to pacemakers from iPods: Study
By IANS
New York : Here is relief for gizmo-lovers with a heart condition - no, "electronic noise" from iPods does not cause cardiac pacemakers to trip, a new study says.
Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston were intrigued by a widely reported study last May that concluded errant electronic noise from iPods could cause implantable cardiac pacemakers to malfunction.
This just did not sound right to the hospital's cardiac electro-physiologists who have seen hundreds of children, teens and young adults with heart conditions requiring pacemakers, ScienceDaily reported.
Web surveillance can keep lethal infections at bay
By IANS,
Toronto: Integrating real-time web-based infectious disease surveillance with knowledge of worldwide air traffic patterns could help keep lethal infections at bay at mass gatherings.
For instance, during the 1991 International Special Olympic Games in the US, an outbreak of measles was triggered by an athlete from Argentina, where a concurrent measles epidemic was underway.
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.
5,000 pounds of scientific cargo on way to ISS
Washington : NASA late Sunday sent a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft skyward laden with 5,000 pounds of scientific equipment and supplies destined for use by...
Russian water detector to ride piggyback on US lunar orbiter
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) has had the final touches added at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and has been sent to the US to be installed on the American Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), scheduled to be launched in early 2009.
The aim of the mission is to map the Moon's surface. The task of the Russian device is to look for hydrogen and hydrogen-containing compounds, above all frozen water, in the lunar subsurface.
Using bats to help tropical reforestation
By IANS,
London : German scientists have hit upon a novel yet cost-effective idea to revive reforestation in the tropics - by using bats as seed dispersers.
They have designed bat roosts - replicating large, hollow trunks - to boost seed dispersal of a range of tropical plants.
"So far we have found 10 bat species using the roosts, and several of these are common and important seed dispersers," said Detlev Kelm of the Institute of Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin.
Zenit rocket to orbit Israeli satellite in March
By RIA Novasti
Moscow : The launch of a modified Zenit rocket to put an Israeli communications satellite into orbit has been scheduled for March 2008, a Baikonur space center official said on Friday.
Russia started preparations for the launch of a Zenith-3SLB rocket with an Israeli AMOS-3 satellite on board from the space center in Kazakhstan in October last year.
"For the first time, a three-stage Zenit rocket will be launched from this [Baikonur] space center," Oleg Urusov said.
NASA experts arrive in Chile to help in miners’ rescue
By DPA,
Santiago : Experts of the US space agency NASA arrived in Chile Tuesday to contribute to the rescue of 33 miners trapped 700 metres under the Atacama desert in northern Chile.
The experts were met at the airport by Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich. They are set to help rescue efforts in psychological, operational and health-related aspects, among others.
Microsoft profits decline
By DPA,
New York : Software giant Microsoft Corp has reported sales of $13.1 billion for the latest quarter, well below Wall Street expectations of more than $14 billion.
The PC market has dwindled for three straight quarters.
The company, based in Redmond, Washington, saw profits for the fourth quarter of its budget year drop 29 percent amid falling demand for its Office software package and Windows operating system.
"The economy continues to be challenging, and we need to lift our game to another level," chief financial officer Chris Liddell said.
Soap that cleans clothes with less water
By IANS
Melbourne : Wasting water to rinse that extra lather from your clothes may be a thing of the past now. Scientists in Australia have developed a detergent that cleans clothes with less water.
Normal detergents contain surfactant molecules, which are oil-friendly at one end to capture dirt and water-friendly at the other to pull it away. They also tend to form bubbles, which require extra water to rinse.
Ariane 5 rocket blasts off with two satellites
By Xinhua,
Paris : An Ariane 5 ECA launcher carrying a British military satellite and a Turkish telecoms satellite lifted off from Europe's Spaceport at Kourou, in French Guiana, Thursday night.
The rocket carrying Skynet 5C and Turksat 3A blast off at 2205 GMT Thursday night and the satellites were accurately injected into the geostationary transfer orbits about 30 minutes later, said a statement posted on the website of the European Space Agency.
The launch, which had been slated for May 23, has been postponed twice due to technical hitches.
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.
