Eclipse gazing a big hit with students, say schools
By IANS,
New Delhi : The excitement over the century's longest solar eclipse was not confined to science centres and planetariums. Schools that had organised sun gazing exercises in their premises Wednesday said that it was a big hit with students who made a beeline to watch the phenomenon.
Bringing alive all the science lessons that they have been studying in classrooms, the eclipse gazing events drew a lot of enthusiasm - not just from the students but from the teachers as well.
Ammonia leak causes trouble on spacewalk
By DPA,
Washington : Two astronauts spent more than eight hours outside the International Space Station (ISS), but were unable to make much progress fixing a broken cooling system after part of it proved difficult to disconnect and leaked dangerous ammonia.
Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson were to replace the broken 350-kg ammonia cooling loop with a spare part stored about 10 metres away outside the ISS during the spacewalk that began at 1119 GMT.
Manmohan Singh presented Chandrayaan-1, PSLV models
By IANS,
New Delhi : Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair Friday briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the success of India's maiden moon mission and presented him models of Chandrayaan-I and its launch vehiclE PSLV.
Nair briefed the prime minister about the launch sequence and subsequent maneuvering of the spacecraft to reach the final lunar orbit.
“The health of the spacecraft is good and all the operations so far have been implemented as planned,” the space department said in a statement quoting the conversation during the meeting.
Overcast sky may spoil chances of watching solar eclipse
By IANS,
New Delhi : An overcast sky may spoil the excitement of watching Friday's solar eclipse in the national capital since the weatherman has forecast rain and thundershowers.
“The weather overall seems bad and going by the meteorological department's forecast for Delhi, the chances of watching the solar eclipse are low,” N. Rathnashree, Nehru Planetarium director, told IANS.
In New Delhi, the eclipse begins at 4.03 p.m. and ends at 5.56 p.m. The eclipse peaks at 5:02 p.m., when about 62.4 percent of the sun's diameter is eclipsed.
Google Glass 2.0 coming soon?
New York: Google may be testing the next version of the Google Glass called GG1, media reports said.
Google has a new eye wearable device...
Scientists create wonder alloys for aerospace industry
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have created titanium based metallic-glass composites - wonder alloys that are not only lighter, tougher and cheaper than existing compounds, but can be bent into any shape and are ideal for use in aerospace applications.
Earlier this year, the work by the same Caltch (California Institute of Technology) group had resulted in "alloys with unrivaled strength and toughness," noted Douglas Hofmann, visiting scientist and co-author of the current study.
Scientists rule out possibility of asteroid colliding with Mars
By Xinhua
Los Angeles : U.S. scientists ruled out on Friday the possibility of a collision between an approaching asteroid and Mars.
Tracking measurements of asteroid 2007 WD5 taken from four observatories have greatly reduced uncertainties about its Jan. 30close approach to Mars so that the odds of impact have dropped to 1 in 10,000, said the Near-Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory based in Pasadena, California. The program normally looks for asteroids and comets that could pose a hazard to Earth.
‘ICT the DNA of modern warfare’
By IANS,
New Delhi : Information and communications technology has become the DNA of modern day warfare, making the development of appropriate technology to ensure information dominance over the adversary a very pertinent issue for India's armed forces, Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju said here Tuesday.
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.
Astronauts at space station kick off first of five spacewalks
By Xinhua
Washington : Two astronauts at the International Space Station kicked off the first of a series of spacewalks to assemble new components for the orbital outpost, NASA TV reported Thursday.
The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour's crew member Rick Linnehan and Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman stepped out of the station at 9:18 p.m. EDT on Thursday (0118 GMT on Friday). The excursion will last for about six hours and a half.
Access to indiscreet Facebook updates a click away
By IANS,
London : Indiscreet updates posted by the users of social networking website Facebook for their small group of friends can now be read by anyone with the help of a new internet search engine.
The search engine Openbook scans all "public" updates left by members of the social networking site, making them available to anyone through internet.
The software has been created to highlight Facebook's complex privacy settings, which have been blamed for confusing users into disclosing personal information more than they intend.
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.
India adds record 15.6 mn new phone users in March
By IANS,
New Delhi : Showing no signs of any slowdown and backed by heavy rural demand, India added a record 15.87 million new phone connections in March, to take its telecom density to nearly 40 percent, fresh data said Wednesday.
India, which already boasts of the second-largest telecom user base in the world after China's and ahead of the US, now has 429.72 million telecom subscribers, both in the wireless and mobile segments, with a record growth of 59.48 percent last fiscal.
EU to study Microsoft’s software compatibility announcement
By DPA,
Brussels : The European Commission said Thursday it had taken note of Microsoft's plans to improve the compatibility of its word processor with free-of-charge rival softwares.
In a statement, the European Union (EU) executive said it hoped that Microsoft's announcement that it would provide support for formats used by other open-source programmes would lead to "better interoperability and allow consumers to process and exchange their documents with the software product of their choice".
Study: Baby bird’s chirping like baby’s babbling
By Xinhua,
Beijing : How baby birds learn to sing is just like how babies learn to talk, researchers reported in Friday's edition of the journal Science.
Michale S. Fee at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studied the brains of baby zebra finches as the little birds learned the unique song they would use as adults.
"Young birds learn their songs in a series of stages. They start out just as humans do, by babbling," Fee said, while the adult bird produces a very precise pattern of sound.
Software piracy drops in India, losses still above $2 bn
By IANS,
Mumbai : Software piracy levels in India dropped by three percent in 2009, but these still remained high at 65 percent of the total software programmes installed on computers in the country, causing losses of around $2 billion to the industry, says a study.
Terminate sanctions on day of implementing n-deal: Iran
Tehran: The international economic sanctions on Iran should be completely lifted when a nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of world powers enters into...
Carbon dioxide dictates global climate pattern
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have found the apparent role of carbon dioxide in the intensification of the Ice Ages and corresponding temperature changes in the tropical oceans.
The research, led by a team of Brown University, has established that the climate in the tropics over the last 2.7 million years changed with the cyclical spread and retreat of ice sheets thousands of miles away in the Northern Hemisphere.
