No funds for Malaysia’s space programme
By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : Six months after sending its first man into space, Malaysia says it has no funds for the second phase of its ambitious space programme.
It is "zero cash" for the moment till the entire programme is re-evaluated in terms of knowledge and cost-benefit, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Maximus Ongkili told the media Monday.
In the first phase of the programme, Sheikh Muszaphar Sheikh Shukor and two other astronauts blasted into space in a Russian-built Soyuz 11 rocket from Baikonour in Kazakhstan Oct 10, 2007.
Iran launches satellite
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Iran has successfully launched an observation satellite, Iranian news network Press TV reported Friday.
India moots international mechanism for space assets protection
By NNN-Bernama/PTI
Hyderabad : Warning that outer space may become the "battlefield of the future," India proposed a "robust" international mechanism for protection of space assets since they were "vulnerable to attacks."
New Delhi also told global space scientists to join forces in space exploration, asserting the world can "ill-afford the duplication of efforts and resources" in the face of many pressing priorities, according to a PTI report.
Russia, France to jointly build armoured vehicle
By IANS,
Moscow: Russia and France will jointly build a new armoured infantry vehicle, Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport said.
Life-changing innovations vie for top global tech honour
By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Helsinki (Finland) : Few would know that it is an algorithm that helps us use the mobile phone technology that has made our lives simpler. Or that an optic fibre cable that couldn't send a communication one metre across is now a basis for the global information super highway of over 10,000 km.
These are just two of the four top innovations developed by six scientists and inventors in the last few years, which are in the fray for this year's Millennium Technology Prize - the highest prize in the world of technology and considered Nobel Prize in this area.
Gas turbine technology best for power generation in Gulf: expert
By IANS,
Dubai : Gas turbine technology is the best fossil fuel-based technology available for power generation in the Gulf, given the skyrocketing oil prices, according to a leading energy expert.
"Gas turbine technologies are the cleanest techniques within systems that use fossil fuels and are favoured in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries due to the low cost of available natural gas," Abdullah Al-Amiri, chairman of the Emirates Energy Award, which recognizes best practices in energy conservation and management, said in a statement here.
Follow nature’s trail to solve universe’s mystery: Scientist-author
By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,
New Delhi : If the universe seems mysterious to you, try becoming a 'cosmic detective'! For, nature has left behind many clues to unravel its mystery, says US-based award-winning scientist Mani Bhaumik who has just penned a children's novel on the subject.
"The study of the universe is a mystery - fortunately nature has left behind some telltale clues around us and like a detective we can pick up the clues and follow the trail to solve the mystery," Bhaumik told IANS in an informal chat in the capital.
11,000-year-old human sub-species found in China
By IANS,
London : Scientists have found a previously unknown human subspecies, distinct from the present day Homosapiens, that may have lived in China 11,500 years ago.
Comet McNaught closest to Earth next week
By IANS,
New Delhi : If you look towards the northeastern sky before sunrise June 15, the recently discovered comet McNaught will be closest to Earth and visible to the naked eye.
The comet will appear as a dim and diffuse circular patch of light gliding through the constellation of Perseus in the northern sky.
It has been brightening rapidly as it approaches Earth for a 100-million-mile close encounter.
Seven nations planning missions to the moon
By IANS
Hyderabad : Seven nations, including India, the US and China, are planning to launch lunar missions in the near future, even as experts have sounded a word of caution about the impact these missions would have on moon's environment.
Japan, Germany, Britain and Italy are the other countries whose delegates made their countries' plans clear at the ongoing 58th Astronautical Congress Wednesday.
Invasive weeds threatening India’s biodiversity
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Toxic weeds, which came along with wheat that India imported over the last few years, now pose a serious threat to its crops, people and livestock, says a scientist associated with the National Invasive Weeds Surveillance Programme.
Humans first ate fish 40,000 years ago
By IANS,
Washington : Freshwater fish remains a staple in many regions of the world, but it remains unclear when it became a year-round diet for early humans. A new study led by Erik Trinkaus, anthropology professor at Washington University, St. Louis, shows it may have happened in China as far back as 40,000 years ago.
Chemical analysis of collagen, a protein, can show whether such fish consumption was an occasional treat or a regular food item.
Iran, US claim progress in latest round of n-talks
Vienna: Iran and six world powers are making progress in the latest round of talks over Iran's long-disputed nuclear programme, said top diplomats of...
Russia successfully launches two European satellites
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A Rokot carrier rocket with two European satellites has been successfully launched from the Plesetsk space center in northwest Russia, a spokesman for the Russian Space Forces said on Monday.
"A Rokot carrier rocket with the SMOS spacecraft and the Proba-2 mini-satellite, developed under European Space Agency's initiative, has been successfully launched," Aleksei Zolotukhin said, adding the launch took place at 4:50 a.m. Moscow time (01:50 GMT).
Somnath congratulates ISRO scientists
By IANS,
New Delhi : Somnath Chatterjee, the speaker of the outgoing Lok Sabha, Monday congratulated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the successful launch of the RISAT-2 spy satellite and an educational satellite.
"The country is proud of ISRO scientists for this remarkable achievement, which will provide a boost to India's capabilities in a number of areas, including disaster management and in better management of cyclones, floods, agriculture-related activities," Chatterjee said in his congratulatory message.
India poised to be major player in global satellite manufacturing
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : India can become a major player in the emerging small satellite manufacturing industry. The country's space agency has estimated a market potential of 50 satellites over the next decade, worth around $1.5 billion, says a space official.
Keeping this in mind, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has already formed a special team to manufacture small satellites.
ISRO will launch two such satellites in 2009 and 2010, both having overseas payloads.
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.
India launches new mission to develop antibiotic molecules
By IANS
New Delhi : India has launched a mission to screen and develop antibiotic molecules to tap the over $25 billion global antibiotics market.
The department of biotechnology under the ministry of science and technology Friday said it has launched a network project called "screening for bio-molecules from microbial diversity collected from different ecological niches".
Study finds evidence of centuries-old brawl over women
By IANS,
Washington : Brawling over women is as old as history, settled with fisticuffs or a verbal spat, but our ferocious ancestors brutally maimed or killed rivals for them.
For instance, a mass grave unearthed by a Durham University team indicates that primitive men did their rivals to death to possess their women.
The research focused on 34 skeletons found buried in Talheim, in Germany's south-west. Genetic evidence from their teeth suggested they were massacred in a tribal clash around 5000 BC.