Glaciers in southern Alps shrinking at alarming rate
By IANS,
Sydney : Glaciers in the southern Alps have lost 2.2 billion tonnes of permanent ice in a year since April 2007, the fourth highest annual loss since monitoring began.
For the past 32 years, the New Zealand based National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has been surveying 50 glaciers in the southern Alps, using a small fixed wing aircraft, to record the height of the snow line at the end of summer
NASA ready to launch satellite to explore sun
By DPA,
Washington : NASA planned to launch a solar probe Wednesday to help unlock more secrets about the sun, whose massive storms affect earth's weather and can pose danger to earth dwellers.
The Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO) is the "crown jewel" of a fleet of NASA satellites planned to collect more details about what's going on underneath and above the surface of the sun, said Michael Luther, a NASA official who is overseeing the programme, in a webcast briefing.
Weather a concern as Atlantis countdown continues
By DPA
Washington : The weather is a concern for the US space agency NASA as the countdown for the delayed launch of the Atlantis space shuttle for an 11-day mission continues.
Weather forecasts gave a 30 percent chance of "acceptable conditions" at the scheduled 2.45 p.m. (1945 GMT) Thursday launch time from Cape Canaveral, Florida with the possibility of storms and clouds, NASA said.
The launch could also take place Friday, when there is a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions, or Saturday, with a 70 percent chance of good weather.
Brazilian earth station to get data from Indian satellites
New Delhi : India and Brazil Wednesday signed an agreement in Brasilia on cooperation in augmentation of a Brazilian earth station for receiving and...
Three rules ‘must’ for optimising technology use for progress
By IANS,
Washington : Use of technology can be optimised for ensuring social progress if policy makers are clear about how to apply it and know what to expect from their efforts.
Daniel Sarewitz of Arizona State University (ASU) and Richard Nelson of Columbia University described three rules that can help technology and science policy makers become smarter about where to apply technological fixes and what to expect as a result.
Japan’s space lab set, Canada’s new robot next
By SPA
Houston : Spacewalking astronauts will work on assembling a Canadian robotic system on Saturday following the successful installation of the first segment of Japan's lab on the International Space Station.
According to Reuters, Saturday's spacewalk will be the second of five planned during space shuttle Endeavour's busy 16-day mission in space.
The plans had been in doubt until late on Friday when power was restored to the robotic system.
But Friday was Japan's moment of space glory.
NASA to probe Jupiter’s stormy clouds
By IANS,
London : NASA will launch a spacecraft Friday to unravel the secrets of Jupiter, the largest planet in the universe.
‘N-submarines with missiles offer best second-strike chance’
By IANS,
Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu): Nuclear-powered submarines with capacity to launch ballistic missiles offer the best second-strike capability for a nation, an Indian naval officer said here Sunday.
"It is the only system that offers safe second-strike capability. The normal range of submarine-launched ballistic missiles will be 8,000 km. Compared to land-based missile launch pads, submarines are difficult to detect," Rear Admiral Michael Moraes, Flag Officer (submarines), told reporters at Kalpakkam, around 45 km from Chennai.
Deep space network to track India’s lunar mission
By IANS
Bangalore : The Indian space agency is bracing up for its first lunar exploration mission Chandrayaan-1 due April next year by setting up a deep space network (DSN) near this IT hub.
The network, coming up at Byalalu, about 45 km from here, and comprising mainly two powerful dish antennas of 32-metre and 18-metre diameter, will keep track of the unmanned moon mission and provide command support during its two-year orbit around earth's only natural satellite.
Pluto-bound New Horizons sees changes in Jupiter system
Washington, Oct 10 (Xinhua) The voyage of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft through the Jupiter system earlier this year provided a bird's-eye view of a dynamic planet that has changed since the last close-up observations by NASA spacecraft, the federal space agency reported.
New Horizons passed Jupiter Feb 28, riding the planet's gravity to boost its speed and shave three years off its trip to Pluto.
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.
TV signals caused Russian rocket to miss ISS: NASA
By DPA,
Moscow/Washington : Television signals caused a Russian cargo rocket to miss its rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS), NASA officials said Saturday.
