India makes history, enter Mars orbit in maiden attempt
Bangalore: India Wednesday created space history by becoming the first country in the world to enter Mars orbit in its maiden attempt, an event...
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.
Samsung launches Galaxy Note 800 in India
By IANS,
New Delhi: Samsung Electronics Friday launched a new tablet, Galaxy Note 800, in the Indian market expanding its product portfolio.
Scientists observe major climate changes in Arctic
By RIA Novosti
St. Petersburg : Scientists have reported substantial changes in the climate of the Arctic Region, a senior official at the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) said Thursday.
"We have observed global climate changes in the Polar Ocean," said Igor Ashik, acting head of the AARI ocean science department.
He said the ocean was clearing itself of drifting ice "for the first time in decades of Polar research".
Making IT play knight in shining armour
By IANS
New Delhi : Can the computer enter the home and the street in a way that helps minimise violence against women? An initiative from Sri Lanka believes that information and communication technology (ICT) can do just that.
The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) has awarded a grant to the Centre for Women and Development for a project to use technology to document violence against women in the north of the country via a database.
NASA to beam Beatles’ song “Across the Universe” to Polaris
By Xinhua
Beijing : NASA will broadcast next Monday the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" across the galaxy to Polaris, the North Star, to celebrateds the 40th anniversary of the song and the 50th anniversary of NASA, according to media reports Saturday.
Beijing : NASA will broadcast next Monday the Beatles' song "Across the Universe" across the galaxy to Polaris, the North Star, to celebrateds the 40th anniversary of the song and the 50th anniversary of NASA, according to media reports Saturday.
Andhra to use drone cameras to check red sander smuggling
Hyderabad : The Andhra Pradesh government is planning to use drone cameras in Rayalaseema region to increase surveillance on red sander smuggling, Chief Minister...
Connect science, policy for progress on climate change: Pachauri
By DPA,
New York : The chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Monday said there remained a "glaring gap" between the policy and science on climate change.
"We need to connect science and policy," Rajendra Pachauri said at a news conference organised by the United Nations Environment Programme.
The IPCC shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with former US vice president Al Gore.
Endeavour to lift off Tuesday with Japanese module
By Xinhua
Beijing : The space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for launch early Tuesday to carry the first of three modules that will become Japan's orbiting laboratory in the International Space Station, according to media reports Monday.
Liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is scheduled for 2:28 a.m. EDT.
The mission marks a fresh chapter in Japan's human spaceflight effort.
India Actively Considering Sending Man Into Space: Chavan
By Bernama,
New Delhi : India is gearing up for the launch of its maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-I later this year and the government is actively considering sending a man into space, Minister of State in PMO Prithviraj Chavan said Wednesday.
Integration of 11 experiments -- five Indian and six foreign -- is proceeding satisfactorily and scientists are looking forward to a launch in the third quarter, the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted him as saying, in replying to supplementary questions in the Lower house of Parliament.
Narcissists use Facebook for self-promotion
By IANS,
Washington : People with excess of self-love might choose networking sites like Facebook for unabashed self-promotion and publicity.
They are more likely to choose glamorous pictures for their main profile photos, while others are more likely to use snapshots, according to a Georgia University study.
"We found that people who are narcissistic use Facebook in a self-promoting way that can be identified by others," said Laura Buffardi, a doctoral student in psychology who co-authored the study with associate professor W. Keith Campbell.
Chennai watches transit of Venus
By IANS,
Chennai : The passage of planet Venus across the face of Sun is once in a life time celestial event and many viewed it here, an official said Wednesday.
Skin cells can change into stem cells
By DPA
Washington : California scientists have reprogrammed human skin cells to be identical to embryonic stem cells, confirming the work of US and Japanese researchers reported late last year.
The findings were published online by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences Monday.
Stem cells hold the promise of curing disease because they can become any type of cell, but the research has caused controversy since until recently the only way to harvest such cells was through destruction of a human embryo.
Nokia touch screen phone by year end
By Himank Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : Setting at rest speculations, cell phone major Nokia has confirmed it will launch a full touch screen handset by the end of this year.
"We have been working on the Series 60 platform for touch screen user interface and a mobile device is expected to be launched by the year-end," Devinder Kishore, Nokia India's marketing director, told IANS.
Researchers crack open secret of superbug’s resistance
By IANS,
Toronto : Scientists have stumbled upon a central processing unit (CPU) of a superbug's weaponry which will provide new options to fight back and disable the virulent bacteria.
A team from the McMaster University's Institute for Infectious Disease Research has revealed that a small chemical, made by the superbug Staphylococcus aureus and its drug-resistant forms, determines this disease's strength and ability to infect.
Kerala must go for modern farm technology: Chandy
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala should embrace modern technology in agriculture, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Saturday.
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 hits snags
By DPA,
San Francisco : Despite some initial glowing reviews, Microsoft has been flooded with complaints about its new Internet Explorer 8 and has seen early users downgrade to the previous version, Information Week has reported.
The software giant is hoping that its new browser will help stem a steady flight of surfers to rival products, most notably the open-source Firefox browser.
According to the latest figures, Firefox now controls 22 percent of the browser market compared to 67 percent for Internet Explorer, which once enjoyed more than 90 percent of the market.
Youngsters use Facebook, MySpaceTeens to create flattering self-images
By IANS,
Washington : Youngsters are using popular networking websites like Facebook and MySpace to create flattering self-images, one that they would like to be but are not.
"People can use these sites to explore who they are by posting particular images, pictures or text," said University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) psychology graduate Adriana Manago, researcher with the Children's Digital Media Center, Los Angeles (CDMCLA), and co-author of the study.
Kerala Tourism starts ad campaign on Google
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Kerala has tied up with Google to promote its tourism through search and banner advertisements on the search engine.