Toy Story 2010: Lower prices, higher tech
By Andy Goldberg, DPA,
Los Angeles : That age old question of what to get a kid who has everything has finally been answered - and the good news is that it only costs $30.
China to launch 10 satellites in 2008
By Xinhua
Beijing : China plans 10 space launches this year including the Shenzhou VII spaceship, according to a scientist from China's top space program research institute.
The 10 launches include two environmental satellites, a meteorological satellite and a communications satellite for Venezuela, according to Yang Baohua, head of the China Academy of Space Technology.
The launch of Shenzhou VII this year will spacewalk by taikonauts and lay the foundation work for China's space station construction.
Brain imaging shows cell phone use affects driving
By IANS
New York : Using a mobile phone while driving could be as dangerous as being under the influence of alcohol, according to a new study.
In fact, the study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University found that drivers under the influence of alcohol and those speaking on cell phones tend to commit the same errors.
Using brain imaging, the study has documented how mobile phone use alone reduces 37 percent of brain activity engaged in driving. For instance, drivers using a simulator while on the phone were found to zigzag out of their lanes.
Scientists puzzled over intense swarm of earthquakes
By Xinhua,
Los Angeles : An unusually intense swarm of earthquakes has struck beneath a small suburb of Reno in Nevada, leaving residents shaken and scientists puzzling over the cause, the Los Angeles Time said on Thursday.
Totaling more than 1,000 over the last two months, more than 20quakes of magnitude 2 or higher have hit on some days, and the intensity and frequency of the quakes have been increasing rather than following the normal pattern of tailing off, according to the paper.
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.
Genome of destructive plant parasite sequenced
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have sequenced and mapped the genes of an ubiquitous and extremely destructive plant parasite, known as the northern root-knot nematode.
The research could help open the way to a new generation of eco-friendly tools to manage the microscopic soil-dwelling worm which, along with other nematodes, causes an estimated $50 billion in crop and plant damage yearly, said Charles Opperman, professor of plant pathology at North Carolina (NC) State University and co-author of the report.
China’s new carrier rocket to debut in 2014
By Xinhua
Beijing : China's new generation of carrier rocket, the Long March 5, with a maximum payload capacity of 25 tons, will come into use in 2014, said an official with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology on Sunday.
The rockets will be made in Tianjin and launched in Hainan, said Liang Xiaohong, vice president of the academy and a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body.
Scientists dig up remains of chicken-sized dinosaur
By IANS,
Washington : Remains of an unusual chicken sized dinosaur, the smallest ever that darted on two legs looking for termites on the forest floor, has been dug up near Red Deer, Alberta in Canada.
"These are bizarre animals. They have long and slender legs, stumpy arms with huge claws and tweezer-like jaws. They look like an animal created by Dr. Seuss," said Nick Longrich, paleontology research associate at the department of bio-sciences, Calgary University.
NRI Muslims celebrate first Indian moon mission
By TwoCircles.net news desk,
New Delhi: The news of successful blast of India's first mission to moon was celebrated in India and overseas. Two Indian Muslim organizations based in US and UK have congratulated the Indian scientists who made this mission possible.
Future computers will talk and feel
By IANS
London : A computer that can interact with humans and react to their non-verbal gestures is being developed by a European team.
Known as SEMAINE, the project will build a sensitive artificial listener (SAL) system, which will perceive user's facial expression, gaze, and voice and then engage with the user.
When engaging with a human, the SAL will be able to adapt its own performance and pursue different actions, depending on the non-verbal behaviour of the user, reports Sciencedaily.
Intel profits boom as PC sales surge worldwide
By DPA,
San Francisco : Intel reported net income of $2.3 billion Thursday for the fourth quarter, a staggering 875-percent rise over the same period a year ago.
The world's dominant maker of computer chips said it had sales of $10.6 billion, up $2.3 billion or 28 percent from the year-ago period. Intel forecast sales of about $9.7 billion for the current quarter, compared with the $9.3-billion average estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of Wall Street analysts.
Japanese moon orbiter videos 1st “Full Earth-rise”
By Xinhua,
Beijing : A high-definition video camera on Japan's lunar orbiter captured a rare view of the full Earth as it rose above the moon's horizon on April 5, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials said in a recent statement after releasing a short video of the event.
"This is the first time that a high-[definition] image of the 'Full Earth-rise' has been captured from space," JAXA officials said.
Glitch over, Pluto-bound spacecraft on its way
Washington : A software glitch that triggered communication loss with NASA's New Horizon spacecraft has been rectified and the probe is on way for...
Microsoft unveils new security software
By DPA,
San Francisco : Hoping to dispel fears about the vulnerability of Windows to viruses and other malware, Microsoft Tuesday released a trial version of a new free security package called Microsoft Security Essentials.
The software is designed to replace the Windows Defender tool that Microsoft released in 2007, but which was widely derided as being inadequate to protect computers from the constant and ever-evolving threats posed by hackers.
Messenger craft flies within 200 km of Mercury
By DPA,
Washington : NASA's Messenger spacecraft came within 200 km of Mercury Monday, taking pictures of the rocky planet nearest the sun.
It was the second of three planned flybys for the craft, which is due to settle into orbit around Mercury in 2011, providing what scientists hope will be the most complete picture yet of the solar system's smallest planet.
The 0840 GMT flyby was designed largely to pick up a gravitational boost of energy for the craft. It will begin beaming data back to Earth Wednesday, NASA and university researchers said.
Two new TB drugs may reduce treatment time
By IANS
Cape Town : The Global Alliance for Tuberculosis Drug Development (TB Alliance) has announced that it has developed two drugs in clinical trials which could reduce the treatment time for TB.
This is a historic milestone in the accelerated drive to develop new TB drugs to fight the disease in different, faster and better ways and therefore save millions of lives across the globe, South African news agency BuaNews said.
ISRO aircraft takes satellite images to trace YSR
By IANS,
Hyderabad : A low-flying aircraft of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) late Wednesday took pictures of Nallamalla forest area where the helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was last seen before it went missing.
Finance Minister K. Rosaiah told reporters that the low-flying aircraft belonging to ISRO had taken 41 satellite imagery pictures. Authorities hope to get some clues about the missing chopper from there images.