The engineers indicated they would avoid activating the system during Sunday's second attempt to dock, NASA officials said.
The Progress 38 cargo rocket missed its rendezvous with the ISS by three km late Friday. A new effort to dock is to be made at 1600 GMT Sunday and be broadcast life on NASA television.
Found: Second smallest planet outside solar system
By IANS,
Washington : Astronomers have detected an extrasolar planet with a mass just four times that of Earth.
The planet, which orbits its parent star HD156668 about once every four days, is the second-smallest world among the more than 400 exoplanets (planets located outside our solar system) that have been found to date.
It is located approximately 80 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Hercules.
Satyam to remain stand alone entity, says Mahindra
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Tech Mahindra, the new owner of Satyam Computer Services, Monday said the fraud-hit IT major would remain a stand-alone entity in the foreseeable future.
Excited about the prospects of the fraud-hit IT major, the buyer declared that restoring Satyam's financial health will be its priority.
After the first meeting with the government-appointed board, Anand Mahindra, chief of Mahindra Group, said Satyam would remain a stand-alone unit in the foreseeable future and its leadership would continue with marginal changes.
Russia launches military satellite
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia Monday launched a Soyuz-U carrier rocket with a Cosmos class military satellite on board, an official said.
Melting tundra will tumble vast carbon waste into Arctic Ocean
By IANS,
London : Rise in temperature is already causing the sea ice in the Arctic to melt. If Arctic tundra also follows suit, it will tumble vast organic wastes into rivers heading for the Arctic Ocean, upping carbon dioxide emissions, fear scientists.
"Large amounts of organic carbon are currently stored within the permafrost. If released, they will result in an increased release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere," says Sofia Hjalmarsson, who submitted her doctoral thesis at Gothenburg University.
Less than 1 percent spent on R&D in science
By IANS
New Delhi : A mere 0.8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is spent on research and development in science and technology, the Lok Sabha was informed Tuesday.
Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said the government had taken several measures to increase spending on science and technology.
"These measures include higher allocation for scientific research for setting up new institutions for science, education and research," he said.
Study space science, break my records, Sunita tells students
By IANS
Ahmedabad : Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams, on a week-long visit to Gujarat, Saturday advised students to study space science for the exciting opportunities it offers and also to "break my records".
Speaking at a felicitation programme in her honour by Gujarat University, Sunita said space science was increasingly concerned with making the earth safe from the "effects of vacuum, a darkness that is beyond black and the massive temperature deviations in space".
Carbon dioxide levels already in danger zone
By IANS,
Washington : Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have entered the danger zone and must be reduced if climate disasters are to be averted, according to researchers.
US, British and French scientists, including two from Yale, said in a study that optimum CO2 level should be less than 350 parts per million (ppm) - a dramatic change from most studies that have pegged the danger level for CO2 at 450 ppm or higher.
Atmospheric CO2 is currently 385 ppm and is increasing by about two ppm every year from the burning of coal, oil, gas and forests.
GPS – a new tool to detect clandestine N-tests
By IANS,
Washington : US researchers are unveiling a new tool for detecting illegal nuclear explosions: the earth's global positioning system (GPS).
It takes peanuts to clean water
By IANS
London : Peanut husk, one of the largest waste products of the food industry, may be of some use after all -- it can help improve water quality, says a new study.
According to researchers at Turkey's Mersin University, peanut husk can be used to extract toxic copper ions from wastewater, offering a useful alternative to simple disposal of this food industry by-product.
Findings of the study have been published in the latest edition of the International Journal of Environment and Pollution.
Apple share tops $700 on iPhone 5 success
By IANS,
New York: Apple's stocks closed higher than $700 per share for the first time after Tuesday's trading, as orders for its new iPhone 5 hit a new record.
Andhra signs MoU with TISS to improve students’ employability
Hyderabad: The government of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday signed an MoU with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to increase employability of students...
India to launch three satellites next month
By IANS,
Chennai : India will launch three satellites next month and two more by the end of this year, said a senior official here.
NASA found no evidence of drunken astronauts on flights
By DPA
Washington : NASA administrators have said they could find no evidence that astronauts had flown drunk, despite accusations that had arisen in an independent report last month.