India gets its first Hindi e-commerce site
By IANS,
New Delhi : The country got its first e-commerce site in Hindi Wednesday. Ezeego1.com, the country's first meta search travel site, launched its new Indian langauge window for the vast Hindi-speaking travel market so that customers in the tier II and tier III cities can book flight tickets on domestic circuits.
Unveiling the new vertical, hindi-ezeego1.com, here, the chief operating officer of Ezeego1.com, Neelu Singh, said there was a huge market in north India that was comfortable with both English and Hindi, but preferred transacting their business in Hindi.
Are rare trees in Amazon rainforest on way to extinction?
By IANS,
Washington : Common tree species will survive deforestation and road-building, but half of the rare trees in the Amazon could become extinct, Smithsonian scientists have warned.
How resilient will natural systems be as they tide over decades of severe, human-induced global change? The debate is on between proponents of models that maximise and minimise extinction rates.
BlackBerry makers launch new smart model to take on iPhone
By IANS,
Toronto : Global telecom major Research in Motion (RIM), makers of mobile handset BlackBerry, has finally unveiled its much touted BlackBerry Bold smartphone.
The new device, which comes within weeks of the global launch of Apple's iPhone, was launched in Austria Thursday. Like the iPhone, the BlackBerry Bold will also operate on the much faster, next-generation 3G network and has a built-in GPS.
Endeavour returns to Earth after 17-day mission
By DPA,
Washington: The space shuttle Endeavour landed at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida Friday carrying a seven-member crew of US, Canadian and Japanese astronauts.
The landing at 1448 GMT marked the end of the 17-day mission that saw the completion of the Japanese laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS).
The Endeavour brought an external platform to the station that was installed on the Japanese Kibo laboratory during the first of the mission's five spacewalks. The porch will expose experiments to the extremities of space.
Life under threat as more ultraviolet radiation to hit earth
By IANS,
Toronto : Rapid climate changes are set to redistribute the already shrinking ozone layer, exposing earth's southern parts up to 20 percent more ultraviolet radiation, warns a Canadian study.
Concentrated in the stratosphere from 10 km to 50 km above the earth, the ozone layer protects life on the planet by absorbing more than 90 percent of deadly ultraviolet rays coming from the sun. Ultraviolet rays cause genetic changes and trigger various cancers.
’60 percent of country’s CO2 emissions are from power sector’
By IANS,
New Delhi : The power sector accounts for around 60 percent of the conuntry's carbon dioxide emissions, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said Wednesday.
"The power sector approximately accounts for 60 percent of the total carbon dioxide emissions generated in the country," Ramesh told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.
He said thermal power generation accounts for around 64 percent of the total power generation in the country.
Coal, gas and diesel-based power generation contribute approximately 82 percent, 17 percent and one percent of the thermal power generation.
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.
KLM opts for Kerala firm’s crew management solution
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : IBS Software Services, a provider of information technology (IT) solutions to the travel, transportation and logistics industry, has signed an agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for providing a crew management solution.
The company said here Thursday the airline will gradually replace the existing mainframe system with IBS crew management solution AvientCrew.
AvientCrew will help KLM manage all aspects of their crew operations - from planning vacations and roster systems, to tracking performance.
Indian IT solutions firm forays into Egypt
By IANS,
Bangalore : Leading IT solutions provider IDS Softwares Ltd has forayed into Egypt to automate the hospitality industry and extend its footprint in North African countries, a top company official said.
“We have already bagged a deal from Egypt’s leading hotel chain Pyramisa Hotels to deploy our suite of products developed at our global R&D facility in Bangalore to automate its operations,” IDS general manager Rajesh P. Yadav said in a statement here late Thursday.
Hanover Fair highlights Japanese robots and sumo
By Yuriko Wahl, DPA,
Hanover (Germany) : Innovations from Japan, including robots and a virtual power station, are to have pride of place at the Hanover Fair in Germany next week alongside sumo wrestlers and traditional taiko drummers.
The April 21-25 fair has appointed high-tech Japan this year as partner nation. The annual fair, with 5,100 companies from 62 nations exhibiting, is a major venue for showing heavy industrial equipment.
Binary asteroid comes close to Earth this week
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : In a month packed with celestial activity, sky gazers in India can watch out for a binary asteroid close to Earth this week - albeit with the help of a telescope.
Asteroid 2008 BT18 is gliding past Earth and astronomers have just discovered that it is a binary system.
"Radar images of the close-approaching space rock reveal two components, a primary and a secondary asteroid. Among all the near-Earth asteroids only a handful come this close," Nehru Planetarium director N. Rathnashree told IANS
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.
Kashmir varsity produces world’s first cloned pashmina goat
By IANS,
Srinagar : Scientists at the agricultural university in the Jammu and Kashmir capital have successfully produced the world's first cloned pashmina goat, a statement said Tuesday.
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.
China launches orbiter for global navigation system
By IANS,
Beijing : China Sunday launched an orbiter into space for its satellite navigation and positioning network.
It was the third orbiter that China has launched for its independent satellite navigation and positioning network, also known as Beidou or Compass system.
Xinhua news agency reported that the new satellite was launched from the Xichang satellite launch centre in southwestern Sichuan province by a Long-March-III carrier rocket.
ISRO, NASA tie up for space exploration
By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has joined hands with the US's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for space explorations, parliament was informed Wednesday.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Prithviraj Chavan said the framework agreement was signed between the two space research organisations for cooperation in the “exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes”.
Astronauts Preparing for Thursday Shuttle Launch
By SPA
Washington : Seven astronauts returned to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Cape Canaveral, Florida launch site Monday to make another attempt at flying space shuttle Atlantis to the international space station.
Liftoff is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, with NASA finishing a last repair Sunday night involving a radiator hose. The mission was delayed in December by a different problem.
Bees beat computers in solving complex problems
By IANS,
London : Bees solve complex maths problems in a jiffy, compared to computers, which can take much longer, a study shows.
Space, atomic energy department chiefs to retire at 66
By IANS
New Delhi : The union cabinet Thursday gave the go-ahead for a four-year extension in service to the chairman of the Space Commission, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the secretary, Department of Space and Atomic Energy, from the present age of 62 to 66.
The cabinet would make the necessary amendment soon, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told reporters.
Kepler camera launched: Other “earths”, where are you?