Group of ministers on 3G meets later Friday
By IANS,
New Delhi : The high-powered ministerial group, set up to decide on issues related with the auction of frequency spectrum for third generation telecom services, is scheduled to meet here for the first time later Friday.
The mandate of the empowered group, which has been set up under Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is to decide the base price for the spectrum auction and the number of operators to be allowed in each telecom circle for offering third generation, or 3G, services.
India is top spam sender in Asia: study
By IANS,
New Delhi : India is the top spam sender in Asia and the seventh largest in the world, accounting for over four percent of the total global spam, says a study.
"India is the leader among Asian countries in spam, accounting for more than four percent of the total global spam and is ahead of other Asian countries such as China (3.39 percent), Republic of Korea (2.57 percent) and Thailand (2.04 percent)," says Trend Micro, a firm that provides Internet content security, focusing on securing the exchange of digital information for businesses and consumers.
Japan’s Matsushita unveils world’s largest plasma TV
By Xinhua
Tokyo : Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. officially unveiled its newly developed 150-inch plasma display television, the world's largest, at the start of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Tuesday.
The new television, whose high-definition screen is 1.87 meters high and 3.31 meters wide, is to be launched into markets by 2009 if results of market research permit, company officials said, adding that the potential customers would be commercial facilities.
Wipro projects $905 million from IT services in Q3
By IANS
Bangalore : Wipro Ltd has projected $905 million (Rs.39.97 billion) from its global IT services and products business for the third quarter (Oct-Dec) of this fiscal (FY 2008).
In a notification to the stock exchanges here Friday, the IT bellwether said the robust guidance was based on the flagship IT division's performance in the second quarter (July-Sept) of this fiscal, which at $797 million was $20 million more than the projected $777 million.
NASA technology detects ruins under rainforest
By IANS,
Washington : A flyover of Belize's thick jungles, employing NASA technology, has revolutionised archaeology by detecting ancient Mayan ruins through impenetrable jungles.
University of Central Florida (UCF) researchers led a NASA-funded research project in April 2009 that collected the equivalent of 25 years worth of data in four days.
NASA seeks to proceed with mars rover launch in 2009
By SPA,
Washington : The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has decided to proceed with plans to launch a big new rover to Mars next year.
Friday’s decision came after concerns were raised about the budget and technical progress for the Mars Science Laboratory.
The head of the Mars exploration program at NASA’s Los Angeles office said the space agency will examine the mission’s progress again in January.
Germany, India to develop jointly new-era technologies
By DPA
Berlin : Germany and India plan to jointly develop new technologies as part of a "new era" in their science cooperation, Germany's minister of science, Annette Schavan, said Monday.
She spoke just hours before Chancellor Angela Merkel was to land in India for a four-day visit.
Schavan is a member of the delegation accompanying the chancellor. During the visit, an agreement is to be signed to establish the German-Indian Science and Technology Centre, set to open next summer in Delhi.
Microsoft India unveils new platform for shared IT services
By IANS,
New Delhi: Global software giant Microsoft Monday unveiled a portfolio of services in India that will help companies share software and storage facilities, called cloud computing, that can bring down their total IT spend by as much as 50 percent.
Windows Azure -- the company's latest offering in the area of cloud computing -- is now available commercially in India, said Microsoft India group Director Vikas Arora. "Some 3,500 applications for Azure have been developed out of India alone," Arora told IANS.
Oldest evidence of leprosy traced to India
By IANS,
Washington : A child's 4,000-year-old skeleton that surfaced in India's Rajasthan state could be the oldest evidence of leprosy, says a new study.
The analysis was conducted by biological anthropologist Gwen Robbins from Appalachian State University working with an undergraduate, an evolutionary biologist from University of North Carolina at Greensboro and archaeologists from the Pune-based Deccan College in India.
Be prepared to protect rights of clones: UN study
New York(IANS) : Global leaders need to reach a compromise that outlaws reproductive cloning or be prepared to protect the rights of human clones from potential abuse, prejudice and discrimination.
A report by the United Nations University's Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) says a ban on human cloning, coupled with freedom for nations to permit controlled therapeutic research, is the global community's best option.
The report, titled "Is Human Reproductive Cloning Inevitable: Future Options for UN Governance" has been authored by UNU-IAS director A.H. Zakri.
Birds instinctively pick the healthiest fruit
By DPA,
Hamburg (Germany) : Birds instinctively choose the fruit which is healthy and shun less health-giving food options, German researchers have found.
Given a choice, birds flock to fruits with the highest levels of antioxidants known as flavonoids, which boost the immune system.
The German researchers offered a group of blackcaps, a common European summertime bird, a choice of two foods containing different amounts of flavonoids.
They found that the birds deliberately selected the food with added antioxidants.
U.S., China space debris still orbiting Earth
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Debris from the U.S. intercept of a spy satellite in February and from China's anti-satellite test in Janaury 2007 is still orbiting Earth, according to a space debris expert.
T.S. Kelso's CelesTrak satellite tracking software shows some 15 pieces of the busted up USA 193 spysat are still flying around, although when the successful intercept was reported, estimates were that all pieces would re-enter Earth's atmosphere within 40 days.
A recent analysis shows the last piece of clutter will decay about 100 days post-intercept, Kelso reported.
SatNav bags Red Herring 100 Asia award
By IANS
Hyderabad : The city-based SatNav Technologies, an IT products company, has bagged the Red Herring Top 100 Asia 2007 award.
This was announced at a gala dinner at Hong Kong organised to honour 100 cutting-edge private technology companies from across the Asia-Pacific region, said a company statement here.
The winners are based in 16 countries/regions including China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia and Vietnam. This is one of the prestigious awards across Asia, which is announced by the Red Herring Magazine.
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.
Researchers rely on 3-D imaging to detect autism early
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers are examining 3-D imaging to reveal correlations in facial features and brain structures of autistic children, in a bid to develop a formula for the condition's earlier detection.
Autism is a brain disorder characterised by a complex of social, communication and behavioural difficulties.
NASA Announces End Date for Space Shuttle Missions
By SPA,
Washington : The U.S.’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Monday set an approximate date for the final space shuttle mission for May 31, 2010.
The date set comes four months before the shuttle fleet retires. NASA has 10 missions remaining for the shuttle fleet, which U.S. President George W. Bush ordered to retire by September 30, 2010.
The remaining schedule includes five flights in 2008, five in 2009 and three in 2010.
