Rationalists munch breakfast during eclipse to fight superstition
By IANS,
Hyderabad : A group of rationalists gathered here Wednesday morning to not just watch the longest solar eclipse of the century but also tuck into breakfast in an attempt to remove superstitious beliefs from the minds of people.
While the dark clouds blocked the view of the partial eclipse, they went ahead with their meal on the banks of the picturesque Hussain Sagar Lake in the heart of the city to prove a point.
The participants, including women and children, had the breakfast arranged by Jana Vignan Vedika (JVV), a group of rationalists fighting against superstition.
India’s mission moon: Countdown progressing smoothly
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : The countdown to India's first mission to send a spacecraft that will orbit the moon was progressing smoothly, senior officials of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here Monday.
"The countdown started at 5.22 a.m. Monday and is progressing as per schedule," M.Y.S. Prasad, associate director, Satish Dhawan Space Centre, told IANS from Sriharikota, India's spaceport off the Andhra Pradesh coast, 80 km North of Chennai.
Sonalika develops hydrogen-powered three-wheeler
By IANS,
New Delhi : Indian tractor maker Sonalika group says it has developed a pollution-free three-wheeler that will run on hydrogen and emit only vapour.
The engine has been developed in technical collaboration with Banaras Hindu University. Around 20 scientists and engineers of Sonalika Group and Banaras Hindu University have worked for seven years to make the project viable, the company said.
"The new three-wheeler will run on hydrogen and emit only vapour," said company managing director Deepak Mittal.
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.
Kerala’s first Active Web GIS Service launched
By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : The state-run Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management-Kerala (IIITM-K) Saturday launched Kerala's first Active Web Geographical Information System (GIS) service in public domain.
The GIS has been developed using Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) technology.
"The main objective of Active Web GIS is to make the dynamic geographical information available in a simplified, open Web interface," said IIITM-K Director K.R. Srivathsan, announcing the launch at the concluding session of three-day Free Map Workshop here.
LEDs set to revolutionise lighting
By IANS,
Washington : Energy efficient, ecologically sound light emitting diodes, or LEDs, are emerging as the hottest choice in illuminating homes and businesses.
"We are on the verge of a revolution," says E. Fred Schubert, professor of electrical engineering and physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute New York and co-author of a paper on the subject. "There are tremendous opportunities that open up with LED."
Microsoft’s Kinect sets record as fastest-selling tech gadget
By DPA,
San Francisco : Microsoft's Kinect has been named the fastest-selling tech gadget of all time after racking up sales of 10 million units since its launch in November.
NASA names planet after Kerala professor
By IANS,
New York/Kollam (Kerala) : In a rare honour, the US space agency NASA has named a 'minor' planet after a Kerala zoology professor in appreciation of his environmental research.
Sainudeen Pattazhy, who teaches in a college in Kollam, received a phone call from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory run by the space agency Wednesday that the minor planet '5178 CD4' has been named after him.
Proposals sought for studying India-French satellite data
By IANS,
Chennai : The Indian and French space agencies have sought research proposals on data to be generated from a payload on a satellite to be launched next year.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency have called for research proposals on the data to be generated from AltiKA, a payload in Satellite with ARgos and AltiKa (SARAL).
New technology to help doctors image lungs
By IANS,
Sydney : New technology pioneered by Australian researchers will help doctors image a patient's lungs and respiratory diseases.
Scientists from the University of Queensland (UQ) have successfully developed the country's first hyperpolarised helium gas for use in human MRIs.
Marlies Friese said the UQ team recently produced sufficient gas for a human subject to inhale, and created an image of the person's airways.
YouTube gets billion hits per day
By DPA,
San Francisco : Google's online video site YouTube now gets a billion hits a day, the site's founder Chad Hurley said in a video posted Friday.
"Three years ago today (YouTube co-founder) Steve (Chen) and I stood in front of our offices and jokingly crowned ourselves the 'burger kings' of media," read the post, which was titled Y,000,000,000uTube.
Europe’s Columbus docks at space station, finally
By DPA
Washington : After four years' delay and last minute space-walk hitches, the Columbus laboratory docked onto the International Space Station, opening a new chapter for Europe in space flight.
"Columbus is now officially a part of the ISS," NASA officials said Monday on the NASA TV transmission of the docking.
In a precision transfer that took about two hours, a robotic arm operated from inside the space station manoeuvred Columbus out of the cargo bay on the Atlantis shuttle and into its permanent place at the Harmony portal that was installed last year.
Binary asteroid comes close to Earth this week
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : In a month packed with celestial activity, sky gazers in India can watch out for a binary asteroid close to Earth this week - albeit with the help of a telescope.
Asteroid 2008 BT18 is gliding past Earth and astronomers have just discovered that it is a binary system.
"Radar images of the close-approaching space rock reveal two components, a primary and a secondary asteroid. Among all the near-Earth asteroids only a handful come this close," Nehru Planetarium director N. Rathnashree told IANS
Computer `taught’ to recognise attractive women
By IANS
London : Beauty indeed lies in the eye of the beholder - but does the beholder have to be human? Apparently not.
According to a paper in the journal Vision Research, Indo-Israeli Amit Kagian successfully "taught" a computer to recognise attractiveness in women.
"The computer produced impressive results. Its rankings were very similar to the rankings people gave," said Kagian of Tel Aviv University.