By DPA,
Washington : NASA late Friday sent the Kepler satellite into Earth's orbit with instructions to search for extraterrestrial life on Earth-type planets orbiting other stars.
The launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida on board a Delta-II-rocket was reported on a live blog operated by the Kepler project on the internet.
The Kepler mission, named after the 17th century German astronomer, is targetting about 100,000 stars in the Milky Way galaxy that scientists believe could have planets orbiting in a "habitable" zone.
Chinese Army to wear ‘digital camouflage’
By Xinhua
Beijing : In contrast to the eye-catching uniforms recently unveiled by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China, a new line of military wear has been designed to make its users less visible.
Key to prevention of morphine tolerance found
By IANS
New York : Morphine tolerance - or patients getting used to the pain-relieving effects of the drug, leading to escalating dosage - could soon be a thing of the past.
Researchers at the Saint Louis University of Medicine have found a way of blocking a key substance that causes tolerance levels to rise.
The study could lead to new therapies that allow morphine to be administered without patients developing tolerance or experiencing a host of severe side effects that accompany increasing dosage.
Britain’s queen gives knighthood to creator of Dolly
By DPA
London : Professor Ian Wilmut, who revolutionised stem cell technology by creating Dolly the Sheep in 1996, has been knighted for services to science by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.
Responding to the honour published Friday in the traditional New Year's Honours List, Wilmut, 63, said he was "surprised and delighted" at the knighthood, which entitles him to be called "Sir".
Sharp rise in phishing attacks on Indian banks
New Delhi, Nov 10 (IANS) Several Indian banks have come under more than 400 phishing attacks during the past few months with the number rising sharply in Sept-Oct, 2008, according to industry lobby National Association of Software Companies (Nasscom).
Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication in a bid to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details.
When the tricolour was still but hearts fluttered
By IANS,
Bangalore : Perhaps for the first time since India adopted the saffron-white-green tricolour as its flag, millions of hearts across the country fluttered but not the flag itself when it reached the lunar surface, around 384,000 km away, Friday night.
The heart beat was faster at Indian Space Research Organisation ISRO's deep space network (DSN) at Byalalu, about 40 kms from Bangalore city centre, and its telemetry, tracking and command network (Istrac), much closer to the city.
Samsung unveils Galaxy S3 mini
By IANS,
Seoul: Samsung Electronics said Friday that it unveiled a new version of Galaxy S3 smartphone to better compete with Apple's newest smartphone iPhone5.
Outpacing India, Pakistan may get 3rd largest nuclear arsenal: Report
By Arun Kumar
Washington : Far outpacing India in the development of nuclear warheads, Pakistan could have at least 350 nuclear weapons within a...
Report: Early Mars water too salty for life
By Xinhua
Beijing : Scientists believe that early life forms on Mars were most likely snuffed out by the extremely salty water on the Red Planet, media reported Monday.
"In fact, it was salty enough that only a handful of known terrestrial organisms would have a ghost of a chance of surviving there when conditions were at their best," said Harvard biologist Andrew Knoll, a member of the Mars rover science team.
Beijing : Scientists believe that early life forms on Mars were most likely snuffed out by the extremely salty water on the Red Planet, media reported Monday.
"In fact, it was salty enough that only a handful of known terrestrial organisms would have a ghost of a chance of surviving there when conditions were at their best," said Harvard biologist Andrew Knoll, a member of the Mars rover science team.
The computer helper: Signs of spyware
By DPA
There's a lot of talk about spyware and malware these days. But how do you know if you're infected with it?
Will your PC stop working as expected? Will your financial data be lifted without your knowledge? And if you discover that your computer is infected, what can you do about it? Read on for some answers.
Now essence from Ajmer shrine roses
By IANS,
Lucknow: Tonnes of flowers offered at the Ajmer shrine will now be used to make essence from them, thanks to a project undertaken by an institute here.
"Our project would bring into use several tonnes of flowers that are presently being dumped," A.K. Singh, technology and business development head at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), told IANS.
Robot pinpoints best locations for seafloor lab
By IANS,
Washington : Sentry, an unmanned submersible, operating on its own in harsh environments, has helped scientists pinpoint and finalise the best locations for two sites of a proposed pioneering seafloor lab.
Successful site selection is a vital step in developing an extensive sensor network above and below the seafloor on the Juan de Fuca Plate, according to John Delaney, University of Washington oceanographer and chief scientist for a two-week mapping expedition.
Shuttle Endeavour docks with ISS on ‘home-improvement’ mission
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : The space shuttle Endeavour has docked with the International Space Station at the start of a home-improvement mission due to last almost two weeks, NASA's Mission Control said.
The shuttle linked up with the orbiter at 22:01 GMT on Sunday, NASA spokeswoman Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters said.
21,000 respond to teen’s party invite on Facebook
By IANS,
London : A teenager in Britain set up a Facebook group for his birthday party, but was left stunned when 21,000 people confirmed themselves as guests.
Single solar flare releases destructive equivalent of 100 mn H-bombs
By DPA,
Washington : A solar flare can release the destructive equivalent of a 100 million hydrogen bombs, obliterating everything in its neighbourhood, including every single atom, according to scientists.
"We've detected a stream of perfectly intact hydrogen atoms shooting out of an X-class solar flare," said Richard Mewaldt of the California Institute of Technology.
"If we can understand how these atoms were produced, we'll be that much closer to understanding solar flares," he added.
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.
PM congratulates scientists for Chandrayaan’s successful journey
By IANS,
Muscat : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday congratulated scientists in the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for successfully putting India's first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1 into lunar orbit.
The prime minister, who arrived here Saturday afternoon on a three-day visit to the Gulf, sent his congratulatory message after receiving the news.
Chandrayaan-1 has travelled more than 380,000 km in 12 days after its launch from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh Oct 22 to enter the lunar orbit Saturday.
Risk of autism linked with mercury emission: study
By IANS,
Washington : There is a significant link between mercury emissions and increased incidence of autism, according to latest research.
Researchers Raymond F. Palmer of the University of Texas, Stephen Blanchard of Our Lady of the Lake University and Robert Wood found that community autism prevalence is reduced by one to two percent with every 10 miles of distance from the pollution source.
"This is not a definitive study, but just one more that furthers the association between environmental mercury and autism," said Palmer.