Chuck a ball to put out fire
By IANS
Kolkata : Now to douse a fire, you can do better than using a fire extinguisher or splashing buckets of water. Just free your arms and throw a ball into the leaping flames. And voila! The blaze would be gone.
Siam Safety Premier Co Ltd, a Thailand-based company, has come out with an innovative and environment-friendly technology to douse fire. The fire extinguisher is marketed in India by Shree Shyam Bearings Pvt Ltd (SSBPL).
Iran to celebrate 3rd National Day of Nuclear Technology
By IRNA,
Tehran : Iran will celebrate its third National Day of Nuclear Technology on April 9.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, together with a number of other ranking officials, will take part in special ceremonies which are due to be held in the historical city of Isfahan in the central part of the country on the occasion.
Solar wind at 50-year low: Experts
By DPA,
Washington : The solar wind is at a 50-year low, potentially opening up the solar system to more dangerous rays from outer space, researchers have said.
Data from the joint NASA and European Space Agency Ulysses solar mission show the cyclical wind - as the plasma and magnetic fields sent out by the sun are called - are at their lowest level since scientists first gathered information on the matter.
Trying to lose hair? Measure the loss with new software
By IANS,
Sydney : Researchers have developed maths-based imaging technology to measure hair on different parts of the human body.
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO) Biotech Imaging team, which specialises in developing software to analyse images automatically, worked with a British company to find a way to test how well their hair removal products work.
Obama views India’s moon mission as a challenge
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : As the White House hailed India's maiden moon mission as "encouraging" and "exciting", Democratic presidential hopeful, Barack Obama saw it as a reminder to revitalise the US space programme and not let other countries surpass it.
"I haven't spoken to the President (George Bush) about it. I saw that story, it was very interesting," White House spokesperson Dana Perino said Wednesday. "We noted it's very encouraging for India, I'm sure, very exciting."
Google distorts reality, Austrian study says
By DPA
Vienna : Google, the world's largest Internet search engine, is on several fronts a danger that has to be stopped, a study released by Austria's Graz University claims.
A research team led by Prof. Hermann Maurer, chairman of Graz University's Institute for Information Systems and Computer Media, argues that Google is turning into a new version of George Orwell's "Big Brother" - creating unacceptable monopolies in many areas of the worldwide web.
‘Even microbes at risk from climate change’
By IANS,
Washington : Not just humans, climate change will also impact the microscopic world of bacteria, fungi and other microbial populations that support life on Earth.
“Microbes perform a number of critical functions for ecosystems ... we are only starting to understand the impact that global climate change is having on them,” said Kathleen Treseder of the University of California.
Treseder studied the effect of rising temperatures and fungi on carbon stores in Alaskan boreal forests, one area of the globe that is experiencing greater warming than others.
India’s first moon mission is world’s 68th
By IANS,
Bangalore : Chandrayaan-1, that lifts off Wednesday morning from Sriharikota, is India's first and the world's 68th mission to the moon, the earth's closest celestial body which has fascinated children, scientists and poets alike.
"Through the ages, the moon, our closest celestial body, has aroused curiosity in our mind, far more than any other objects in the sky," says the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on its maiden moon mission.
Inventor of DNA fingerprinting sees funny side of it
By Jaideep Sarin, IANS,
Helsinki (Finland) : The scientist who invented DNA fingerprinting in 1984 can't help but see the lighter side of the technology and says it has acquired an entertainment angle now, given the high-profile cases it is used for.
Sir Alec Jeffreys of the Department of Genetics at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom says he himself has handled some of the highly publicised cases which were nothing sort of entertainment for millions of people across the globe.
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.
NASA reschedules shuttle launch for Sunday night
By DPA,
Washington : The US space agency NASA was confident that the repeatedly delayed launch of the space shuttle Discovery would lift off Sunday night for a mission to the International Space Station.
The launch was scheduled for 7.43 p.m. (2343 GMT) Sunday from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Discovery will have seven astronauts on board, including Japanese crew member Koichi Wakata, who is slated to join the permanent crew on the orbiting space station.
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".
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.
NASA satellite pins down timer in ‘stellar bomb’
By IANS,
Washington : A NASA satellite helped astronomers pin down the timing mechanism in a ticking “stellar bomb” some 20,000 light years away.
The twin-neutron star, designated as 4U 1636-53, produces between seven and 10 bursts daily, releasing more energy in 10 to 100 seconds than the sun radiates in an entire week.
The astronomers said they were equivalent to 100 hydrogen bombs detonating simultaneously on a city-sized surface.
India to launch dedicated meteorological satellite
By IANS
New Delhi : India is set to launch an advanced meteorological satellite by the end of this year to boost its weather forecasting capabilities.
The satellite INSAT-3D will give "quantum jump in satellite meteorology", P.S. Goel, secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said Tuesday.
This satellite is almost similar to GOES Satellites of the US and will have six channel imagers.
Goel spoke about the satellite at the ongoing Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Workshop on Weather Forecasting Techniques in the national capital.
Egypt starts manufacturing new satellite
By NNN-KUNA,
Cairo : Egypt has started to manufacture a new satellite in cooperation with France to meet the growing demand for its satellite in the Arab region, especially after NileSat has used up all existing capacities of the existing Nilesat 101 and NilSat 102.
The Egyptian Satellite Company (Nilesat) said in a statement Thursday that it will launch its new satellite NileSat 201 in the first quarter of 2010, the first second-generation NileSat satellite based on a contract with a French company.
Chandrayaan camera detects X-ray signal from moon
By IANS,
Bangalore : The sophisticated camera on board India's first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 detected the first X-ray signal from the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here Friday.
"The first X-ray signature was detected from a region near the Apollo landing sites Dec 12 at 02:36 universal time. The solar flare that caused the X-ray fluorescence was exceedingly weak, about 20 times smaller than the minimum the CIXS imaging spectrometer was designed to detect," the space agency said in a statement.
Kale Consultants to give Finnair new processing system
By IANS
Mumbai : Pune-based airline software solutions provider Kale Consultants Ltd has inked an agreement with northern Europe's leading cargo carrier Finnair Cargo for providing airmail cargo revenue processing systems.
In a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Tuesday, the company said Kale Consultants would provide outsourced airmail cargo revenue accounting services to Finnair Cargo.
In other words, Kale Consultants will scan and process airmail information, documents and invoices in Finland and Mumbai corollary with revenue accounting and management of mail operations.