Sentinel birds sing the ‘watchman’s song’
By IANS,
London : Like soldiers guarding their posts in hostile territory and keeping comrades informed by radio that all is well, birds too are just as conscious about discharging similar "responsibilities", according to a study.
Researchers from the University of Bristol have demonstrated that by warbling a distinctive "watchman's song", birds scanning for danger ensure their larger feathered family can focus on foraging, and so get more food.
U.S. researchers produce cloned embryos from skin cells
By Xinhua
Los Angeles : Researchers in California said Thursday that they have produced human clone embryos from adult skin cells, in an advancement toward developing stem cells which could be used to cure degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Scientists used a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). They first removed the nuclei of mature egg cells from healthy young women and then inserted DNA from an adult male donor into the eggs. The DNA used in the experiment was retrieved from skin cells called fibroblasts.
A smart citizen card can be among government’s top feats
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
This can become the largest database on planet earth and the oldest technology-driven plan that is still doing the rounds in India - a unique, single identity smart card for every citizen and resident in the country.
Don't expect it in 2011, despite Home Minister P. Chidambaram promising a smart card in the hands of every Indian by then. But even if it eventually does happen within this government's tenure, it would be one of its top achievements.
Give eyes a rest: keep distance from LCD monitors
By DPA
Dortmund (Germany) : LCD monitors might be pretty, but computer users should still admire them from a distance.
Just like with old-fashioned cathode ray tube monitors, users should be sure to sit at least 50-80 cm from the monitor. Sitting closer means users run the risk of wearing out their eye muscles.
Older monitors, which work just like older televisions, took up so much desk space that workers were often left with no choice but to sit close to the monitor, says Windel. But that's not a problem with the newer liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors.
Martian soil may contain toxic compounds harmful to life: NASA
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Martian soil could contain a toxic substance that would make it less likely that life formed there, data gathered by NASA's Phoenix lander on the red planet has revealed.
Earlier NASA said Phoenix analysers detected water in the soil, which suggested that Mars could have the conditions for life. However, if the presence of perchlorate were confirmed, the probability of detecting living organisms there would be reduced.
Scientists track asteroid from space to ground impact
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have identified a tiny asteroid before it hit the earth, helping computers pinpoint its origins and predict the arrival of its shattered parts.
The four-metre-diameter asteroid, called 2008 TC3, was initially sighted by the automated Catalina Sky Survey telescope at Mount Lemmon, Arizona, on Oct 6 last year.
Numerous observatories, alerted to the invader, then photographed the object. Computations correctly predicted impact would occur 19 hours after discovery in the Nubian Desert of northern Sudan.
Now send free SMS to Middle East
By IANS,
Hyderabad: City-based 160by2.com, one of the leading free SMS service providers in the country, has launched a service for its customers to send free text messages to and from the Middle East.
"The first-of-its-kind service is open to all internet users in India and enables free SMS connectivity to mobiles in these countries and vice versa. 160by2 users from the Middle East can also send messages to India and between those countries," said a company release.
Mild tremors felt in Delhi, parts of north India
By IANS,
New Delhi : Mild tremors were felt Monday in parts of North India, including New Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh at 11:57 a.m.
Exciton-based circuits to enable faster computing
By IANS,
Washington : Particles called excitons that emit a strong pulse of energy as they decay could soon enable a new and faster mode of computing, according to a study.
Transistors - the building blocks for all electronic devices - use electrons to ferry signals needed for computation. But almost all computation devices use light, or photons, to send signals.
The need to convert the signalling language from electrons to photons limits the speed of electronic devices.
तो क्या भारत में प्रतिबंधित होगा वाट्सऐप?
TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter
नई दिल्ली: दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी मैसेजिंग सर्विस वाट्सऐप पर प्रतिबन्ध लगाने के लिए कल सुप्रीम कोर्ट में एक याचिका दायर की...
Post-1947 no science Nobel for India: Sibal
By IANS
New Delhi : India has not received a single Nobel Prize in the field of science after independence but efforts are on to spur innovation and research, Minister of Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said Monday.
To a question in the Rajya Sabha on whether it is fact that no Nobel Prize has been awarded to India in science after independence, Sibal said: "Yes Sir".
However, Sibal said his ministry was making efforts to strengthen research and innovation in the field of science.
ISRO slow on internet?
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) symbolises nothing less than rockets, satellites and moon missions but when it comes to a professional need as simple as uploading contents on the website, the presitigious organisation seems to have bungled.
The 97th edition of the Indian Science Congress, organized by the ISRO and the Kerala University, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday.
Scientists seek the fifth dimension
By IANS
Washington : The universe comprises three dimensions of space and one of time, but researchers are exploring the possibility of the fifth.
Sound like an episode from the "Twilight Zone"? Almost, but not quite, according to John Simonetti and Michael Kavic of the College of Science at Virginia Tech, reports Sciencedaily.
"The idea we're exploring is that the universe has an imperceptibly small dimension (about one billionth of a nanometer) in addition to the four that we know currently," Kavic said.
All India Science Conf. concludes in Bhopal with emphasis on promoting traditional scientific knowledge...
By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: Curtain was drawn on the three-day Bharatiya Vigyan Sammelan (All India Science Conference) 2007 with 10-point recommendations that emphasized on promoting traditional scientific knowledge along with modern science and increased community participation for balanced and sustainable development here on Sunday.