This is the first time a state tourism department is partnering with the global search engine for such an advertisement campaign, Google officials have said.
Narasimha Jayakumar, business head of Google India, told IANS that the three-month campaign started last week and the responses had been "tremendous".
IIM-A placement process going great guns
By IANS,
Gandhinagar: The second phase of the placement process at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is going on well with over 20 offers made Sunday.
Deloitte made 10 offers (including lateral offers) for consulting roles while other regular recruiters like TAS and Feedback ventures offered general management and consulting roles and hired six students each.
Do urban ‘green’ spaces contribute to global warming?
By IANS,
Washington : There is some disquieting news about urban green spaces, which instead of mitigating global warming, might actually contribute to it, says a new study.
Turfgrass lawns help remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air through photosynthesis and store it as organic carbon in soil, making them important "carbon sinks".
However, greenhouse emissions from fertiliser output, mowing and other lawn management practices are four times greater than the amount of carbon stored by ornamental grass in parks, a University of California-Irvine (UC-I) study shows.
NASA experts arrive in Chile to help in miners’ rescue
By DPA,
Santiago : Experts of the US space agency NASA arrived in Chile Tuesday to contribute to the rescue of 33 miners trapped 700 metres under the Atacama desert in northern Chile.
The experts were met at the airport by Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich. They are set to help rescue efforts in psychological, operational and health-related aspects, among others.
Space station opens to Tranquility and its picture window
By DPA,
Washington: Astronauts Saturday opened the hatch to the space station's newest room - the Italian-built Tranquility node that will eventually offer a six-sided picture window on space.
NASA television showed the space station and Endeavour shuttle astronauts moving around the opened hatch, through which they installed an airflow system and exercise equipment into the new room. They were also taking dust samples from Tranquility.
Apple releases new operating system for Mac computers
By DPA
Los Angeles : Apple has released a new operating system for its ever more popular Mac computers.
The upgraded OS 10.5, nicknamed Leopard, was released Friday and includes some 300 improvements including a 'time machine' that tracks and resurrects lost data, and improved video-conferencing abilities.
The eagerly awaited system was delayed by several months while the company's engineers worked on developing the iPhone.
Rival Microsoft, whose software powers 90 percent of the world's computers, released its newest operating system, Vista, in January.
Cabinet approves national policy on skill development
New Delhi: The union cabinet has approved India's first integrated National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015, it was announced on Thursday.
The National...
Apple’s next-generation stunning iPhone model leaked
By IANS,
Washington: Apple's future generation iPhone model, which was leaked after being mistakenly left at a bar in California, has been put on display by a technology news portal.
The secret version of the next generation iPhone was not expected to be formally unveiled for a couple of months.
But, the technology news site Gizmodo said the gadget was left by an iPhone software engineer at Gourmet Haus Staudt, a German specialty store and beer garden in Redwood City.
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).
India to rollout 3G services by mid-2008: A. Raja
By IANS
New Delhi : Indian mobile users will be able to use 3G services by the middle of next year, Communications and IT Minister A. Raja said here Thursday.
"We are hopeful that some spectrum for both 2G and 3G services will be vacated by the end of this year. I hope that could pave the way for a rollout of 3G services by mid next year," the minister said at a 3G summit.
On being asked how much spectrum would be vacated, the minister replied, "That is up to the defence ministry to decide."
UAE to launch remote-sensing satellite with GCC countries
By Xinhua,
Abu Dhabi : The United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to launch a joint remote-sensing satellite with other member countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Gulf News reported Tuesday.
The plan was revealed by Brigadier Khalifa Mohammad Al Rumaithi, chief of military works of the UAE armed forces, during an interaction at the Defence Geospatial Intelligence Middle East (DGIME) here.
The forum, aimed at promoting inter-operability and integration to support national security objectives and operational requirements, opened Monday in Dubai.
5,000-year-old village ruins found in China
By IANS,
Beijing : Archaeologists in China have found the ruins of two 5,000-year-old villages in Mongolia.
The ruins in Hamin'aile village in Tongliao city in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have been identified as possibly originating from Hongshan culture, dating back 5,000 years, said Ji Ping, a researcher at the Institute of Cultural and Historical Relics and Archaeology.
About 1,200 square metres have been excavated, and houses and tombs had been found, China Daily reported.
Capital cost for Microsoft: court says pay up
By Kanu Sarda, IANS,
New Delhi : It's a capital cost all right! Delhi High Court has asked Microsoft Corporation to shell out Rs.800,000 ($16,000) for choosing to fight four copyright violation cases in the Indian capital even though they originated in other cities.
The order came after the court found that the alleged violations occurred in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Mumbai.
Security gaps discovered in Adobe Flash Player, updates recommended
By DPA,
Bonn : Users of Adobe Flash Player are advised to update the latest version of the software after security gaps were discovered in early releases of the media viewer.
Those gaps have been sealed with the new version of the programme, according to Germany's BSI Federal Office for Security in Information Technology.
The problems with the old version could enable hackers to access a person's computer with only one visit to an insecure website.
China launches new satellite
By IANS,
Beijing : China successfully launched a new satellite into space Sunday, which will improve television and radio broadcasting signals in the country.
The "SinoSat-6" was launched at 12:14 a.m. from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The Long March 3B rocket took SinoSat-6 into a geostationary transfer orbit 26 minutes after the launch, Xinhua reported.
Keeping a flower beautiful for years – Indian researchers tell how
By IANS,
Lucknow : Imagine preserving the colour and shape of a flower for nearly 15 years! A team of researchers at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) museology department claims to have developed a technique that can do just that.
The technique, according to the researchers, will benefit the flower business across the globe and help scientists preserve and conserve endangered, vulnerable and useful species of plants for study purposes.