Indian-Australian AMU Alumnus Aamir Qutub launches his company’s sports technology wing in Delhi
By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: Indian-Australian Entrepreneur Aamir Qutub, an alumnus of AMU and founder of Entriprise Monkey,...
Astrology channel launched on YouTube on 12.12.12
By IANS,
Agra : AstroSageIndia, said to be the country's first multi-language astrological YouTube channel was launched Wednesday, on the special date of the century - 12.12.12 at 12:12 p.m.
China launches second weather satellite for the Olympics
By Xinhua,
Taiyuan (China) : China Tuesday launched its second Olympic weather forecasting satellite, the Fengyun-3, to ensure timely weather forecasts during the Olympics.
The satellite was launched on a Long March-4C carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in northern Shanxi province at 11.02 a.m.
Zheng Guoguang, director of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), said the FY-3 would work with the existing FY-2.
Apple launches world’s thinnest notebook in India
By IANS
Mumbai : Apple unveiled the world's thinnest notebook, MacBook Air, in India Wednesday.
Angeline Tan, product marketing manager of Apple, introduced the notebook here, which measures 4 mm at its thinnest point.
The MacBook Air was first launched at the MacWorld expo in San Francisco Jan 15.
In India, it will ship in two weeks through Apple authorized resellers and authorized dealers for a suggested retail price of Rs.96,100 ($2,421).
The features of the MacBook Air include a 13.3-inch liquid crystal display, a full-size backlit keyboard and a built-in video camera.
Of six GSLV launches, only two successes
By IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : The GSLV rocket mission that failed Thursday was the sixth launched by India. Of the six, only two were successes, one a partial one, and the rest could not accomplish their
missions.
The two successful launches by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were in 2003 and 2004 - and put into space GSAT-2 and Edusat, an educational
satellite.
The rocket's maiden flight in 2001 could not attain success as it was not able to sling GSAT-1 into the intended orbit. The satellite could not be raised to the intended orbit.
Spanish company invents a way to walk on water
By RIA Novosti
Madrid : Two thousand years after a certain carpenter from Galilea pulled it off, a Spanish company has developed a somewhat less miraculous, if still impressive, way to walk on water.
As described in the web news journal Diariodeibiza, the company Vehiculos con Ingenio or Transportation with Imagination began selling its new contraption a month ago that allows people using it literally to walk on water.
Sick zooplanktons affecting whole food chain in the Ganga: Scientist
By IANS,
Patna : All along the stretch of India's holiest river Ganga, the zooplanktons that play a critical role in its food chain are developing tumours, says a biologist.
M. Omair from the University of Michigan in the US has collected zooplankton samples from Haridwar, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, and Kolkata. He found that many of the zooplanktons that are eaten by the small fish have tumours.
The small fish are in turn eaten by the bigger fish and so on, so the ill zooplanktons are getting into the entire food chain, including humans who eat fish from the river.
Maveric Systems develops automated software test tool
By IANS
Chennai : Targeting a higher share in the $8 billion Indian offshore testing opportunity, Chennai-based independent software testing company Maveric Systems Limited has come out with an automated software testing tool.
Developed at an investment of around $1 million, the proprietary software tool called Testac promises to reduce software testing time by 30 percent, CEO Ranga Reddy told reporters.
According to him, Maveric Systems is the only Indian software testing company to have such a proprietary tool.
Google launches Latin translation tool
By IANS,
London : Google Translate, a service that can instantly translate entire web pages or chunks of text in another language, has added Latin to its list.
Apple, Intel join Google in bidding for Nortel patents
By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,
Toronto : Auction for thousands of wireless technology patents belonging to failed telecom giant Nortel began Monday.
Russia delays Norwegian telecoms satellite launch till Feb. 11
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The launch of a Russian carrier rocket with a Norwegian telecoms satellite has been delayed until February 11, Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said in Sunday.
The launch of a Proton-M rocket with a Thor-5 satellite from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan was originally planned for February 10 but subsequently delayed until 2:34 p.m. Moscow time (11:34 a.m. GMT) February 11 due to technical problems, Roscosmos said.
US solar industry ‘injured’ by Chinese solar cells
By IANS,
Beijing : The solar industry in America was "materially injured" by imports of solar cells from China, a US trade panel has claimed.
Last tune-up for Hubble telescope before space shuttle launch
By IANS,
Washington : From a fuzzy beginning nearly 20 years ago, Hubble Space Telescope has now revolutionised astronomy, its stunning images stirring global imagination.
But as the International Year of Astronomy dawns, the renowned telescope is preparing for its final chapter, starting with the scheduled May 12 launch of the space shuttle Atlantis for NASA's fifth and final service mission to the telescope.
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.
Free software saves Kerala schools Rs.11 crore
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : By opting for the free and open software platform (FOSS) for the state-sponsored IT@School project, Kerala's General Education Department has saved Rs.11 crore.
The project's Executive Director K. Anvar Sadath said if proprietary software were used in the 11,065 laptops and computers to be supplied in schools, a minimum of Rs.11 crore would have been spent in procurement of software.
Effective way found to produce anti-flu vaccines
By IANS,
Washington: A rapid and effective way to produce vaccines against new flu strains has been developed by scientists.
The virus that causes flu frequently changes its genetic code, making it difficult for scientists to think up an effective vaccine.
But now, University of Miami computer scientist Dimitris Papamichail and researchers from Stony Brook University have developed a way to produce shots against new strains.
Computers aiding in creation of new products
By IANS,
London : From cars and mobile phones to computers and furniture, most products in the market are created virtually on a computer before actual production.
Under the Functional Digital Mock-Up (DMU) project, researchers from four Fraunhofer institutes are developing value additions to digital product development.
An electric car window slides smoothly upward at the press of a button. While power windows are certainly convenient, they can also pose a safety risk.
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...
Three New Species Of Snouted Beetle Found In Thailand
By Bernama,
Bangkok : The discovery of three unidentified new species of snout beetles in Thailand's tropical forests', is an indication of the biodiversity still to be discovered in the country's woodlands, a group of Thai entomologists announced.
New to the world's record of beetle species, the three newly discovered were named Articerodes thailandicus, Articerodes ohmumoi and Articerodes jariyae.
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.
Saudi prince buys into Twitter
By IANS,
London: Saudi billionaire prince Alwaleed bin Talal has invested $300 million in the microblogging company Twitter, becoming its latest major investor.