Windows 7 and Vista offer best file search
By DPA,
Hamburg : Ever wonder where you stored a certain file on your computer? If you have the new Windows 7 or even Windows Vista on your computer, you won't need any extra software to answer that question. The functionality already built into Windows 7 and Vista beats the performance offered by four free search programmes, the experts at Germany's Computer Bild magazine found.
Galileo may have discovered Neptune
By IANS,
Sydney : Galileo's notebooks contain hidden clues that is likely to clinch his discovery of Neptune in 1613, 234 years before the date of discovery accepted now, according to a new theory.
David Jamieson, who heads the Melbourne University (MU) School of Physics, is investigating the notebooks of Galileo from 400 years ago. He believes that buried in the notations is the evidence that he discovered a new planet that we now know as Neptune.
Underground barriers to stop toxic waste from contaminating water
By IANS,
Sydney : Thousands of garbage dumps are quietly leaking a toxic brew of old and sometimes deadly chemicals into the water consumed or used by millions of people.
Researchers are developing a solution to one of the most urgent problems faced worldwide -- the poisonous fluids which leach out of old rubbish dumps and enter the groundwater.
Indian space centre plans manned space probe by 2015
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), a unit of the country's premier Indian space research programme, plans to send two humans into space by 2015, an official said here Sunday.
Speaking to IANS, director of the VSSC unit here K. Radhakrishnan said the project is awaiting a final clearance from the central government.
"The pre-project approval of Rs.95 crore ($19 million) has already come and the approval of the main project is being awaited," said Radhakrishnan.
Want to go north? Ask a cow
By IANS,
London : The cow is considered sacred in India. Now scientists know it is also a dependable, navigational compass.
Scientists watched thousands of Google images of the humble quadruped in India, Britain, Ireland, USA to conclude cows automatically point to the north because they have their own inbuilt compasses aligning with the earth's magnetic field.
Although, in many cases, the images were not clear enough to determine which way the cattle were facing they were aligned on a north/south axis.
Insects use plants as ‘green telephone lines’
By IANS,
New York : Some insects that live above and below the ground communicate with each other by using plants as "green telephone lines", a new study has found.
Subterranean insects issue chemical warning signals via the leaves of the plant. This way, insects above the ground are alerted that the plant is already "occupied", according to the study by Dutch scientists.
This messaging enables spatially-separated insects to avoid each other, so that they do not unintentionally compete for the same plant, ScienceDaily reported.
India cannot afford to be climate sceptic: official
By IANS,
New Delhi : India's poor will have enormous problem in arranging their livelihood due to climate change, and it will be better the country stops being a climate sceptic, a government official said Thursday.
"There is enough scientific evidence to corroborate the fact that climate change poses unprecedented risks to both human life and in fact, to human civilisation," New and Renewable Energy Secretary Deepak Gupta said at a conference on climate change.
He said the climate change will have catastrophic "effect on livelihood, particularly of the poor".
‘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.
Iranian Scientists produce mouse using stem cells
By NNN-IRNA
Scientists of Iran’s Royan Research Center have successfully produced a mouse using embryonic stem cells.
Director of the center's stem cells group, Hossein Baharvand, said that in the next phase, the experts are expected to produce mice with specific characteristics by genetically changing the mouse embryonic stem cells.
"The mechanism could be used in studying the performance of a specific gene in a living body," Baharvand said.
Award for Indian wildlife scientist
By IANS,
New York : Indian botanist and wildlife scientist, Aparajita Datta, has been selected for the 2009 Women of Discovery Awards along with four other eminent women from different parts of the world.
New York based Wings WorldQuest's mission is to celebrate and to support the extraordinary women explorers by promoting scientific exploration, education, and conservation.
Many Malaysian leaders turn bloggers
By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : Blogging is the new buzzword in Malaysia with more and more politicians and others in public life taking to it.
The number is growing since the government last week announced that it would take on bloggers using cyberspace to vent their grievances.
The country's long-time Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad remains the most prominent blogger: his blog scored one million hits in May.
Mahathir raised a political storm earlier this month by resigning from the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) that he helped found in 1946.
China likely to launch its first moon orbiter Wednesday
By Xinhua
Beijing : China is likely to launch its first moon orbiter Wednesday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province.
"The satellite will be launched between Oct 24 and 26," China National Space Administration (CNSA) said, adding that the launch time has been tentatively scheduled at 6 p.m. local time.
The circumlunar satellite, named Chang'e I after the Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, and the carrier Long March 3A have passed all pre-launch tests and have been transported to the launch site, CNSA said.
Intense Technologies bags Iranian telecom software contract
By IANS
Hyderabad : City-based IT company Intense Technologies Wednesday announced it has won a customer communication management project for mobile service provider MTN Irancell of Iran.
MTN Irancell will be using the Intense iECCM (intelligent enterprise customer communication management) framework to substantially reduce its customer communication costs, build its brand image and enhance its customer intimacy levels, said a statement by Intense Technologies here.
India launches rocket carrying latest communication satellite
By IANS
Sriharikota : A rocket carrying India's latest communication satellite lifted from this launch pad in Andhra Pradesh Sunday evening after a series of delays caused by a technical glitch.
The launch of the geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle GSLV-F04 was originally scheduled for 4.21 p.m. but was successively delayed as scientists worked furiously to get over the glitch, an official here said, without specifying what the problem was.
New earthquake model reveals full fault segment
Washington : Researchers from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed the first computer model of an earthquake-producing fault segment that reproduces the available...