Russian rocket sends US satellite into orbit
By Xinhua,
Moscow : A Russian Proton-M rocket Tuesday sent a US telecommunications satellite, the Inmarsat-4 F3, into Earth orbit, a spokesman for a Moscow-based producer of space launch systems said.
The rocket was launched from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan at 2.43 a.m., said Alexander Bobrenyov, spokesman for the Khrunichev state research and production space centre.
Global cyber security experts meet in Kuala Lumpur
By DPA,
Kuala Lumpur : More than 100 government officials and cyber security experts from around the world gathered Tuesday in Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur for a summit aimed at discussing policies to ensure tighter security on the internet.
"Just as there are malicious individuals bent on causing harm to societies and nations in the real world, governments around the world must prepare to deal with similar threats in cyberspace," Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said.
New H-1B visas rule bars multiple requests for same worker
By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : Amidst demands for raising the cap on H-1B visas for skilled professional, authorities have issued a new rule prohibiting employers from filing more than one petition for a single employee in a fiscal year.
The change is intended to promote a fair and systematic process for H-1B petitioners, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said Wednesday announcing the new rile.
Nanotech breakthrough paves way for next-generation equipment
By IANS
Washington : Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have used nanotechnology to dramatically improve conversion between heat and power, paving the way for a new generation of products that are cheaper and run cleaner.
The latest breakthrough in the conversion, called the thermoelectric effect, would mean a host of more efficient and cheaper products - from semiconductors and air conditioners to car exhaust systems and solar power panels.
Indian spacecraft will try to unravel moon’s origins
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : India's lunar explorer, Chandrayaan-1, will try to unravel the moon's origins as it scouts for minerals and water there, according to project director M. Annadurai.
When Chandrayaan is launched Oct 22 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here, about 80 km from Chennai, it will boost international space cooperation by carrying 11 scientific devices, six of them from European and American organisations, to study the earth's nearest celestial neighbour while it orbits 100 km above the moon.
India-born scientist identifies 400-mn-year-old fossils in US
By Jatindra Dash, IANS,
Bhubaneswar : The pre-historic legacy of what is now the United States could be redefined thanks to an Indian-born scientist in...
Technical snag trips parliament voting system
By IANS,
New Delhi: A technical snag developed in the automatic vote recording system in the Lok Sabha Tuesday as Speaker Meira Kumar asked MPs to cast their votes on the cut motion moved by Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Gurudas Das Gupta.
More than a dozen foreigners were watching the house proceedings from the visitors' gallery as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government faced a threat of a cut motion by the opposition parties minus the Samajwadi Party and the Rashttriya Janata Dal (RJD).
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".
Just click 160by2.com and send free SMS!
By Nayanima Basu, IANS
New Delhi : Want to send an SMS for free? Just click www.160by2.com.
"On one side were users who wanted free SMS and on the other side were brands and media companies trying to reach these consumers. Initially we ignored them but as the number increased, we realised that there was a genuine opportunity here, waiting to be exploited," said Satya Kalyan Yerramsetti, CEO, SMSCountry Networks Pvt. Ltd.
For sending an SMS from 160by2.com, one needs to only fill up a simple registration form.
Algae could be a rich, and unusual, fuel source
By IANS
New York : Soaring fuel prices have prompted scientists to look at unconventional energy sources that are cheap, abundant and renewable.
And a new study suggests that the common algae could be just such a source.
Although ethanol is currently being derived from corn, researchers at the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) have dismissed it as a thermodynamically inefficient process.
They are, instead, examining the production of hydrogen by photosynthesis in algae as a renewable fuel, ScienceDaily reported.
Cast away eclipse superstitions, but view safely
By IANS,
New Delhi : As the world looks forwards to the century's longest total solar eclipse Wednesday, there are superstitions galore in India. But science experts have urged people to do away with "false beliefs" and watch the celestial spectacle -- as long as they do so the right way.
"There are several false beliefs prevalent in our society regarding solar eclipse. Some people even lock themselves up in their homes to avoid 'the bad rays' from the eclipse," said Nehru Planetarium director N. Rathnashree.
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.
World’s first 3D camcorder for home movies unveiled
By IANS,
London : The 3D revolution has so far been all about Hollywood blockbusters and major sporting events. But now, the cutting-edge technology is coming closer to home.
Treasured moments such as a child's first steps or a university graduation can be captured in 3D with the arrival of the first camcorder - capable of filming in more than two dimensions, says the Daily Mail.
Unveiled by Panasonic Wednesday, the 1,300 pound HDC-SDT750 3D model works using a sophisticated double lens.
Partial solar eclipse on Jan 26
By IANS,
New Delhi : Sky gazers in some parts of India will get an opportunity to observe a partial solar eclipse Jan 26.
The eclipse, first for the year, will start at 2.15 p.m. Monday and end by 4 p.m.
"The eclipse will be visible only from southern parts of India, eastern coast, most of northeast India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. People in north and west India will miss the celestial activity," N. Rathnasree, director Nehru Planetarium, told IANS.
India seeks inclusion in Russian space station project
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : India has expressed its intention to participate in the Russian International Space Station construction project, according to Russian space agency head Anatoly Perminov.
"As regards the list of nations wishing to join in the construction and operation of the International Space Station, India has recently applied," Roskosmos chief said last week.
He added that India was a major space power with a series of achievements in non-manned aerospace projects, and would like to make a contribution to the space station project.
Russia could stop tourist flights to space from 2010
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Tourist flights to the International Space Station (ISS) could be stopped from 2010 due to a planned increase in crew numbers on the station, the head of the Russian space agency has said.
"As part of our current programme, space tourist flights to the ISS will continue. But from 2010, difficulties could emerge due to planned increases in ISS crew numbers to between six and nine members," Anatoly Perminov told journalists Friday.
Space tourists started flying to the ISS in 2001.
Nanotubes spun into threads open new possibilities in communications
By IANS,
Washington : Taking already proven technology to grow carbon nanotubes of record lengths, researchers have now found new applications in communications for these fibres by spinning them into strong threads.