TiEcon 2014 in Santa Clara ends with Shahid Khan keynote
By Ras H. Siddiqui, TwoCircles.net,
San Francisco: The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) held its annual conference known as TiEcon in Silicon Valley, the technology world way beyond just the South-Asian Diaspora noticed. Over 4000 people attended TiEcon 2014 at the Santa Clara Convention Center with many of the heavyweights in the technology arena present. Those who presented Grand Keynotes included Steve Mollenkopf (CEO Qualcomm), Michael Rhodin and Manoj Saxena (IBM), Steve Lucas (President SAP), Romesh Wadhawani (Chairman & CEO Symphony Technology Group), Sanjay Poonen (EVP and GM of VMware) and Shahid KhanPresident of Flex-N-Gate and owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL football team.
UN to turn off lights for Earth Hour Saturday
By IANS,
New York: The UN will observe Earth Hour Saturday in its facilities across the world to show its commitment to action on climate change, WAM news agency reported.
Earth Hour, promoted by WWF (World Wide Fund For Nature), the global conservation organisation, has asked people and organisations to turn off the lights for one hour Saturday night (March 27) between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. in whatever time zone they may be located.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called Earth Hour "both a warning and a beacon of hope".
With new iPhone, download photo sharing application too
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : As excitement heightens for the launch of Apple's iPhone in India Friday, two Indian techies from the US have pitched in to offer a free download of their mobile application on iPhone for photo sharing, with value added features to boot.
The entrepreneurial techies - Apoorva Ruparel and Keshav Murthy - are part of the team that established AirMe Inc at Colorado Springs a year ago to design, develop and offer AirMe on the Apple applications store for iPhone users.
New NASA mission to reveal moon’s evolution
By Xinhua
Washington : NASA will launch a new mission that will peer deep inside the moon to reveal its anatomy and history, announced Alan Stern, the agency's Associate Administrator for Science, in a press release on Tuesday.
The name of the new moon mission is "Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory," or GRAIL. It will cost 375 million U.S. dollars and is scheduled to launch in 2011, according to the announcement.
Washington : NASA will launch a new mission that will peer deep inside the moon to reveal its anatomy and history, announced Alan Stern, the agency's Associate Administrator for Science, in a press release on Tuesday.
The name of the new moon mission is "Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory," or GRAIL. It will cost 375 million U.S. dollars and is scheduled to launch in 2011, according to the announcement.
Armoured Mist Frog resufaces 17 years after ‘extinction’
By IANS,
Sydney : Researchers have stumbled on a frog species not seen for the past 17 years in a remote location in far North Queensland.
Ross Alford of the James Cook University informed it was feared that the Armoured species had been lost in the devastating outbreaks of amphibian chytrid fungus that started in the Wet Tropics 20 years ago.
"But Jame Cook PhD student Robert Puschendorf working with myself and its Amphibian Disease Ecology Group has found a healthy population of the Armoured Mist Frog well outside the areas it used to inhabit," Alford said.
Brazil to deepen space cooperation with China
By Xinhua
Brasilia : The newly sworn-in head of the Brazilian Space Agency (BSA) Carlos Ganem said Tuesday that Brazil cherishes the ties with China and will deepen cooperation with China in the field of space technology.
Ganem made the remarks during his inauguration ceremony. A technical expert who engaged in the first negotiations on the China-Brazil satellite cooperation program, he said the project is an excellent example of bilateral cooperation.
Laser based chemical sensors make bomb detection safer
By IANS
Washington : Laser based chemical sensors currently under development will sniff out TNT and take the hazard out of bomb detection.
The remote detection scheme relies on highly sensitive, low-cost, battery-free, thin-film sensors that require no electronic equipment or excitation source at the sites where they are installed.
Conventional chemical TNT sensors have no remote capability and must be used close to the site of the suspected bomb, risking the lives of military personnel.
Meteor bombardment may have made earth more habitable
By IANS,
London : Large bombardments of meteorites nearly four billion years ago probably made earth and mars more habitable by modifying their atmosphere.
When a meteorite enters a planet's atmosphere, extreme heat causes some of the minerals and organic matter on its outer crust to be released as water and carbon dioxide before it breaks up and hits the ground.
Climate change killed mammoths, suggest their DNA
By IANS
Sydney : Global warming might have wiped out ancient species like mammoths and bison, warning us about the potential impact of climate change.
Study of ancient DNA indicates that extinction of such species from the northern hemisphere 11,000 years ago was largely due to climate change. Human impact through hunting and overkill were only incidental, said lead researcher Alan Cooper.
He retrieved remains of genetic material from a variety of sources, including bones and teeth, preserved seeds and sediments, to examine evolution and environmental change, reports Sciencedaily.
Milky Way is far fatter, say Sydeney astrophysicists
By Neena Bhandari, IANS
Sydney : Is our Milky Way galaxy fatter than we thought? A team of astrophysicists from the University of Sydney - including an Indian researcher - have calculated that it is 12,000 light years thick - double the previous estimate.
They made the amazing discovery not by gazing at our galaxy through a powerful telescope, but while being engrossed in a stimulating discussion and analysing data downloaded from the Internet.
Revolutionary nano-needle can peer into a cell
By IANS,
Washington : A revolutionary nano-needle, developed by researchers, not only peers into individual cells, but also acts as electro-chemical probe and optical biosensor.
"Nano-needle-based delivery is a powerful new tool for studying biological processes and biophysical properties at the molecular level inside living cells," said Min-Feng Yu, professor of mechanical science and study coauthor, University of Illinois (U of I).
New study shows way to fourth-generation biofuels
By IANS
London : In a finding that paves the way for fourth-generation biofuels and dramatic crop improvements, scientists have got a fix on how plants regulate the amount of carbon dioxide they use after taking it in from the air.
For instance, when there is not enough sunlight, plants put the brakes on the amount of carbon dioxide they use to make food. But as sunlight increases, the brakes are rapidly released, in a process called the Calvin cycle.
NASA: hydrothermal vents may prove life on Mars
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Hydrothermal vents similar to those found in America's Yellowstone National Park may have carried water up through the Martian soil, according to data provided by NASA's Spirit rover.
The site of these proposed vents could possibly contain preserved traces of ancient Martian life, scientists say. That assumes, of course, that life might once have existed on Mars. No firm evidence for that idea has ever been found, however.