US spacecraft takes first image of Martian dust particle
By Xinhua,
Washington : NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has taken the first image of a particle of Mars' ubiquitous dust, using its atomic force microscope, mission scientists have reported.
The particle - shown at higher magnification than anything ever seen from another world - is a round particle about one micrometre, or one millionth of a metre across, the scientists at the US space agency said Thursday.
ISRO readies for manned mission by 2014
By IANS
Bangalore : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has finalised its project report for a manned mission by 2014-15, a top space official said here Friday.
"The report is being submitted to the government for approval and budgetary allocation. The Space Commission, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will meet next week or so to review the report and take a decision. We plan to launch a manned mission in the next seven-eight years," ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair told reporters here.
Seaweed could help meet energy needs: Study
By IANS,
Washington : The humble seaweed holds the potential of not only countering climate change but also providing bio-fuels to tackle the growing energy crisis, according to a new study.
The large-scale cultivation of biofuels on land has serious environmental costs, including deforestation, water use and greenhouse gases - these are costs avoided by seaweed cultivation, reports Scidev.Net.
Gene mutation in worms key to alcohol tolerance
By IANS,
London : Liverpool University reseachers, picking up from a study by the Oregon Health and Science University on the linkage between gene mutation and tolerance to alchohol in mice, investigated it in worms.
This gene specifies the ways in which amino acids arrange themselves into a protein called UNC-18 - or Munc18-1 - in humans, an essential component of the nervous system.
Researchers found that a naturally occurring change in this gene can result in a change in the nature of one of the amino acids, which then alters communication between cells in the nervous system.
Infosys net up in rupees, down in dollars
Bengaluru: Global software major Infosys Ltd on Tuesday reported five percent net profit growth year-on-year (YoY) in rupee terms but a 1.3 percent YoY...
Genetic materials of starry origin: study
By IANS,
London : In a first, scientists have confirmed that an important component of early genetic material is extraterrestrial in origin.
In a paper in the latest issue of the journal Planetary Science Letters,they have said that some of the raw materials that went into early genetic material have been found in meteorite fragments.
The materials include the molecules uracil and xanthine, precursors to the molecules that make up DNA and RNA, known as nucleobases.
Aggressive boys tend to gossip, spread rumours
By IANS,
Washington : A new analysis based on nearly 150 studies of aggression in children and adolescents, has found that while boys are more aggressive than girls physically, they are the same in indirect attacks like gossiping, rumour mongering and intentionally isolating others.
"These conclusions challenge the popular misconception that indirect aggression is a female form of aggression," said Noel A. Card, assistant professor of family studies, University of Arizona and the study's co-author.
New ‘space truck’ hailed as precursor to Mars mission
By DPA
Darmstadt (Germany) : A heavy-duty European spacecraft that will make its maiden flight Sunday has been hailed as a precursor to a spaceship that could one day carry robots to the planet Mars.
The Jules Verne, which will haul nine tonnes of food, fuel and other supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), then depart with the station's accumulated garbage, is the first automated transfer vehicle (ATV) in a series of five.
Pakistani Scientist invents world’s lowest profile antenna
By SPA
Islamabad : A Pakistani scientist working at the Institute of Space Technology has invented the world's lowest profile omni-directional antenna with dual polarization that does not require a ground plane.
Dr. Muhammad Amin listed in biographical directory published by Marquis "Who's Who in the World" of the year 2008 has invented the antenna that has adequate signal strength.
The antenna can generate equal vertical and horizontal electric field components and has a helical shape with feed at the centre of the helical section of one side.
CERN’s large hadron collider set in motion
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Scientists at the CERN laboratory outside Geneva successfully activated the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest, most powerful particle collider, in an attempt to understand the makeup of the universe.
On Wednesday morning, scientists shot the first protons into an about 27-km-long tunnel below the Swiss-French border in the world's most powerful particle accelerator -- the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
On Wednesday morning, scientists shot the first protons into an about 27-km-long tunnel below the Swiss-French border in the world's most powerful particle accelerator -- the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Unsung hero of moon mission is sad but forgiving
By K.S. Jayaraman, IANS,
Bangalore : In the nine months India's Chandrayaan-1 has been circling the moon everyone connected with it has been awarded, rewarded or interviewed on TV, except the scientist whose pioneering work in liquid propulsion was pivotal to the mission's success. Perhaps it had something to do with the false spying charges under which he was arrested in 1994.
Galaxy may host 17 bn Earth-size planets
By IANS,
Washington : At least 17 billion Earth-size planets may inhabit the Milky Way galaxy, RIA Novosti reported citing a new study by US astronomers.
Chandrayaan moved to launch platform for rehearsal
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 has been moved to the launch platform for rehearsals ahead of its Oct 22 launch, a top Indian space agency official said Saturday.
The fully integrated Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11) with the lunar spacecraft atop was moved to the launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km from Chennai, and off the Bay of Bengal.
All going well and weather permitting, India's first unmanned lunar mission is set for launch at 6.20 a.m. Wednesday.
As n-deal moves forward, scientists walk down nostalgia lane
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu) : As India readies to seal the nuclear deal with the US to further consolidate its nuclear energy programme, a group of scientists here looked back nostalgically to the time the country indigenously developed its first reactor - using skid rollers to move heavy items and jacks and railway sleepers for lifting the heavy generator.
But it was not always so.
Mobile phone software to link global research
By IANS,
London : New mobile phone software will help epidemiologists and ecologists analyse data remotely and map findings across the world, without going to the lab.
The study authors from Imperial College-London (ICL) say the software will also enable members of the public to act as 'citizen scientists' and help collect data for community projects.
Twin NASA probes reach lunar orbit
By IANS,
Washington : New Year's Eve and New Year's Day saw twin US spacecraft entering lunar orbit to study the moon, NASA said.
Microsoft launches Office 2010 for global customers
By IANS,
San Francisco : Software giant Microsoft Corp. has rolled out its latest version of application software, Office 2010, for customers across the world.
The company also announced Wednesday the release of Microsoft SharePoint 2010, a web-based collaboration software, as well as the new version of diagramming programme and project management software, Xinhua reported.
"Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 define the future of productivity," Stephen Elop, president of Microsoft's business division, said.