An internal review by the space agency found no evidence of cases in the past 20 years when astronauts were allowed to launch despite protests from flight surgeons or other officials, NASA administrator Michael Griffin said at a press conference Wednesday.
Cloudy skies mar solar eclipse
By IANS,
New Delhi : Cloudy skies in large parts of northern and western India Wednesday marred a clear view of the century's longest total solar eclipse but the celestial spectacle was clearly visible over Varanasi.
Tens of thousands of people across the country rose early to see the eclipse that was to begin at the earliest at 5:29 a.m. and end at 7:41 a.m. in India.
It was to have been clearly visible in places like Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Varanasi, Patna, Taregna near Patna, Daman, Darjeeling, Dibrugarh, Gangtok, Gaya, Itanagar, Ujjain and Vadodra.
Google splashes $2 bn on New York office
By DPA,
New York : Internet powerhouse Google is muscling in on New York. The web search giant confirmed Wednesday that it had bought one of the most prestigious office buildings in Manhattan.
EU to launch calls for science and technology projects in India
By Pushpranjan, EuAsiaNews,
New Delhi : In order to raise awareness in the field of science and technology (S&T), the European Commission will launch the Framework Programme 7 (FP7) here at the end of July.
The Delegation of the European Commission to India, in cooperation with the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, will organise a series of information seminars in New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Cochin, Mumbai and Pune from 7 to 18 July.
Russia to develop new rocket for manned space flight
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia's space agency will soon invite a tender to develop a new carrier rocket for its manned flight programme, a top space official said Wednesday.
"A special commission will determine the design criteria (for the new space vehicle) and the domestic companies eligible for participation in the tender," said Anatoly Perminov, the head of the Federal Space Agency.
Stretchable silicon camera a step closer to artificial retina
By IANS,
Washington : The human eye has inspired a new technology that is likely to push the limits of photography by producing vastly better images over a wider field of view.
The remarkable imaging device has been made possible by combining stretchable optoelectronics and biologically inspired design like the layout of the eye.
University of Illinois and Northwestern University researchers have developed a high-performance, hemispherical "eye" camera using an array of single-crystalline silicon detectors and electronics, configured in a stretchable, interconnected mesh.
IT connect to help police speed up probe
By IANS,
New Delhi: The government has cleared a project to interconnect 14,000 police stations and 6,000 police officers across the county for speedy investigation of crime and detection of criminals in real time, parliament was informed Wednesday.
Genetically modified plants likely to yield more biofuel
By IANS,
Washington : Genetically modified plants will open up ways to make cheaper, greener biofuels, besides helping turn agricultural waste into food for livestock.
Lignin, a major component of plants, is woven in with cellulose and provides plants with the strength to withstand strong gusts of wind and microbial attack. However, this protective barrier or "plastic wall" also makes it harder to gain access to the cellulose.
Oriya portal offers free breaking news on mobile phone
By IANS
Bhubaneswar : An Oriya news portal is offering free news briefs to all its readers through SMS.
The portal, www.odisha.com, has introduced the service after a tie-up with SMSGupShup, a free group messaging service provided by Mumbai-based Webaroo Technology India Pvt Ltd.
The portal already introduced last month a premium local breaking news service for mobile subscribers. It has now said it would also provide the news for free. The free news would contain advertisements.
Be careful when accessing your computer from afar
By Nabeel A. Khan, IANS,
New Delhi : Be careful when you access your computer over the Internet. Here are some safety tips:
* Install file-sharing software carefully, so that you know what's being shared.
* Person to person (P2P) file-sharing applications will, by default, share downloads in your "save" or "download" folder - unless you set it not to.
* You should also restrict users' ability to write files to the file server.
* Limit guests or anonymous accounts sharing so none can upload files.
Chandrayaan fine, spinning in earth’s elliptical orbit
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 is doing fine and has completed four orbits around the earth, a top space official said Thursday, a day after it was launched from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.
"The health of the spacecraft is normal and (it is) doing fine. Spinning in elliptical orbit once in every six hours and 30 minutes, it has completed four orbits and is in the fifth orbit," the official told IANS.