Tiny natural computer helps worms find food, avoid poison
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have identified the mechanism by which animals are propelled toward food, and compare it to "a tiny, specialised computer".
The mechanism works for simple animals such as roundworms, propelling them towards food, as well as humans hungrily hunting for a pizza.
Oregon University researchers have documented how two related, closely placed chemosensory neurons acting jointly regulate such behaviour in roundworms.
Remains of 10,000-year-old giant sloth found
By IANS/EFE,
Brasilia : Scientists have found bones in Brazil that belonged to a 20-foot-tall sloth that lived some 10,000 years ago.
Sky gazers can expect celestial fireworks Monday
By IANS,
New Delhi : Sky gazers can expect to see an exhibition of celestial fireworks over the next two days as the night sky will be lit up by the famous Leonid meteor shower expected to peak on Monday.
Amateur astronomers of the capital can see about 15 to 20 shooting stars every hour for the next couple of days.
"People can watch for the meteor showers during the early hours Monday. There will be fireballs in the sky," said N. Rathnashree, director Nehru Planetarium here.
Hundreds of new species discovered in the Himalayas
By IANS,
Washington : Over 350 new species, including the world's smallest deer, a "flying frog" and a 100 million-year-old gecko, have been discovered in the Eastern Himalayas, according to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report.
A decade of research carried out by scientists in remote mountain areas endangered by rising global temperatures brought exciting discoveries such as a bright green frog that uses its red and long webbed feet to glide in the air.
Use of nanoparticles fraught with risks, warn scientists
By IANS
New York : The inevitable has happened - as the use of nano particles grows, scientists have sounded a warning on their impact on the environment and on human health.
Take, for instance, the case of nanoparticle silver. Known for its antibacterial and odour-fighting properties, this nanoparticle is now being extensively used in products ranging from socks to bandages to washing machines.
Now, concerned scientists are urging a closer look at the unforeseen consequences of ordinary laundering washing off substantial amounts of the nanosilver particles into natural waterways.
ISRO to set up astronaut training institute
By IANS,
Bangalore : Buoyed by the successful launch of the country's maiden unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to start an institute to train astronauts for its planned first manned space mission by 2015, said a top official.
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.
Japan launches communication satellite
By Xinhua
Tokyo : Japan Saturday launched a high-speed data transmission satellite, the nation's space agency said.
A H-2A rocket carrying the satellite 'Kizuna' lifted off at 17.55 p.m. from the space centre on the island of Tanegashima off the southern tip of Kyushu Island in southern Japan.
A spokeswoman for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the launch went smoothly.
The initial launching was successful despite a delay due to bad weather and an unexpected ship entry in restricted waters near the space centre, the official said.
AI’s Transformative Impact on Indian Education: Unveiling the Pros and Cons of Modern Tools
By Farooq Siddiqui
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changer in various spheres of life, and its influence on education is revolutionizing the Indian...
Railway plans hi-tech security gadgets in Orissa
By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : East Coast Railway authorities have decided to install high tech security gadgets at leading stations of Orissa in view of the recent terror attacks in different places of Mumbai, a railway official said Monday.
A high level meeting was conducted by East Coast Railway authorities Monday to review the security situation at railway stations, especially in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Cuttack.
The meeting took stock of the security scenario at these stations and additional measures required to be taken were discussed, an East Coast Railway press release said.
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.
Taikonaut Zhai completes China’s first spacewalk
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang slipped out of the Shenzhou VII spacecraft Saturday afternoon and completed the country's fist spacewalk mission, spending about half-an hour in the outer space and conducting experiments.
Donning a $4-million homemade Feitian space suit, Zhai, the commander of the three-man mission, waved to the camera mounted on the service module after pulling himself out of the capsule in a head-out-first position at 4:43 p.m., video monitor at the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC) showed.
NASA’s Fermi telescope sees mother of all gamma-rays blast
By IANS,
Washington : The first gamma-ray burst to be seen in high-resolution from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope had the greatest total energy, the fastest motions and the highest-energy initial emissions ever recorded.
"We were waiting for this one," said Peter Michelson, the principal investigator on Fermi's Large Area Telescope at Stanford University. "Burst emissions at these energies are still poorly understood, and Fermi is giving us the tools to understand them."
Computer model of brain can help victims of anxiety disorder
By IANS,
Washington : The brain is a complex system made of billions of neurons (nerve cells) and thousands of connections that relate to every human feeling, including one of the strongest emotions, fear. Researchers have started using computer models of the brain to study the connections.
Most neurological fear studies have been rooted in fear-conditioning experiments. Now, University of Missouri (U-M) researchers are using computational models to study the brain's connections.
NASA’s Cassini clicks Saturn’s moon in best-ever resolution
Washington : A pockmarked, icy landscape looms beneath NASA's Cassini spacecraft in new images of Saturn's moon Dione taken during the mission's last close...
India places latest communications satellite into orbit
By V. Jagannathan, IANS
Sriharikota : Trailing a plume of orange flame, a rocket lifted off from this launch pad in Andhra Pradesh Sunday evening to place into orbit India's latest communications satellite that will boost direct-to-home (DTH) TV services.
The geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle GSLV-F04 lifted off at 6.20 p.m. on a cloudy Sunday evening after a series of delays caused by a technical glitch delayed the launch by 120 minutes.
Space taxis: Bold new era or death of manned exploration?
By Anne K. Walters, DPA,
Cape Canaveral (Florida) : The massive cement expanses that dot the flat Florida landscape have been launching pads for history: the first US astronauts blasted into orbit, the Apollo missions to the moon and nearly 30 years of space shuttle flights. But human space travel from Kennedy Space Centre will soon come to a halt.
After nearly three decades, the space shuttle programme is set to come to a close in September.
Tamil Nadu to get super-critical thermal plant by 2012
By IANS,
Chennai : Power equipment major Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB) will jointly set up 1,600 MW super-critical project in Tuticorin district in Tamil Nadu on an outlay of Rs.87 billion (Rs.8,700 crore).
The coal-based super-critical project - the state's first - will be set up by a joint venture company Udangudi Power Corp in which BHEL and TNEB will hold 26 percent stake each and with the financial institutions holding the balance.
The joint venture agreement was signed by the two parties here Wednesday.