India, France to launch tropical weather satellite in 2009
By IANS,
New Delhi : India and France will jointly launch a satellite next year to understand climate change and the tropical weather phenomena including monsoons.
The joint working group of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French Space Agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) met in Goa Saturday and Sunday to review the progress made on this.
ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair and CNES president Yannick d'Escatha discussed the various modalities and technicalities involved with the launch of satellite Megha Topiques.
E. coli bacterium model of super industrial efficiency
By IANS,
Washington : E. coli bacterium, one of the best-studied single-celled organisms around, is a master of industrial efficiency. This bacterium can be thought of as a factory with just one product - itself.
It exists to make copies of itself and its business plan is to make them at the lowest possible cost, with the greatest possible efficiency. Efficiency, in the case of a bacterium, can be defined by the energy and resources it uses to maintain its plant and produce new cells versus the time it expends on the task.
Deadly mushrooms, cute lizards, in full internet form
By DPA
Washington : Two European emperors and an uncounted number of innocent collectors have died over centuries at its hand. Now, starting Tuesday, the infamous, yellow-green death cap mushroom is front and centre as the "Encyclopaedia of Life" opens its website to the general public.
The unveiling is the culmination of more than two years of work by scientists and internet experts intent on documenting the world's 1.8 million known species in one place.
Low carbon electricity to power hybrid cars
By IANS,
Washington : Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions that fuel global warming, but the benefits are highly dependent on how the power system changes in future.
"Plug-in hybrids represent an opportunity to reduce oil consumption, leverage next-generation bio-fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Snip of hair can nail criminal now
By IANS,
Sydney : A snip of human hair, recovered from a crime site, would now be enough to nail its perpetrator, thanks to a new technique developed by researchers.
Called Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS), the portable tool has the advantage of being readily available and could be used for forensic analysis.
Sarina Brandes, a chemistry masters researcher at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) who adapted this technique, said it was independent of analysis of DNA, which could break down quite quickly, especially during disasters.
Vibration energy to charge your smart phone!
By IANS,
New York: Vibration energy from a surface like the passenger seat of a moving vehicle to power your smart phone?
Yes. It's possible as...
Humans survived ice age by sheltering in ‘Garden of Eden’
By IANS,
London : The Garden of Eden, a strip of land off Africa's southern coast, had provided shelter to a handful of humans who survived mass extinction on earth during the ice age, say scientists.
Researchers believe the small patch of land at 384 km east of Cape Town was the only place that remained habitable during the devastating ice age 195,000 years ago when sudden change in earth's temperature wiped out many species.
Some scientists believe the population of human race may have fallen to a few hundred who managed to survive in one location, according to Daily Mail.
NASA beams chants of ‘Jai Guru Deva’ into outer space
By Dipankar De Sarkar, IANS
London : If there were any outer space aliens out there Monday at the crack of dawn Indian time, chances are they were grooving to a song with the words "Jai Guru Deva... Om".
The words form the beautiful refrain of a famous Beatles song, "Across the Universe", which was beamed into outer space in a celebration of the band's music at 0530 Indian time (midnight GMT).
Coastlines remain intact, despite climate change: study
By IANS,
Sydney : Preliminary research from the windswept coast of southern France suggest that world's coastlines remain largely intact despite climate change.
The urgent question is whether even small changes in sea levels due to climate change will wreck this natural balance and trigger devastating coastal erosion.
Key parameters are being recorded on equipment constructed by a joint team from Universities of New South Wales (UNSW) and Plymouth (Britain), in what is believed to be the single largest array of scientific instruments ever deployed in experimental coastal research.
NRI scientist offers tech solution to clean up Yamuna
By IANS
Agra : US-based Indian environmental scientist Subijoy Dutta Monday offered a low-cost, high-result water cleaning technology to cleanse the Yamuna River in the city of the Taj Mahal.
Founder president of Yamuna Foundation for Blue Water in the US and author of "Environmental Treatment Technologies", Dutta told IANS of his passion and commitment to restore the pristine purity and glory to Yamuna River, one of the worst polluted rivers in the world.
Russian space freighter to be ‘buried’ in Pacific
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia's last space freighter with an analogue control system will reenter the Earth's atmosphere Sunday before plunging into a "spaceship cemetery" in the southern Pacific, the Russian Mission Control said.
The Progress M-67 cargo spaceship, which arrived at the International Space Station July 29, bringing 2.5 tonnes of supplies, including fuel, water and various equipment, successfully undocked from the world's sole orbiter Sep 21.
40 years after Aryabhata: Nothing too far for India
By Venkatachari Jagannathan,
Chennai : India's first satellite - Aryabhata - was launched successfully by a Russian rocket on an April day 40 years ago,...
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.
NTPC to hire 6,000 people over five years
By IANS,
Chennai: India's NTPC Ltd, one of Asia's largest power generation companies, plans to hire 6,000 people over the next five years, a senior company official said here Tuesday.
"For the past four years we have been hiring around 1,200 people every year. This trend will continue for the next five years," R.C. Shrivastav, director (Human Resources), told reporters on the sidelines of a press meet.
Taking into account the retirements and attrition, the annual addition of manpower will be around 700 people, he said.
Nuclear power answer to fresh water shortage
By IANS
Mumbai : By 2025, an estimated 3.5 billion people will live in areas facing severe water shortages -- and providing them potable water would be a challenge that may be best met by nuclear-powered desalination.