David Mast, an associate professor of physics at the University of Cincinnati's (UC) McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, took a 25-micron carbon nanotube thread and created a dipole antenna using double-sided transparent tape and silver paste. He was immediately successful in transmitting radio signals.
Google smart phone may be launched Tuesday
By IANS,
New York : Apple's iPhones will have a big competition on their hands as Google is set to launch its much discussed smart phone next week.
The new smart phone, Nexus One, may be unveiled Jan 5 when the internet search engine giant holds a media briefing about its smart phone business at its Mountainview headquarters in California. The Google-branded device will use its latest Android operating system called Anrdoid 2.1.
Android is already being used in more than a dozen smart phones by many vendors, including Motorola and Samsung.
PM launches Rs.21,500 crore Bathinda refinery
By IANS,
Bathinda (Punjab): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday inaugurated the Rs.21,500 crore Guru Gobind Singh Refinery in Punjab's Bathinda district.
Climatic changes hastened death of ancient empires
By IANS,
Washington : Unfavourable climatic changes might have hastened the decline of Roman and Byzantine empires more than 1,400 years ago.
Based on chemical signatures in a piece of calcite from a cave near Jerusalem, a team of American and Israeli geologists pieced together a detailed record of the area's climate from roughly from 200 B.C. to 1100 A.D.
Their analysis reveals increasingly dry weather from 100 A.D. to 700 A.D. that coincided with the fall of both Roman and Byzantine rule in the region.
World’s smallest atomic clock in matchbox size
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have created an amazing, matchbook-sized atomic clock 100 times smaller than commercial versions with both military and commercial applications.
China tests space module for 2011 launch
By IANS,
Beijing : China has finished construction of its first module of an unmanned space station and is testing it for a launch in 2011, a military official has said.
The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1 space module will be put into orbit in 2011 and experts are testing its electronic, mechanical and thermal properties, the unnamed official was quoted as saying by China Daily.
A carrier rocket named Long March II-F will launch the Tiangong-1 into space, the official said, adding that a group of Chinese astronauts, including two women, is undergoing training for the purpose.
Instant Messaging cuts workplace interruptions: Study
By IANS,
Washington : Instant messaging could be a way to reduce interruptions at the workplace, rather than cause them, as is popularly believed.
A new study has found that instant messaging, or IM, is now being often used as a substitute for more disruptive forms of communication like the telephone, e-mail and personal chats.
This finding flies in the face of earlier research which concluded that IM - along with phones and e-mail - was the cause of increased interruptions at work and resulted in reduced output.
Scientists using videogame as psychological tool
By IANS
New York : Nintendo Wiimote is highly popular as a video-game, but by hooking it to a lab, computer researchers in the US have been able to extract clues about how a person performed a learning task.
Although it has in the past been adapted as a tool of physical therapy for geriatrics, researchers at the University of Memphis have found another use for the game - psychological experimentation.
Data from the Wiimote permitted researchers, led by Dale Rick, to demonstrate that body movements change systematically along with change in mental processing.
Space shuttle Discovery blasts off
By DPA,
Washington : Space shuttle Discovery blasted off in a midnight launch on a mission taking it to the International Space Station (ISS).
Discovery lifted off the launching pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 11.59 p.m. Friday (0359 GMT Saturday) after days of postponements due to a questionable valve on the shuttle's external fuel tank and poor weather.
Google acquires 3D software pioneer to take on Apple
By IANS,
Toronto : Google Monday snapped up a top Canadian startup which pioneered a 3D interface technology for Mac and Windows PCs.
Called Canada's hottest software startup, Toronto-based BumpTop has been acquired by the search engine for reportedly between $30 and $45 million, according to reports. However, there were no details of the deal by the two sides.
Set up just three years ago, BumpTop has pioneered touch-screen software that allows use of multiple fingers at a time on a multiple touch screen.
SatNav Technologies launches new navigation solution
By IANS
Hyderabad : SatNav Technologies, a city-based IT products company, has added laptop and desktop navigation to its range of global positioning system (GPS) products, which are available under the brand SatGuide.
The company Monday announced the launch of its SatGuide turn-by-turn navigation and planning solution for laptops and desktops, focused on corporate houses.
"This is the first time in the country that such a solution is being launched," said a company statement here.
Want to meet T-Rex? Go to Jharkhand
By IANS,
Ranchi : Want to know more about the ferocious T-Rex and his friends? Well, there's good news for you, as the forest department of Jharkhand plans to establish a dinosaur park in the state.
The authorities came up with the idea after footprints resembling those of the big reptiles were discovered in the state.
"Footprints resembling those of dinosaurs have been found in Pithoria in Ranchi and Hazaribagh districts. There is a possibility that the big reptiles might have been roaming in these areas," said Nitish Priyadarshi, a geologist and environmentalist.
Mobile retailer Svyaznoy to open Apple stores in Russia
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow: Mobile retailer Svyaznoy plans to launch Apple Premium Reseller mono-brand stores in 10 Russian cities.
Nuclear art sleuths analyse cultural heritage
By DPA
Vienna : Fake or real? This is one of the questions that has been bugging art experts all over the globe for centuries. Help for art detectives comes from an unexpected quarter: the UN nuclear watchdog, usually better known for investigating a country's nuclear programme or weapons aspirations.
Chinese satellite fails to enter orbit
By IANS,
Beijing : A Chinese satellite failed to enter its designated orbit due to a rocket malfunction, a media report said Friday.
Chandrayaan reaches ‘home’ in lunar orbit
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 Wednesday reached its intended operational orbit at about 100 km from the lunar surface for a two-year rendezvous with the moon.
“Chandrayaan has reached its home in the final orbit. The spacecraft is orbiting at an altitude of 100 km above the lunar surface. It will spin around the moon once in two hours,” Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS here.