Symantec awards firms for digital safekeeping
By IANS
Mumbai : Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Reliance Communications, HDFC Bank and NCDEX (National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd) won the Symantec Asia South visionary awards for protecting their IT infrastructure and information with the company's anti-virus solutions and firewalls against hacking.
New medical weapons against anthrax attacks
By IANS,
London: The 2001 anthrax attacks in the US are fostering development of a new generation of vaccines and antibiotics to protect people against deadly bacteria in future bio-terrorist incidents.
Dimitrios Bouzianas, molecular endocrinologist, AHEPA University Hospital in Macedonia, Greece, notes that several existing antibiotics are available to combat an anthrax infection.
Dinosaur footprints, fossils found in central Peru
By EFE,
Lima : Hundreds of footprints and the fossilised remains of various prehistoric animals, probably dinosaurs that lived 120 million years ago, have been discovered in the Ancash region of central Peru.
The find came when the Antamina mining company, which is owned by BHP Billiton and Xstrata, among other partners, was building a road from its camp at Yanacancha to the Conococha crossroads, in Huari province, some 400 km northeast of Lima.
Russian scientists revive plants frozen for 30,000 years
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : A team of Russian biophysicists has successfully grown ancient plants from tissue material that stayed frozen in the Siberian region for about 30,000 years.
Agra meet to discuss robot use in urology treatment
By IANS,
Agra : Use of robots and computers for surgery on patients with urological problems will be discussed at an international conference on advances in urology, to be held in the city of the Taj Mahal beginning Feb 3.
The five-day conference will be attended by over 1,000 Indian and 200 foreign specialists in urology.
In the pre-congress workshop, specialists of the American Urological Association will highlight and demonstrate latest robotic assisted laproscopic techniques.
US spacecraft finds Mars colder than expected
By Xinhua,
Washington : The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that the crust and upper mantle of Mars are stiffer and colder than previously thought.
The new observations from its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggest any liquid water that might exist below the planet's surface and any possible organisms living in that water would be located deeper than scientists had suspected.
"This implies that the planet's interior is more rigid, and thus colder, than we thought before."
China launches communication satellite
By IANS,
Beijing : China Wednesday night successfully launched a communication satellite into space.
Wipro wins multi-year deal from Swedish firm
Bengaluru: Global software major Wipro Ltd on Monday announced it has won a five-year IT infrastructure management deal from Assa Abloy group, a Swedish...
Russian astronomer discovers new comet
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russian amateur astronomer Artyom Novichonok, a student of Petrozavodsk university, has discovered a new comet, website Astronet said.
Simplicity will drive IT growth: Michael Dell
By IANS
New Delhi : Simplicity will drive the growth of global industry by enabling cost reductions and creation of new systems, Dell chairman and CEO Michael Dell maintained Tuesday.
Infosys chief S. Gopalakrishnan couldn't agree with him more while participating in a session on "Innovation and Disruption: The CEO View" at the Fortune Global Forum here Tuesday.
Dell said: "With legacy costs and inflexibility built into the system, we now need to simplify to reduce costs and to create new systems.
US team finds evidence of water in moon minerals
By IANS,
Washington : A team of US geologists has found structurally bound hydroxyl groups in a mineral in a lunar rock returned to earth by the Apollo programme.
Geologists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), working with colleagues at the University of Tennessee, found the water in a calcium phosphate mineral, apatite, within a basalt collected from the moon's surface by the Apollo 14 astronauts, Xinhua reported.
Rousing reception for Sunita Williams at space congress
Hyderabad, Sep 28 (IANS) American astronaut of Indian origin Sunita Willams drove into Cyberabad Friday on the outskirts of this city to a rousing reception by hundreds of delegates participating in the 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC).
China to Build Solar Power Plants in 2009
By Prensa Latina,
Beijing : Two large solar power plants will be built in the Chinese provinces of Qinghai and Yunnan this year, as part of a nationwide project to boost renewable energy.
Qinghai's solar station will cost 146 million dollars and will be jointly built by China Technology Development Group and Qinghai New Energy Group.
In the beginning, the plant will generate 30 megawatts, but after completion, it will produce one gigawatt and will be the world's largest solar power plant, investors said.
Stock your anti-spam tool chest
By DPA
Washington : E-mail users today can't afford to ignore spam. The unwanted e-mail that clogs inboxes everywhere costs people time, and time, of course, is money.
If you're curious about exactly how much spam is costing you on either a personal level or a corporate level, you can check in at Computer Mail Service's handy Cost of Spam Web site (http://www.cmsconnect.com/Marketing/spamcalc.htm).
There you'll be able to break down how much you lose in salary and productivity by dealing with average amounts of spam.
Washington : E-mail users today can't afford to ignore spam. The unwanted e-mail that clogs inboxes everywhere costs people time, and time, of course, is money.
If you're curious about exactly how much spam is costing you on either a personal level or a corporate level, you can check in at Computer Mail Service's handy Cost of Spam Web site (http://www.cmsconnect.com/Marketing/spamcalc.htm).
There you'll be able to break down how much you lose in salary and productivity by dealing with average amounts of spam.
Indian IT industry on alert to prevent swine flu fallout
By Pupul Dutta and Fakir Balaji, IANS,
New Delhi/Bangalore: The $60-billion Indian IT industry is on an alert mode on account of the pandemic swine flu that has affected travel and led to postponement of events, according to a top industry official.
"Though we are taking preventive measures, we have postponed a few events, including one in Pune," said Som Mittal, president of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the industry's representative body.
New goggles take hassles out of eye test
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have developed a device that can be worn like goggles, which practically takes the hassles out of existing eye tests and gives much better results.
The new Tel Aviv University-developed device - the VIP Virtual Perimetry - removes the physical limitations of the traditional bulky machine used today.
Google’s Android outsells iPhone, threatens BlackBerry
By IANS,
Toronto : Though the Canadian icon BlackBerry continues to maintain its lead in the US smart phone market, handsets with Google's Android operating system may upset it soon, says a report released Monday.
In fact, the devices with the Google operating system have left Apple's iPhone behind in the first quarterly sales, says the report.
Chandrayaan-II to be launched by 2013
By IANS,
Kolkata : India's second lunar mission Chandrayaan-II is likely to be launched by 2013, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said Saturday.
"Chandrayaan-II should take place by 2013. Our first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-I, has given us a substantial understanding about entering the moon's orbit. But ensuring the safe landing of the rover on the lunar surface is still an obstacle," Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony here.