This was one of the solutions presented at the recent Trombay Symposium on Desalination and Water Reuse here.
This and other solutions discussed at the symposium have been published in a special issue of the International Journal of Nuclear Desalination.
Did climatic conditions trigger Angkor’s collapse?
By IANS,
Washington : Decades of drought, alternating with intense monsoon rains, may have sounded the death knell for Cambodia's ancient Khmer civilization at Angkor nearly 600 years ago.
Columbia University researchers say this based on an analysis of tree rings, archaeological remains and other evidence.
Their findings may also shed light on what drives - and disrupts - the rainy season across much of Asia, which waters crops for nearly half the world's population.
Microsoft issues emergency patch for Internet Explorer
By DPA,
San Francisco : Microsoft has issued an emergency patch for its Internet Explorer browser, aiming to fix a critical flaw that allowed hackers to take over computers merely by steering them to infected websites.
Microsoft Wednesday took the rare step of issuing the patch after numerous security experts advised people to switch to rival browsers until Microsoft fixed the problem. Microsoft usually releases patches on a set schedule and this is only the third emergency patch in the last three years.
Kepler telescope finds new planetary system
By DPA,
Washington : The planet-hunting Kepler space telescope has found a new planetary system orbiting a distant star that could include a planet nearly the same size as Earth, NASA scientists said Thursday.
In findings to be published in the journal Science this week, the scientists report the discovery of two large planets about the size of Saturn orbiting a star similar to the sun. A third small object orbiting the star could be a much smaller planet, just a bit larger than Earth, but more work must be done to confirm it is actually a planet.
US regulations restrict space industry growth
Hyderabad, Sep 28 (IANS) International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) of the US are a major hurdle in the growth of new space industry actors in the global market, said speakers from emerging space nations at the 58th International Astronautical Congress (IAC 2007) here.
They also made a strong case for change in the rules to facilitate cooperation and healthy competition in the global space industry.
The speakers were unanimous that both cooperation and competition were necessary to ensure growth of the space industry, especially among emerging nations and new players.
Four South Asian countries agree to improve information communication
By TwoCircles.net news desk
New Delhi: Senior officials from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal have agreed to collaborate on a subregional information communication technology (ICT) project to improve connectivity among the four countries.
The agreement by the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) countries was reached at the fourth ICT working group meeting to discuss the proposed SASEC Information Highway Project in New Delhi, India on 8-9 October 2007.
US firm offers India thorium reactors
By K.S. Jayaraman, IANS
Bangalore : While India is still debating how to make the Indo-US nuclear deal work, an American company, anxious to enter the Indian market, has offered to build commercial nuclear power reactors in the country.
These reactors will rely entirely on India's thorium resources -- except at the start - and thereby remove the objections of critics.
Discovery astronauts begin spacewalk for ISS work
By DPA,
Washington : Two astronauts from the Discovery space shuttle began a spacewalk Sunday to carry out further work on the International Space Station (ISS).
Discovery astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan were set to spend more than six hours installing a new nitrogen tank on the ISS and to carry out further work installing a robot arm on the Japanese module Kibo.
It is the third and final spacewalk scheduled during the current 14-day Discovery mission.
Sunlight can damage your eyes
By IANS,
London : Sunlight doesn't just damage your skin, it can also ruin your eyes and increase the risk of cataract and damage to the retina.
The best way of protecting eyes is always to wear quality sunglasses, reports express.co.uk.
A research in Britain has, however, found that over 60 percent of Britons are influenced by fashion and price rather than whether or not the glasses are effective.
Protecting children's eyes is especially important, yet nearly half of parents put cost ahead of protection.
ISRO touches milestone in foreign payload launches
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : Indian space agency ISRO Monday crossed a new milestone Monday in launching third party satellites by slinging three foreign satellites into orbit, reaching a total of 25 satellite launches.
India to build world’s largest solar telescope
By IANS,
Bangalore : India is inching closer towards building the world's largest solar telescope in Ladakh on the foothills of the Himalayas that aims to study the sun's microscopic structure.
The National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) project has gathered momentum with a global tender floated for technical and financial bidding by the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA).
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,...
New technique to stamp out microchip piracy, save billions
By IANS
Washington : A new technique developed by Rice University will block piracy of microchips, something that causes billions of dollars in losses to chipmakers every year.
The cutting edge technology will allow designers to lock and remotely activate chips with a unique ID tag. Only the patent-holder can decipher the key and activate the chip, rendering stolen chips worthless.
Hardware piracy has worsened as the skyrocketing costs of microchip production have led chip-design companies to get out of the manufacturing business.
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.
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.
India to focus on sea, air and earth studies
By IANS
Chennai : India would focus on Arctic and Antarctic missions, study climate change and send new satellites into space to study oceans and the atmosphere over the next five years, an official said here Wednesday.
"India will develop new capability to drill deep into the ocean and by 2011, try to place a manned submersible into the dark depths of the ocean," P.S. Goel, secretary, ministry of earth sciences, told IANS on the sidelines of an advanced engineering conference here.
"Ocean, atmosphere and seismology will be the areas of action for us," he said.
Company claims it can clean up Bhopal toxic waste for cheap
No collateral damage to environment or people living nearby, claims PEAT International Co.
By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: Cheer up. There is some good news for the survivors of Bhopal gas tragedy, the world’s worst industrial disaster, including the NGOs working for them and the Madhya Pradesh Government as far as disposing off the toxic waste lying in the erstwhile killer Union Carbide pesticide plant, which has become an enigma for one and all, is concerned.