Software to prevent car collisions under development
By IANS,
London : A pedestrian chasing a pet dog suddenly steps in the path of your speeding car 15 metres away. There is no way you can avoid hitting him. The string of cars following you crash behind one another. In future, a new software programme will mitigate or even eliminate such an eventuality.
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.
AOL to shutter support for Netscape
By Xinhua
Beijing : AOL announced in its blog post to shutter support for Netscape Navigator from Feb. 1 and recommended the Netscape users to make the move to Firefox, media reported Saturday.
Netscape would still be available for download from the Netscape Archive after Feb. 1, but no "active product support" will be offered.
The decision came after Netscape Navigator, once the dominant Web browser, failed in the battle against Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
New system to regulate shipping traffic in Gulf of Kutch
By IANS
New Delhi : The government has proposed to establish a Vessel Traffic System (VTS) in the Gulf of Kutch to regulate the shipping traffic, the Lok Sabha was informed Wednesday.
VTS is a marine traffic monitoring system established by harbour or port authorities, similar to air traffic control (ATC) for aircraft.
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.
Lost Soviet rover on moon traced
By IANS,
Toronto : In an amazing breakthrough, a Canadian researcher has located the Soviet-era rover Lunokhod-2 stuck on the moon 37 years ago.
Phil Stooke, a professor at departments of physics & astronomy and geography at the University of Western Ontario at London near here solved the 37-year-old mystery using lunar images released Monday by NASA and maps from his own atlas of the moon.
Digital invasion of privacy just a step away: Experts
By IANS,
London : Digital invasion of privacy is a step closer to reality, thanks to an increasingly intrusive technology that can track every single movement of ours or the words that we whisper.
The combination of information and communication technologies and pervasive computing will soon help continuously monitor individual activity, beyond what was feared by George Orwell in 1984, warned social psychologist Saadi Lahlou and other experts in a special report.
No plans to put Indian on moon
By IANS,
New Delhi : India has no plans to put an astronaut on the moon -- as of now.
So said Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy in the Rajya Sabha Thursday.
NASA packs new toilet pump on shuttle Discovery for ISS
By Xinhua,
Washington : NASA packed a new toilet pump aboard the space shuttle Discovery on Thursday to be sent to the International Space Station to fix its faulty Russian toilet, the U.S. space agency said Thursday.
The new toilet pump and some other replacement parts were rushed in from Russia to the United States last night and were stowed inside the payload bay of Discovery, which is perched at the launch pad of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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:
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.
EU fines Microsoft record 899 million Euro for charging rivals too much
By SPA
Brussels : The European Union is fining Microsoft Corp. ¤899 million (US$1.3 billion) for charging
rivals too much for software information. EU regulators say the company charged unreasonable prices to software developers who wanted to make products compatible with the Windows operating system. The fine is the largest ever for a single company and the first time the EU has penalized a business for failing to obey an antitrust order, AP reported
Wind pattern change may intensify global warming
By IANS,
Washington : Carbon dioxide released from the Antartic Ocean due to shifting wind patterns may drastically increase global warming, say scientists.
Many scientists think that the end of the last ice age was triggered by a change in earth's orbit that caused the northern part of the planet to warm.
This partial climate shift was accompanied by rising levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, ice core records show, which could have intensified the warming around the globe.
ESA’s Jules Verne spacecraft ready for liftoff
By Xinhua
Beijing : A European cargo ship the size of a double-decker bus is ready for its first flight to haul fresh supplies toward the international space station.
Jules Verne, a massive unmanned cargo ship built for the European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch Sunday, March 9 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. A modified European Ariane 5 rocket will loft the nearly 21-ton Jules Verne into orbit from its equatorial launch site on the northern coast of South America.
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.
Astronomers find young exploding star in Milky Way
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Astronomers have located the youthful remains of a stellar explosion that sent out powerful shock waves and lighted our galaxy with a blinding flash about 140 years ago.
The newly discovered remains are the youngest known supernova remnant in the Milky Way, snagging the record from the previous holder, 330-year-old Cassiopeia A.
Hyderabad to host VLSI conference next month
By IANS
Hyderabad : The 21st international conference on very large scale integration (VLSI) design and the 7th international conference on embedded systems will be held here next week to highlight the next generation challenges and opportunities in multicore processor design.
The five-day conference will start Jan 4 and will be held at Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC). It will be attended by leading VLSI and embedded systems architects and technology experts.
Volcanic eruption in 1600 caused global disruption
By IANS,
Washington : The eruption of Huaynaputina in Peru in 1600 AD led to global disruption, triggering famines and cold winters in many places, according to a new study of records by geologists.
The eruption is known to have put a large quantity of sulphur into the atmosphere, and tree ring studies show that 1601 was a cold year, but no one had looked at the agricultural and social impact, said Ken Verosub of University of California, Davis.
"We knew it was a big eruption, we knew it was a cold year, and that's all we knew," Verosub said.
Party under a blue moon this new year eve!
By IANS,
New Delhi : Take out some time from new year eve revelry Thursday and look at the sky to catch a glimpse of a rare celestial phenomenon - a blue moon. A partial lunar eclipse will also be observed early Jan 1, 2010.
The full moon on Thursday will be a "blue moon".
A blue moon has nothing to do with the colour of the moon but when two full moons occur within the same month, the second full moon of the month is called a "blue moon", a term used metaphorically to describe the rarity of an event, as in the idiomatic expression -- once in a blue moon.
Adani group to set up solar power parks in TN
Chennai : Gujarat-based Adani group on Saturday signed an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government to supply 648 MW of solar power from...
Google’s new OS could hit Microsoft where it hurts
By Andy Goldberg, DPA,
San Francisco : It's the ultimate showdown in the technology world, the clash of giants that has been eagerly awaited for years. Web giant Google is taking its clearest aim yet at Microsoft with its plan to produce its own operating system that would optimise the way computers work on the Internet.