Dolphins surface, rationalists feast during eclipse
By IANS,
Chennai : Joggers on the Chennai beach were surprised to see dolphins swimming and jumping very near the shore early Wednesday, the day of the century's longest eclipse, even as Dravida Kazhagam cadres ate food in public to debunk superstition linked to the celestial event.
As news about the dolphins being close to shore spread, a large number of people gathered on the beach to enjoy seeing them swim.
The sighting of dolphins is being attributed to the solar eclipse and the resultant changes in the sea.
Bangalore kids send 25-metre ‘green’ message to Copenhagen
By IANS,
Bangalore : "Go green, save planet Earth", "Save planet Earth before it's too late" are some of the appeals a group of Bangalore children has made on a 25-metre long khadi scroll, planned to be sent to the leaders at the ongoing Copenhagen climate summit.
"The 25-metre khadi scroll containing messages and signatures of children has been especially designed as an appeal to the world leaders gathered at Copenhagen summit to save the Earth from an imminent environmental crisis," a member of Rotary Green Brigade, a Bangalore-based voluntary organisation, told IANS.
First indigenous fast breeder reactor gets safety vessel
By IANS,
Kalpakkam : The safety vessel for India's first indigenously-built 500 MW fast breeder reactor (FBR) was Tuesday placed in the reactor's concrete vault at the Department of Atomic Energy's campus in this Tamil Nadu town.
The 140 tonne stainless steel vessel, the first to be completely fabricated in India, gleamed in the bright sunshine as it was gently lowered into the vault at a time when the wind velocity was at its least and oscillation, thus, at the minimum.
Delhi lights dimming stars, planetorium to see how much
By IANS,
New Delhi : Did you ever realise that the shafts of light emanating from your house could actually be impacting the night-sky visibility? If that sounds far-fetched, the Nehru Planetarium here has decided to study just that phenomenon and quantify light pollution in Delhi.
A satellite map made available by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) clearly shows how much 'night sky pollution' the dazzling lights are causing across India.
Microsoft sues Motorola over Android phones
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington: Microsoft Corp has filed a lawsuit against Motorola, saying the smartphone maker had infringed on nine patents in its Android-based devices.
Using laptops on lap could cause injuries
London/New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) A survey in Britain has shown that people who use their laptops on the floor, in bed or on their laps are likely to develop injuries in their neck, shoulders and wrists. The survey says regular breaks are necessary to prevent damage.
The survey by University College London found 57 percent of those surveyed had experienced aches and pains due to laptop use.
One in five had neck and shoulder pains, while 16 percent said they suffered wrist ache and 15 percent said their back hurt, reported the online edition of Daily Mail.
Technology to be used for crop estimation
By IANS
New Delhi : With the government laying stress on agriculture, a National Workshop on Agricultural Statistics Monday suggested several initiatives including use of new technological tools for improving farm statistics.
Watch that big, bright Jupiter tonight
By IANS,
New Delhi : As the sun goes down Monday, Jupiter, the largest celestial body after the Sun in the solar system, can be seen in the sky with naked eye.
With ‘Nazi news’, blog played super prank on media
By Frederick Noronha, IANS,
Panaji : A blog run out of Goa anonymously has claimed credit for misleading large sections of the Indian media by planting an untrue story about a "Nazi" being held along the state's border with Karnataka.
By Tuesday evening, the blog, penpricks.blogspot.com, which often pillories the functioning of the media, claimed credit for unveiling "one of the most telling stories on the Goan as well as the Indian media".
Scientist cautions against genetic testing
By IANS,
Washington : A scientist has warned compatriots against rushing into genetic testing in the hope of making revolutionary improvements.
"Advances being made in genomics are important discoveries, but it's unrealistic for individuals to believe those advances can yield meaningful information that will improve their health," said James P. Evans, of University of North Carolina.
‘Big mistake’ if US blocks overseas skilled workers: Bill Gates
By IANS,
New Delhi : Microsoft founder Bill Gates Friday said it would be a "big mistake" if the US curbs the entry of skilled workers from abroad, rallying behind the "smart people" from countries like India that has a globally recognised outsourcing industry.
He also said Microsoft will like to partner the Indian government in its ambitious plan to give a unique identity number and a biometric card to each of its 1.17 billion people.
Tiny robot to simulate lunar mission in Hawaii
By IANS,
Washington : A robot designed for lunar prospecting will be tested on the cool, rocky slopes of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano that is also Hawaii's highest mountain.
During the field experiment, scheduled in the first half of November, the four wheeled robot called Scarab will simulate a lunar mission to extract water, hydrogen, oxygen and other compounds that could potentially be mined for use by future lunar explorers.
India set to laun ch five British satellites
Chennai: The Indian space agency on Wednesday morning began the countdown for the July 10 rocket launch that would carry five British satellites.
According...
Mobility and green technology will rule the next decade
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
Technology in the second decade of this millennium will build on the foundation laid in the first 10 years for mobility, cloud computing and green technology that saw the birth of the iconic iPhone, third generation telephony, notebooks, netbooks and the iPod with a camera.
Here's a peek into what's in store:
Omani rock could absorb vast amounts of carbon dioxide
By IANS,
Washington : A rock found in Oman could soak up huge quantities of globe-warming carbon dioxide, cheaply.
The studies show that the rock, known as peridotite, reacts naturally at high rates with carbon dioxide (CO2) to form solid minerals - and that the process could be speeded with simple drilling and injection methods.
Scientists said that the process could be speeded 100,000 times or more simply by boring down and injecting heated water containing pressurised CO2.
Russia needs $5 bn to complete its space station segment
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia will need an additional $5 billion to complete construction of its segment of the International Space Station (ISS) by 2015, the head of Russia's rocket and space corporation Energia said.
The ISS is a joint project of space agencies from the US, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan. The orbital station is likely to remain operational until 2020.
China Mobile tests signal station on Mount Everest
By DPA
Beijing : China Mobile has successfully tested a mobile signal station built on Mount Everest at 6,500 metres ahead of next year's Olympic torch relay on the highest peak of the world.
The world's highest mobile telecommunications station was tested Tuesday on the 8,844-metre-high mountain, the official China Daily quoted the country's main mobile service provider, China Mobile, as saying.