Bolivia creates space agency for satellite project
By IANS/EFE,
La Paz : The Bolivian government has approved the creation of a space agency to manage a communications satellite project due to be completed by 2013, a minister said.
The agency was created via a decree signed Wednesday during President Evo Morales' weekly meeting with his cabinet, said Public Works Minister Walter Delgadillo.
The Bolivian Space Agency will oversee implementation of the Tupac Katari satellite project, whose board of directors will be made up of representatives from six ministries, Delgadillo said.
Zylog to offer Internet voice services
By IANS
Chennai : City-based software services company Zylog Systems Ltd will soon offer voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) services by partnering with a leading US company.
"We are contemplating to become a service provider and focus on the retail segment. The current players are catering to the enterprise segment," Sudarshan Venkatraman, chairman and CEO of the company, told IANS.
China Launches Two Natural Disaster Monitoring Satellites
By Bernama,
Taiyuan : China launched two satellites for monitoring ecological environment and natural disasters at around 11:25 a.m. here on Saturday.
China's Xinhua news agency reported that the two satellites, launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi Province, were carried by a Long March 2C rocket.
They were expected to enhance the country's capacity to prevent and reduce natural disasters, according to Bai Zhaoguang, a leading scientist and designer of the satellites.
Bangalore declared as ‘nano city’ of India
By IANS,
Bangalore : Vice President Hamid Ansari Saturday declared Bangalore the "nano city of India" after the Karnataka government announced it would take measures to encourage research and development in nanoscience and facilitate development of the nanotechnology industry in the state.
Making the declaration at the second 'Bangalore Nano 2008' conference-cum-exposition here, Ansari said nanotechnology, which was changing the face of industry and economy, would be a transformative force in India in the coming years.
Spiders which eat together, stay together and multiply
By IANS,
Washington : The ability to work together and capture larger prey has allowed social spiders to flourish beyond the strength of their numbers, according to a new study.
The surface area of the three-dimensional webs social spiders use to capture prey does not grow as fast as the number of spiders in the nests. So the number of incoming prey per spider declines with colony size.
Star attacks planet with radiation
By IANS,
Washington : A nearby star is bombarding its companion planet with a barrage of X-rays, hundred thousand times more intense than the earth receives from the Sun, a NASA discovery says.
New technique developed to ‘milk’ ostrich semen
By IANS,
Sydney : Australian researchers have developed what is being touted as the first “animal- and human-friendly” technique of masturbating an ostrich.
The new technique being used by researchers tasked with collecting semen and artificially inseminating the large and rather fearsome birds - as well as their cousins, the emus - relies on the use of a dummy female.
World’s largest telescope network activated
By IANS,
Washington : The largest-ever telescope network has been activated. It stretches 11,000 km across North and South America, Europe and Africa, and will simultaneously observe the same objects.
The telescopes are all members of the Express Production Real-time e-VLBI Service (EXPReS) project, and became functional when the Arecibo Observatory of the National Science Foundation in Puerto Rico joined the network June 6, a press release said Tuesday.
Wireless broadband will be a game changer in India
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
In India's spectrum auction, broadband wireless access hitched on to third generation (3G) telephony as a poor cousin - a seemingly dull sequel of the high-profile 3G spectrum auction last month that brought nearly $15 billion into the government's kitty.
Apple unveils MacBook Air – thinnest, lightest laptop
By IANS,
London : Apple has unveiled the thinnest, lightest laptop ever which combines features from the iPhone and iPad with traditional series of MacBook.
Critically endangered seabirds unable to find mates
By IANS,
Washington : Alarmed by the probability that one of the world's rarest seabirds might soon be extinct, scientists are creating a protected breeding colony to help them attract females.
The rapidly dwindling species, Magenta Petrel, now has only between eight and 15 breeding pairs. Molecular analysis of the endangered species discovered that 95 percent of non-breeding adults were male, hence unable to attract a mate.
Microbes from Earth likely to contaminate Mars
By IANS,
Washington : Bacteria common to spacecraft sent from the Earth may be able to survive the harsh environs of Mars, long enough to contaminate it with terrestrial life, research says.
The search for life on Mars remains a stated goal of NASA's Mars Exploration Program and Astrobiology Institutes.
To preserve the pristine environments, the bioloads on spacecraft headed to Mars are subject to sterilisation, designed to prevent the contamination of the Martian surface.
Chinese taikonaut begins spacewalk
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang slipped out of the orbital module of Shenzhou-VII spacecraft Saturday afternoon, starting China's first spacewalk or extravehicular activity (EVA) in outer space.
Donning a $4-million homemade Feitian space suit, Zhai waved to a camera mounted on the service module after pulling himself out of the capsule in a head-out-first position, the video monitor at the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC) showed.
"I here greet the Chinese people and people of the world," the 42-year-old taikonaut reported to ground control.
Black buck gives birth after artificial insemination
By IANS
Hyderabad : For the first time in the world, scientists here have succeeded in artificial insemination of a black buck by non-invasive method, leading to the birth of a live fawn.
Scientists at the Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) of the prestigious Centre for Cellular Molecular Biology (CCMB) here are excited about their success.
Online forum for youth to talk about environment
By IANS
New Delhi : What do young people think about the state of the environment? They can now tell the world through www.connect2earth.org.