Hypersonic jets that fly at five times the speed of sound
By IANS,
London : NASA is planning to build hypersonic jets that would travel at five times the speed of sound and bring in a new age of aircraft.
Earth can recover faster from CO2 emissions
By IANS,
Washington : Cheer up -- the earth may yet be able to recover faster from rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than previously thought.
Cassini to experience close encounter with Saturn
By Xinhua
Los Angeles : The Cassini spacecraft on Wednesday will skirt the edges of Yellowstone-like geysers erupting at the south pole of Enceladus during a flyby that will bring the craft to within 30 miles (about 48 km) of the Saturnian moon, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said Tuesday.
Global warming will push up sea level
By IANS,
Amsterdam : Sea levels worldwide are expected to rise by several metres in the coming centuries if global warming continues unabated.
Astronaut takes a second, closer look at Brahmaputra
By IANS,
Guwahati : US astronaut Mike Fincke Tuesday took a close look here at the river Brahmaputra, which he had viewed from space some months ago.
"I saw the Brahmaputra from space. Today I have seen it with my own eyes. It is indeed a pleasure to be by the side of this great river," Fincke told IANS.
Fincke and his wife Renita, an engineer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), arrived here to attend a series of functions.
The visit is special for the couple as Renita originally hails from Assam.
Using AI to track visual bugs in 3-D games
By IANS,
Sydney : Artificial intelligence will soon replace the tedious and time-consuming -- but highly complex -- process of testing how good or bad 3-D computer games are.
Alfredo Nantes of Queensland University of Technology is building intelligent tools that will detect “visual anomalies” in a 3-D computer game.
“Visual anomalies are things like incorrect shadowing or lighting, texturing problems and all artefacts that corrupt the realism of the game scene,” Nantes said.
UAE’s first artificial battery-powered heart transplant
Dubai: A 21-year-old student in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) city of Sharjah, has received the country's first artificial heart transplant, a media report...
Climate change has plunged earth into crisis: NASA
By IANS
New York : Climate change caused by global warming has plunged the earth into a crisis but fossil fuel industries are trying to hide the extent of the problem from the public, NASA's top climate scientist has alleged.
"We've already reached a dangerous level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," said James Hansen, 67, director of the space agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies here.
"But there are ways to solve the problem" of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which Hansen said has reached the "tipping point" of 385 parts per million.
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?
Scientists identify conservation’s future battlegrounds
By IANS
New York : Scientists have developed a series of global maps that show where projected habitat loss and climate change are expected to drive the need for future reserves to prevent biodiversity loss.
The study found that many regions that face the greatest habitat change are in globally threatened and species-rich developing tropical nations that have the fewest resources for conservation, Sciencedaily reported.
Singhvi underlines India’s growth at Boston technology summit
By IANS,
Washington : Political and business leaders from three leading world markets - China, India and Russia - got an insight into India's growth plans from Abhishek Singhvi, spokesperson of the Congress Party leading the country's ruling coalition.
Participating in a conference on "China, India and Russia - Our Partners in the New Global Economy" in Boston, Massachusetts Thursday, he also dilated on India's infrastructure and its abundant labour supply.
Conditions supporting life found on Saturn’s moon
By Xinhua
Beijing : Scientists found warmth, water and organic chemicals on Saturn's small moon Enceladus which are the basic ingredients for life, media reported Thursday.
Scientists did not say they had detected any actual evidence of life on this moon where geysers at its south pole continuously shoot watery plumes some nearly thousand km off its icy surface into space.
But they said the building blocks for life are there, and described the plumes as a surprising organic brew sort of like carbonated water with an essence of natural gas.
India plans major incentives for clean technology
By IANS
New Delhi : India's forthcoming action plan to address climate change will provide significant incentives for clean technologies, Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Kapil Sibal said here Tuesday.
Sibal, who headed the Indian government delegation at the Dec 3-14 UN conference on climate change in Bali, reiterated on his return that India was not going to take on any legal caps on emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) that are warming the atmosphere and leading to climate change.
World’s largest particle collider suffers setback
By Xinhua,
Geneva : The world's most powerful particle collider built for the multi-billion dollar 'Big Bang' experiment to unearth the secrets of cosmos has suffered a new problem and will be out of action for at least two months, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has said.
CERN, the operator of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), said Saturday the incident occurred at mid-day Friday, resulting in a large helium leak into the tunnel containing the LHC, which was started with great fanfare earlier this month.
India plans 70 space missions
By NNN-Xinhua
New Delhi : India plans to undertake 70 space missions in five years, a nearly three-fold jump from the previous half-decade, to address requirements and develop new technologies for future needs, according to the NDTV station.
"We have proposed something like 70 missions totally compared to about 26 missions in the tenth plan period," Chairman of Indian Space Research Organization G Madhavan Nair said.
Software generates faces that display moods, emotions
By IANS,
Washington : A computer model developed by researchers can generate faces that display emotions and moods according to personality traits.
"The aim of this work has been to design a model that reveals a person's moods and displays them on a virtual face," said a co-author of the study, Diana Arellano from University of Balearic Islands (UIB) Artificial Intelligence Unit.
"In the same 3-D space we have integrated personality, emotions and moods, which had previously been dealt with separately," Arellano explained.
Prayers to ‘moon god’ for success of lunar mission
By IANS,
Thingalur (Tamil Nadu) : A temple in this Tamil Nadu town dedicated to the moon god conducted special prayers Tuesday for the successful launch of Chandrayaan, India's first lunar mission.
"Since this temple itself is meant for propitiation of the moon god, we conducted prayers for the success of Chandrayaan as it is bound for the moon tomorrow (Wednesday) from Sriharikota," N. Govindarajan, an official of the temple, told IANS.