‘India can become World No. 1 in science’
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS
New Delhi : India may never become the number one military power in the world but eminent scientist C.N.R. Rao believes that it has the potential to become number one in science and technology.
"We will never become number one in economy or in military power but we can definitely become a superpower and world number one in science and, over all, in knowledge," Rao, chairman of the Science Advisory Council to the prime minister, told IANS in an interview.
Millions throng to Kurukshetra for holy dip during solar eclipse
By IANS,
Kurukshetra (Haryana) : It was a sea of humanity that arrived in this Haryana town to take a dip in the 'Brahmsarovar' on the occasion of the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century Wednesday.
The administration here said that nearly 1.5 million (15 lakh) were expected to arrive for a holy dip at the 'Brahmsarovar' (Pond of Lord Brahma - the Hindu god considered the creator of the universe) on the occasion.
People started thronging the holy pond since 3 a.m. Wednesday even though the eclipse was expected to take place three hours later.
Copenhagen aims to be first carbon neutral capital
By IANS,
Copenhagen : The capital of Denmark has set itself the ambitious target of becoming the world's first carbon-neutral capital by 2025 by bringing its net carbon dioxide emissions down to zero.
The target was announced by the seven mayors of Copenhagen here Tuesday, while they launched the city's new climate plan. The plan has 50 specific initiatives to achieve the city's target of a 20 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2015.
Giant Step Ahead As Experts Find Big Cluster Of Dinosaur Footprints
By Bernama
Turpan (China) : Chinese and German experts on Thursday said they had unearthed a large group of fossilized dinosaur tracks, the largest cluster ever found in China, in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
China's Xinhua news agency reported that the find, in a small county east of here, consists of more than 150 tridactyl footprint fossils distributed randomly on the slope of a 100-metre sandstone incline.
West must pay for India’s clean technology: UN official
By IANS
New Delhi : If a power plant coming up in India for $500 million can embrace clean technology for an extra $50 million, developed countries must pay the difference, a top UN official has said.
United Nations Development Programme Administrator Kemal Dervis said developed and developing countries had different responsibilities, but would have to strive together to reach a goal of two tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per capita, which would mean a global warming of two degrees Celsius.
Google Helps US Intelligence Expand
By Prensa Latina
Washington : US intelligence bought Google data base to enhance espionage on the Internet through restricted Intellipedia network for the 16 intelligence agencies.
San Francisco Chronicle says several branches within the community, among them the National Security Agency, the CIA and FBI, are now able to process information collected from Google.
The contracts are part of the accords the company sales team promoted with the Feds that already signed similar pact with the Coast Guard, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
Scientists to discuss sex, love with robots
By DPA,
Amsterdam : Scientists plan to gather June 12 and 13 in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht to discuss the possibility of human beings increasingly engaging in personal and even romantic relationships with robots in the coming decades.
Academics from Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Singapore, the US and Britain are due to deliver some 20 presentations.
Google Earth reconstructs ancient Rome in 3D
By IANS,
London : Google Earth has launched a 3D reconstruction of ancient Rome as it may have been in 320 AD.
The virtual traveller can now see every building as it stood in Rome at that time. In reality, just 300 buildings of classical Rome have survived, in most cases in ruins.
The 3D model is visible on the website as a layer. The layer floats a few metres above the satellite image of present-day Rome so that users can have a sense of locating where the ancient structures once stood.
Scientists create retina from human embryonic stem cells
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have created an eight-layer, early stage retina from human embryonic stem cells, the first three-dimensional tissue structure to be made from stem cells. The complex tissue structure offers hope to millions with degenerative eye disorders.
It also marks the first step toward the development of transplant-ready retinas to treat eye disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration that affect millions.
Supercomputer set to mimic human sight
By IANS,
Washington : ‘Roadrunner’, the world’s most powerful supercomputer that was unveiled last week, is all set to mimic extremely complex neurological processes.
If successful, researchers believe they can study -- in real time -- the entire human visual cortex, arguably a human being's most important sensory apparatus.
The ‘Roadrunner’ is a petaflop computer, with peta meaning a million-billion -- that's the number of calculations it is capable of performing per second.
“Noah’s ark of plant life” launched in Arctic
By Xinhua
Beijing : A vault dubbed "Noah's ark of plant life" has been launched in the permafrost of a remote Arctic mountain to protect the world's crop seeds from man-made and natural disasters.
An opening ceremony was conducted Tuesday at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, as 100 million seeds from more than 100 countries were placed inside. The first day's deposits comprised 268,000 samples and filled 676 boxes.
Astronauts start spacewalk to install Japan lab
By ANTARA News
Washington : Two astronauts from the US shuttle Endeavour stepped into space Thursday in the first of a series of spacewalks to install Japan's maiden laboratory at the International Space Station (ISS), NASA television showed.
Mission Specialist and lead spacewalker Rick Linnehan and Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman emerged at 8:18 pm Central Daylight Time (0118 GMT Friday), according to NASA, to begin the task of maneuvering phase one of the laboratory out of Endeavour's payload bay and attaching it to the orbiting station.
YouTube gets billion hits per day
By DPA,
San Francisco : Google's online video site YouTube now gets a billion hits a day, the site's founder Chad Hurley said in a video posted Friday.
"Three years ago today (YouTube co-founder) Steve (Chen) and I stood in front of our offices and jokingly crowned ourselves the 'burger kings' of media," read the post, which was titled Y,000,000,000uTube.
Russia to set world record with 39 space launches in 2009
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia is planning to set a world record by conducting a total of 39 space launches in 2009 despite the current global financial crisis, the head of the Russian Space Agency said on Monday.
"We have scheduled a record number of launches for next year. We are planning to carry out 39 launches, half of them commercial and civilian satellites," Anatoly Perminov said.
Russia conducted 27 space launches in 2008 and 26 launches in 2007, becoming the world's leader in this sphere.
Google Play store hits 25 bn downloads
By IANS,
San Francisco: Google announced Wednesday that its online store for media and applications Google Play has hit 25 billion downloads.
Cuban scientists develop cancer drug from scorpion venom
By IANS
Cienfuegos (Cuba) : Cuban scientists have developed a drug from scorpion venom, which they say could go a long way in fighting cancer, Spanish news agency Prensa Latina reported Thursday.