Supported by telecom giant Nokia, two of the world's largest environmental groups - World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) - launched Wednesday the interactive website meant for people between 13 and 35.
Obama urges UN to punish North Korea for missile launch
By IANS,
Prague : US President Barack Obama has said that North Korea violated international rules when it tested a rocket capable of sending weapons at long range, and called on the UN Security Council to take action, a media report said.
"This provocation underscores the need for action, not just this (Sunday) afternoon at the Security Council but in our determination to prevent the spread of these weapons," Obama said.
"Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something," the New York Times quoted Obama as saying Sunday.
Robotic hand to allow people to hold hands over internet
By IANS,
London : Specially-designed robotic hands would soon allow friends and family to hold hands over the internet and help them experience the sensation of touch.
It plugs into a computer and communicates with an electronic wristband to allow people talking over the internet to experience the sensation of touch.
Not only can it grip and shake, but also give the signs for 'OK' and 'peace'. The robotic hand, which was unveiled at an international technology expo in Hong Kong this week, is expected to go on sale later this year, Daily Mail reported.
Scientists zoom in on infant solar system
By IANS,
Washington : A team led by University of Arizona astronomer Joshua Eisner has observed in unprecedented detail the processes giving rise to stars and planets in nascent solar systems.
The discoveries provide a better understanding of the way hydrogen gas from the protoplanetary disk is incorporated into the star.
They are swirling clouds of gas and dust that feed the growing star in its centre and eventually coalesce into planets and asteroids to form a solar system.
Chandrayaan inspires overseas Indian scientists to return home
By Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : The successful launch of India's first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has inspired many Indian space scientists working abroad to return home for a promising career in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a top official said.
"Our moon mission has aroused tremendous interest in the scientific community the world over. The launch has made many overseas Indian space scientists think of returning and working in our organisation to further their career prospects," the official told IANS.
Computer virus attacks German defence computers
BY DPA,
Berlin : A computer virus that has already hit defence computers in Britain and France has spread to German military systems, the defence ministry in Berlin said Saturday.
The Conficker computer worm has exasperated computer users right around the globe in recent weeks, but security-conscious military users had been thought to be better prepared to repel it.
The spokesman said several German armed forces sites had to be disconnected from the military network after hundreds of computers were taken over by Conficker. However, no other disruptions were reported.
Solar eclipse bodes ill for India, Nepal, China, says soothsayer
By IANS,
Kathmandu : One of Nepal's best-known astrologers, a globe-trotter who has attended astrological meets in Britain, Japan, France and Germany, warned that Wednesday's solar eclipse would cause further unrest in India, Nepal and China.
Bhoj Raj Upadhyay, who was asked to comment on the century's longest solar eclipse by Nepal's private television channels, predicted that in India, the eclipse would foment civil and financial crises as well as religious conflict.
Robot system to test 10,000 chemicals for toxicity
By IANS,
Washington : A new high-speed robot screening system can test 10,000 different chemicals for potential toxicity.
ISRO launches Israeli satellite
By IANS
Sriharikota : Israeli satellite Polaris was successfully launched by India's space agency ISRO from this launch centre in southern Andhra Pradesh Monday morning.
"The Israeli satellite was launched at 0915 hours using Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)," a top official of the Indian Space Research Organisation told IANS over phone from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 80 km north of the Tamil Nadu capital Chennai.
"It was a perfect launch in fine weather," the official added.
The satellite has a payload of 340 kg.
India to launch a Third World satellite
By IANS
Hyderabad : India's space agency will in January launch a 'Third World' remote sensing satellite, images from which can be received free by universities and research organisations of developing countries.
"All they would need to spend is on a 3.7-metre dish antenna that will not cost much," D.V.A. Raghavamurthy, Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO's) director of small satellite projects, said here recently. The imageries can be used for research, mapping, and disaster management, he said.
Astronauts Ready Return to Earth
By Prensa Latina
Washington : The astronauts aboard space shuttle Endeavour ready their return to Earth after 12-day stay at the International Space Station where they set a record of five space walks.
The crew will undock at 23:56 GMT to land Wednesday night at Kennedy Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Mission STS-123 of NASA installed the first piece of Module Kibo, the largest Japanese grant to the outer space platform and completed the Canadian space robot Dextre that will assume many of today's risky space walks.
Around the world in 80 days, the Indian Air Force way
Hindon (Uttar Pradesh), Aug 19 (IANS) Two intrepid Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots flew in here Sunday after creating two new world records for circumnavigating the globe in a microlight aircraft.
Flying over 16 countries and touching 81 destinations, Wing Commanders Rahul Monga and Anil Kumar completed their journey in 80 days, shaving 19 days off the existing mark of 99 days held by Britain's Colin Bodil since 2001.
They also bettered Bodil's airspeed record of 16.53 km per hour by recording 21.09 km per hour.
Delhi gets India’s first remote controlled street lights
By IANS,
New Delhi: In a bid to conserve energy, the capital's main civic agency Tuesday launched the country's first remote-controlled street lights that can be switched on and off using an internet-enabled main server located in the heart of the city.
The first phase of this street light upgradation project, under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), became operational Tuesday and covers a distance of 101 km on 52 city roads.
India is wasting its time chasing BlackBerry
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
You're a Delhi-based wannabe terrorist needing to communicate with your handlers. What do you do? Invisible-ink notes are passe, as are carrier pigeons. You will, of course, use electronic options.