"The omens during the worship were good and we are sure the mission will be a success," he said.
Tagging Kerala’s tame elephants
By IANS,
Kozhikode (Kerala) : All tame elephants in Kerala will soon come to be identified by a 10-digit number, thanks to an electronic tag that is expected to carry information on these gentle giants that also have their moments of fury.
The close surveillance of elephants is expected to bring down incidents of elephant fury in Kerala where the animals are often used for ritualistic splendour during festivals.
Here comes the world’s most accurate quantum clock
By IANS
New York : An atomic clock, based on a single aluminium atom and applying computer logic to the peculiarities of the quantum world, now rivals the world's most accurate clock, relying on a mercury atom.
Both clocks are at least 10 times more accurate than the current US time standard, according to a new study, Sciencedaily reported.
The measurements were made in a yearlong comparison of the two next-generation clocks, both designed and built at the US Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Compost can reduce carbon emissions
By IANS
London : Organic fertilisers applied to farmland could trap carbon stored in the soil and cut down on greenhouse emissions.
Carbon sequestration in soil has been recognised as a means to mitigate emissions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the European Commission.
Twenty percent of farmlands in Eurpoean Union could target about 8.6 percent of its total emissions for reduction, said a research paper published in the journal Waste Management and Research.
NASA scientists isolate clues to the secret of life
By IANS,
Washington : NASA scientists analysing meteorite dust have discovered new clues to a long-standing mystery about how life works on its most basic, molecular level.
"We found more support for the idea that biological molecules, like amino acids, created in space and brought to earth by meteorite impacts help explain why life is left-handed," said Daniel Glavin of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt.
"By that I mean why all known life uses only left-handed versions of amino acids to build proteins," added Glavin, who co-authored the study.
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.
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.
How to avoid e-mail threats
Washington, Feb 14 (DPA) Checking your e-mail has become a dangerous business. The number and types of e-mail borne threats that can cause harm to your computer or your privacy are growing.
Sometimes the actual danger imposed by these threats can be over hyped, but you still need to know what could constitute a dangerous e-mail message and how to respond to the threat.
Q: Can I get a virus just by reading an e-mail message?
Coming soon: self-repairing building materials
By IANS,
Washington : Buildings may be capable of repairing themselves in the future. It sounds like science fiction, but scientists are developing self-repairing polymer materials whereby cracks can be sealed automatically.
The technology being developed has been inspired by the human body's ability to repair minor cuts without any external intervention.
Dying amphibians signal impending biodiversity crisis
By IANS,
Washington : An alarming decline in amphibian species signals an impending biodiversity disaster or a new mass extinction threatening the planet, according to University of California researchers.
"There's no question that we are in a mass extinction spasm right now," said David Wake, professor of integrative biology at University of California. "Amphibians have been around for about 250 million years. They made it through when the dinosaurs didn't. The fact that they're cutting out now should be a lesson for us."
Rocket completes mission, India’s first moon spacecraft now in orbit
By Venkatachari Jagannathan and Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : With a perfect liftoff, India's first spacecraft to the moon entered its scheduled orbit early Wednesday, placing the country in a select group of six. The US, former Soviet Union, European Space Agency, China and Japan have sent spacecrafts to the moon earlier.
Google hangs up on Nexus One store
By DPA,
San Francisco : Google is shutting down the online store it launched with much fanfare in January to sell the Nexus One smartphone, the technology giant said Friday.
Google had hoped the direct sales initiative for what was widely called the "Google-phone" would launch a new business model for the US cellphone industry, by persuading buyers to purchase phones independently from the major carriers.
Currently the vast majority of cellphone purchases are subsidised by the carriers in return for customers locking in to a two year contract.
China’s first lunar probe Chang’e-1 blasts off
By Xinhua
Xichang (China) : China Wednesday launched a lunar probe, the first of its three-stage moon mission, from a launch centre in southwestern Sichuan province.
The circumlunar satellite Chang'e-1 blasted off on a Long March 3A carrier rocket at 6:05 p.m. from the No. 3 launching tower in the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.
Chinese space experts, technicians and other work staff, joined by experts from Japan, Germany and other countries as well as millions others from across the country, watched the launch.
Earth is twice as dusty as in 19th century
By IANS,
Washington : If your house seems dustier than usual, it may have nothing to do with your housekeeping skills.
Scientist sets Large Hadron Collider data to ‘music’
By IANS,
London : Scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's biggest particle smasher, have turned masses of data produced by the collider into sound for the first time.
Now a Yahoo bid from former AOL CEO
By IANS,
New York : After a failed take-over bid by Microsoft and a partial technical collaboration with competitor Google, a former AOL chief, Jonathan Miller, is now eyeing to take over Yahoo Inc, which runs the popular internet search engine and website by the same name.
Former ISRO chief Kasturirangan chosen for space academy award
By IANS
Hyderabad : The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) has selected Rajya Sabha member and former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Kasturirangan for the prestigious Theodore Von Karman award for this year.
The award will be presented to Kasturirangan, one of the country's top scientists, here Monday on the first-day of the 58th International Astronautical Congress.
The Theodore Von Karman award is the highest distinction of the IAA given annually to recognise outstanding lifetime achievements in any branch of science.
New navigation system to help motorists avoid jams
By IANS,
London : A new car navigation system is being developed to help motorists negotiate rush hour jams by advising them about the best possible routes.
The 'Congestion Avoidance Dynamic Routing Engine' (CADRE) uses “artificial intelligence”, or AI, to interpret live traffic information shared among vehicles fitted with a special GPS, or Global Positioning System.
Indian science could gain from open access push
By IANS
Bangalore : Indian academic institutions are finding it "exceedingly expensive" to have a well-stocked library of science journals. New ways to access research is needed, a prominent science journal has said.