"The researchers have been studying the breeding, handling and use of scorpion venom in their Cienfuegos breeding centre, which has 400 scorpions at present but would increase to 5,000 next year," team leader Fabio Linares of the Pharmaceutical Biological Laboratories in Havana said Wednesday.
The drug can be used to treat brain tumours, pancreas and prostate cancer.
Soyuz rocket with crew aboard undocks from ISS
By RIA Novosti
Mission Control (Moscow Region) : A Soyuz spacecraft with two Russian cosmonauts and Malaysia's first space traveller aboard undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) Sunday.
The spacecraft is to bring back to Earth the Russian cosmonauts, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov, after six months of their stay at the world's sole orbiter as members of the ISS 15th expedition, along with Malaysian Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor who arrived at the station on Oct 12.
Indian research body ties up with Thomson Scientific
By IANS
Chennai : Thomson Scientific, a provider of information solutions to research and business communities, has announced that about 10,000 scientists of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) across 45 labs in India, will now have access to its ISI Web of Knowledge.
Thomson's ISI Web of Knowledge is an integrated, versatile research platform that delivers easy access to high quality, diversified scholarly information in sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities.
Why close kin keep their distance in animal kingdom
By IANS,
London : Mammals cannot share their habitat with closely-related species because the need for the same kind of food and shelter would lead them to compete to the death, a new study has said.
The finding - the best evidence so far for an old Darwinian prediction - is important because habitat destruction and climate change could inadvertently force closely-related species to live closer together than before.
Wi-fi in homes can be hacked in five seconds
By IANs,
London : Wireless internet networks in millions of homes can be hacked in less than five seconds.
Female robot can sing like a pop star
By IANS,
London : A life-sized female robot, known as HRP-4, has been taught to sing just like a real pop star.
60-second test can tell if IVF is successful
By IANS,
London : Scientists have devised a 60-second test to predict a couples' chances of having a baby through IVF.
Biometric system to monitor endangered species
By IANS,
Washington : Biologists will now be able to identify and monitor endangered animals without capturing or trapping them.
University of Bristol scientists have devised an intelligent, non-intrusive surveillance system that can be integrated with wildlife habitats and provide detailed and reliable data on endangered species.
The research develops computer vision and human biometrics in order to better understand and conserve endangered species, especially the African penguin (Spheniscus demersus).
SMS a language with its own rules, says study
By IANS,
Washington : OMG! LOL. TTYL. For many past the age of 40, these groupings seem like meaningless jumble, but for Generation Next, they embody a world of meaning.
“Instant messaging, or IM, is not just bad grammar or a bunch of mistakes,” said Pamela Takayoshi of Kent State University.
“IM is a separate language form from formal English and has a common set of language features and standards.”
Sunita is like Shah Rukh in Swades, says US official
By IANS
New Delhi : One could not help comparing American-Indian astronaut Sunita Williams with Shah Rukh Khan, who played the role of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engineer who came back to India to ignite the minds of people in the Hindi movie "Swades".
The metaphor may sound somewhat remote, but a senior US embassy official Monday drew a comparison between the two stars in a programme where Williams interacted with around 150 school students.
Breakup of the $78.5 mn Chandrayaan bill
By IANS,
Chennai : Break-up of the Rs.3.86 billion ($78.5 million) bill for India's maiden moon mission:
Deep Space Network: Rs.1 billion ($20 million)
Rocket: Rs.1 billion ($20 million)
Payload development: Rs.530 million ($11 million)
Spacecraft bus: Rs.830 million ($17 million)
Scientific data centre, external network support and project management expenses: Rs.500 million ($10 million)
India to be third largest emitter of greenhouse gases by year-end
By IANS,
Washington : Global yearly carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and manufacturing cement have shot up to 8.5 billion tonnes by 2007, from 6.1 billion tonnes in 1992.
But the source of emissions has shifted dramatically to developing countries like China and India, according to the US Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL).
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).
Hubble finds young galaxies surprisingly crowded with stars
By Xinhua,
Washington : Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers say they have detected nine young galaxies in the early Universe, packed with improbable numbers of stars, according to a study published Tuesday.
Astronomers looking at galaxies in the Universe's distant past have discovered these nine galaxies, each weighing in at 200 billion times the mass of the Sun.
The galaxies, about 11 billion light years away, are a fraction of the size of today's grownup galaxies but contain approximately the same number of stars.
UAE to launch joint remote-sensing satellite with GCC countries
By Xinhua,
Abu Dhabi : A senior official of the Defense Ministry of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said that the ministry plans to launch a joint remote-sensing satellite with other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), local newspaper Gulf News reported on Tuesday.
The plan was revealed by Brigadier Khalifa Mohammad Al Rumaithi, Chief of Military Works of the UAE Armed Forces, at the Defense Geospatial Intelligence Middle East opened on Monday in Dubai.
Russia shortlists 11 for Mars mission simulation
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia's Institute of Medical and Biological Problems has shortlisted 11 volunteers to take part in a 520-day simulation of an expedition to Mars, a spokesman said.
The 11 candidates will complete basic spaceflight training and in spring, six of them will be chosen to take part in the experiment, which will simulate all aspects of a journey to the red planet, with a 250-day outward trip, a 30-day stay on its surface, and a 240-day return flight.
Microsoft set to unveil Internet Explorer 8
By IANS,
Redmond : After two beta tests and a soft release, Microsoft Corp is all set to officially launch its latest internet browser Thursday night.
The company will launch Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) at 9:30 p.m. Indian time, an official statement said.
Microsoft, whose share in the browser market took a beating with the emergence of rivals like Mozilla's Firefox, Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari, is aiming to regain its lost ground with the new browser.
Microsoft's market share dropped to about 67 percent last month as compared to over 90 percent three years ago.
Google opens new line to internet phone calls
By DPA,
San Francisco : All the fuss about tweeting, texting, Facebook pokes and various other cutting-edge forms of communication can obscure the fact that old-fashioned telephone calls are still a pretty effective way of conveying information.
But the 560 million people who are registered users of internet phone pioneer Skype have never forgotten the value of talk, and now it seems that Google is realizing it, too.
Little fossils show how cooling oceans increased life forms
By IANS,
Sydney : Microscopic tooth-like fossils have helped scientists correlate cooling climate and increasing biodiversity in ancient oceans 500 million years ago.
An international team led by Julie Trotter of Australian National University (ANU) Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES) measured the oxygen isotope ratio of the fossils, less than two mm long, from extinct eel-shaped sea creatures called conodonts.
The oxygen isotope ratio in a conodont depends on the temperature of the water which the creature inhabited.
Software to stop you writing e-mails when drunk
By IANS,
London : A new software can now stop you writing e-mails or posting messages when you are drunk.
Nanoscience will overtake all present forms of technology
By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Visakhapatnam : All forms of technology, including information technology and biotechnology, will become passé with the advent of nanoscience, says Nobel laureate Robert Curl Junior.
It is a precursor to the next wave of pervasive technology, he says.
Strange as it may seem, nanoscience and its manifested form, nanotechnology, the latest buzzword in the 21st century, is not something new.
"Nanotechnology is as old as humankind, having evolved over billion years as a natural phenomenon," Curl says.
Yahoo’s search migrates to Microsoft
By DPA,
San Francisco : Yahoo has completed the migration of its web and mobile search functions to Microsoft's Bing search engine as the two companies hope that their combined market power may prove a more significant threat to the dominance of Google.
The integration comes more than a year after Yahoo and Microsoft announced their 10-year search deal under which Microsoft will power Yahoo's search site, while Yahoo manages sales for both companies' premium search advertisers.
India to become CTC free by year end
By NNN-PTI,
Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India : India will become free of Carbon Tetra Chloride (CTC), an ozone depleting substance, by the year end, a NGO involved in implementing the National CTC phase-out plan has said.
Efforts had been taken to stop complete usage of CTC, used as a solvent and cleaning agent in various industries, and it would be totally phased out before December 31 this year, Susanta Deb, Field Consultant representing German NGO, GTZ-Proklima, that is implementing the phase-out plan in the country in coordination with the Government, told PTI here.
Now a car with inbuilt electric scooter
By IANS,
Melbourne : Traffic snarls in cities need not cause much worry as a new car with an inbuilt electric scooter that flips and folds into the boot will allow commuters to zip through the congested streets.
Carmaker Volkswagen is working on a bike that neatly compacts into the boot of a car and can be recharged on the move, The Age reported.
The "Bik.e" may look like a traditional push bike, but there are no pedals - thus it's actually more like a folding electric scooter.
Corals may not recover from bleaching
By IANS,
Sydney : Coral communities in Australia's Great Barrier Reef might not be able to recover from bleaching as easily as previously presumed, says a new study.
A two-year study by a University of Queensland team has found that contrary to perception, it is not possible for bleached corals to recover or become more resistant to bleaching by taking up more heat tolerant species of their micro-algae partners.
Rare turtle travels 7,000 km to breed!
By IANS,
Toronto : How could a contemporary of the great dinosaurs survive to this day?
A rare leatherback turtle, which has existed since the time of the dinosaurs, has been found to be adept at making the longest ocean journey to breed in warmer places.
Fitted with a satellite transmitter by Canadian scientists to track its journey, the turtle - which is the also world's largest turtle growing up to two metres long and weighing up to 500 kilogramme - travelled over 7,000 km to be found on the coast of Colombia in South America.
Scientists demystify behaviour of glass
By IANS,
Sydney : Two scientists are one step closer to explaining the nature of glass and its transition from liquid to solid, says a study.
Peter Harrowell and Asaph Widmer-Cooper, theoretical chemists from the School of Chemistry along with colleagues from Columbia University, have been studying the transition of a fluid into a rigid glass in an attempt to understand stress relaxation in a disordered state.
After India lands probe on moon, focus back on spacecraft
By IANS,
Bangalore : A day after landing India's first probe instrument on the surface of the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was Saturday getting ready to activate eight other scientific instruments on board the country's first unmanned lunar spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, that is now orbiting the moon and will do so for the next two years.
Lullabies and talk-back: modern baby monitors
By DPA
Hamburg : Small getaways can mean a lot to new parents, even if it's as simple as going next door for a glass of wine. But who's going to watch baby while you're taking a break?
Engineers develop painless needle that mimics mosquito bite
By IANS,
New York : Indian and Japanese engineers have developed a "microneedle" that causes no pain on being inserted in the skin as it mimics the way a female mosquito sucks blood.
Contrary to popular belief, a mosquito bite does not hurt. It is the anticoagulant saliva that the creature injects to stop the blood from clotting that causes inflammation and pain.
The new biocompatible microneedle has been designed by Suman Chakraborty of the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur and Kazuyoshi Tsuchiya of Tokai University in Kanagawa, New Scientist reported.
What’s new in Internet Explorer 8
By DPA,
Washington : Microsoft has kept development of Internet Explorer 8 pretty quiet, but already the next major version of the most widely-used browser is available for downloading in a beta version.
While the focus of IE 7 was on security and the incorporation of a tabbed interface, version 8's main features centre on stability and usability.
College student gets first iPhone at Gurgaon mall
By IANS,
Gurgaon : Swati, a college student, beat thronging crowds to become the first customer to get an Apple iPhone from a mall in this satellite town Thursday midnight.
Swati was waiting at the Sahara Mall from 7 p.m.
The phone was handed over to her by by Sanjay Kapoor, president of Bharti Mobile Services. The iPhone is priced at Rs.31,000 for 8GB and Rs.36,100 for 16GB of memory space,
The phones are being given on first come first serve basis.
Technology Day should be a day for young people: Kalam
By IANS,
New Delhi: Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Tuesday said Technology Day, celebrated every year since 1999, should be a day for young people who can be inspired to take science as a career.
Speaking at a function to mark the occasion, Kalam said technology was important for the economic development of the country and building a better nation.
"Technology Day should be a day of young people. They should be called at functions like this as it will help them choose a career in science," he added.
INSAT 3D to boost weather forecasting accuracy
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : India is expected to launch the INSAT 3D satellite later this year to boost its weather forecasting accuracy, Shailesh Naik, Secretary in the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said here Tuesday.
"The country will achieve more accuracy level within a few years in short-term and long-term weather forecasts," Naik said while delivering a lecture on 'Weather, Climate and Environment' at the ongoing 97th Indian Science Congress.