Bangalore-published Current Science, India's prominent fortnightly journal of research, has editorially argued for "the idea of open, institutional archives" and called for it to be "vigorously promoted in India".
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.
Scientists work on ways to track terror bomb sources
By IANS,
Sydney : Organic peroxides are being increasingly preferred as explosives by terrorists because they can be easily prepared and don't required to be purchased off the shelf.
New techniques for tracking bomb-making materials, and possibly pointing the way towards the terrorists themselves, are being researched at Flinders University. The research being undertaken at Flinders has the potential to make a contribution towards fighting the global war on terror.
Plant roots being modified to be better at finding water
By IANS,
London : Most of the water brought by irrigation to grow crops evaporates even before reaching plant roots, a huge waste of resources that contributes to the global food crisis. Scientists are now modifying roots to improve the plants' ability to find water.
Tel Aviv University researchers are genetically modifying plants' root systems to improve their ability to find the water essential to their survival.
Russian deputy PM backs hypersonic bomber
By IANS,
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin Monday reiterated his appeal for developing a hypersonic aircraft for its PAK-DA long-range bomber requirements.
Morgan unveils zero-emission hydrogen car
By DPA
Malvern (Britain) : The British sports car manufacturer Morgan is to unveil a zero-emission hydrogen car powered by a fuel cell at the Geneva Motor Show.
The LIFECar, based on an initial concept by a specialist company investigating new ideas in environmentally sound transport solutions, comes in a retro-design of the original Morgan two-seater sports car.
Martian formations suggest underground water surges
By IANS
New York : Many unique formations on Mars suggest that they were formed millennia back by water welling up rapidly from deep within the red planet.
Some of these formations, which resemble gigantic fans, have steps going down to a basin, and researchers have disputed how they were formed since their discovery three years ago.
But a team of scientists from the US and the Netherlands now believe they were formed by water gushing from within Mars.
New device fuses cells for stem cell research
By IANS,
Washington : Engineers have developed a highly efficient new way to fuse a pair of cells to create a hybrid version.
The new technique that fuses an adult and embryonic stem cell allows researchers to study the genetic reprogramming that occurs in such hybrids.
The researchers were led by collaboration between Joel Voldman, associate professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Rudolf Jaenisch, professor of biology and a member of the Whitehead Institute.
Himachal roadways starts 3D online booking
By IANS
Shimla : The Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC) has become the first state roadways in the country to provide three dimensional (3D) secure online booking and cancellation facilities, transport officials said Saturday.
420 mn Chinese now use the internet
By IANS,
Beijing : The number of Chinese internet users has reached a staggering 420 million, authorities said.
Website sina.com.cn citing a report published by China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC) reported that 277 million people access the internet via cell phones.
The population of China's internet users climbed to 420 million as of June 2010, 36 million more than at the end of 2009.
China Daily Wednesday reported that broadband was the most popular way to access the internet, instead of a wired connection.
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.
NASA to decide on nuclear-powered rover Mars mission
By Xinhua,
Beijing : NASA could decide as early as Friday whether to cancel, delay, scale down or proceed with plans to launch a nuclear-powered rover to Mars due to technical problems and cost overruns, according to media reports Wednesday.
NASA has already sunk 1.5 billion U.S. dollars into the Mars Science Laboratory(MSL). The souped-up Mars rover will roam the surface and drill into rocks to search for microbial life on the Red Planet.
E-recycling major Infotrek acquires European technology
By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian electronic equipment recycling major Infotrek Syscom Ltd Friday announced that it has acquired European e-waste management technology for its subsidiary Eco Recycling ltd (Ecoreco).
The Mumbai-based firm said that the facility for managing both electrical and electronic waste is based on the "dry process technology" and the unit has been geared to recycle e-waste generated across the country.
Machine to deliver ultra-short flashes of X-ray light
By DPA
Hamburg : An underground machine which can deliver ultra-short flashes of X-ray light and peer into atoms is to be built in this north German city.
NZ astronomers measure smallest planet outside solar system
By Xinhua,
Wellington : Researchers in New Zealand have made the initial measurements of the smallest planet found outside the solar system, the New Zealand Press Association reported on Saturday.
Using the new MOA-II telescope at the Mt John Observatory, near Temuka in South Canterbury, they found the planet outside the solar system which is three times bigger than Earth.
More than 300 planets have been found outside the solar system, and the latest is the smallest planet orbiting a normal star, which is as little as one 20th the mass of the Earth's sun.
Indian American finds mastermind behind formation of our skin
By IANS,
Washington : An Indian American researcher has discovered the genetic mastermind that controls skin formation. The finding could help address skin disorders like eczema, psoriasis and wrinkles.
Skin is actually the largest organ in the human body, and has important functions in protecting people from infection, toxins, microbes and solar radiation.
SMS to know CAT answers within hours of exam
By IANS
Mumbai : Months of fretting after taking the Combined Admission Test (CAT) for admissions to top management institutes may become a thing of the past with the launch of an SMS service that will give the answers within hours of taking the exam.
Shuttle Discovery lifts off for space station
By RIA Novosti,
Washington : Space shuttle Discovery has blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station, NASA said.
The lift off took place at 17:02 local time (21:02 GMT) on Saturday and marked the third shuttle launch this year and the 35th for Discovery. The shuttle is expected to dock with the ISS two days after launch, NASA said.
The 14-day mission will see the Discovery shuttle deliver its heaviest payload to the world's sole orbiter, the Japanese Pressurized Module (JPM) which is the second unit of the massive Kibo laboratory complex.
‘Get your software from a cloud, save money’
By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,
New Delhi : As small and medium businesses in India struggle to stay afloat during the global economic slowdown, they are opting for cheaper computing services, and a Boston-based entrepreneur is here to promote his solution, cloud computing, in which software is shared over a wide network of computers.