Like e-mail. Walk into a cyber cafe, log into a G-mail or Yahoo account. Don't use an account in your own name. And don't send e-mail. Simply read instructions left for you in an unsent mail, saved as a draft in your account. Then, to reply, just edit the unsent e-mail, and save it back as a draft. If e-mail isn't travelling, it can't be intercepted.
Diamonds not only for ever, they led to life
By IANS,
Washington : Diamonds could have played an important role in the origin of life on Earth, according to a new study by German scientists.
Scientists have long theorised that life on Earth started in a primordial soup of precursor chemicals. But it is unclear how these simple amino acids - the building blocks of life - were assembled into complex polymers needed for the beginning of life.
Online swap sites offer the sensible and surreal
By DPA
Ahrensburg (Germany) : Many things end up in the garbage can even though they are still in fine working condition because the search for a recipient of used objects can be toilsome.
Yet, online swap sites are riding to the rescue, helping people find a new home for grandma's quirky dresser, an old aquarium or even a broken down computer.
"Offering super good-looking male iguana for a laptop" - that was one user's attempt to make a deal on the online swap site Bambali.
Researchers to explore ‘lost world’ beneath Caribbean
By IANS,
London : Scientists are set to explore the world's deepest undersea volcanoes and find out what lives in a 'lost world' five kilometres beneath the Caribbean.
The team of researchers led by Jon Copley of University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science, will explore the Cayman Trough, which lies between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.
This rift in the Caribbean seafloor plunges to a depth of more than 5,000 metres. It contains the world's deepest chain of undersea volcanoes, which have yet to be explored.
Bees beat computers in solving complex problems
By IANS,
London : Bees solve complex maths problems in a jiffy, compared to computers, which can take much longer, a study shows.
The World Wide Wiki – symbol of community effort in cyberspace
By DPA,
Washington : Just a few years ago the word "wiki" wasn't even in most people's vocabulary. But Wikipedia - known by many as biggest encyclopaedia on the Internet - changed all that.
If you've spent much time at all searching for information on the Internet, chances are good that you've run into pages from Wikipedia.
But Wikipedia itself is just one of many useful wikis online.
App for female commuters’ safety launched
Kolkata : Female train commuters in distress can now seek immediate police assistance at the touch of a button -- courtesy a mobile...
Stephen Hawking: there may be aliens!
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Stephen Hawking said there may be alients, but they may not be intelligent as others had thought, or just primitive life.
The 66-year-old famed British cosmologist Hawking's comments were part of a lecture at George Washington University on Monday in honor of NASA's 50th anniversary.
He theorized that there are possible answers to whether there is extraterrestrial life.
"Primitive life is very common and intelligent life is fairly rare," said Hawking "Some would say it has yet to occur on earth."
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.
Photonic crystals will make web surfing super smooth
By IANS
New York : Glitches in web surfing and connectivity may soon be a thing of the past, with researchers working on a potentially perfect way of sorting and distributing voluminous data over fibre-optics worldwide, according to Rana Biswas of the Iowa State University.
The new technology is based on a 3D photonic crystal 'add-drop' filter, which promises vastly enhanced transmission of multiple wavelengths along the same cable.
Soon, solar-powered camera straps to charge batteries
By IANS,
London: Photographers will soon be able to charge their camera batteries with the rays of the sun.
A team of Chinese researchers are developing solar panels to straps that would make the charging easy. Inventor Weng Jie’s idea, of which a prototype may be ready in months, could spell the end of wall-socket charging, reports dailymail.co.uk.
But there is a downside: In case there is not enough sunlight, regular batteries can not be used as a substitute.
India develops indigenous tsunami warning system
By NNN-KUNA
New Delhi : India has developed its own tsunami warning system, nearly three years after a tsunami caused havoc along its southern coastline claiming hundreds of lives.
The National Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges in the Indian Ocean, a project of the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences, has been placed at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) at Southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Press Trust of India reported Saturday.
Infosys co-founders chip in to shelter flood-hit victims
By IANS,
Bangalore: Four co-founders of IT bellwether Infosys Technologies collectively contributed Rs.10 crore to rebuild houses for the victims of flood havoc in north Karnataka recently, a top official said.
"The company has pledged Rs.20 crore while four co-founders have volunteered to contribute Rs.2.5 crore each to the effort to build 3,000 pucca (permanent) houses for the flood-affected people," Infosys chief executive S. Gopalkrishnan told reporters here.
Social networking in outer space
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London : Get yourself a Bebo account right away if you want to send a message to outer space.
An interstellar radio telescope normally used to detect asteroids that could hit Earth is being taken off duty Oct 9 to transmit messages from Bebo users into space.
The messages are expected to reach a recently discovered planet in 2029. They will be sent from a telescope of the Russian National Space Agency in Ukraine.
Microsoft launches on-demand e-mail solutions in India
By IANS,
New Delhi : In order to enable easy access to its cost-effective business productivity software, Microsoft Thursday launched its online services in India.
Starting at $2 (about Rs.100) a month, the service will allow small and medium business and enterprise customers to access Microsoft's e-mail, collaboration, conferencing and productivity capabilities online.
Customers can access the suite directly from www.microsoft.com/india/onlineservices and pay a use-based monthly subscription fee.
Phoenix lander finds water on Mars
By DPA,
Washington : The Phoenix Mars mission has found water in a soil sample after spending the last two months examining the red planet for evidence that it could support life, NASA scientists said Thursday.
The spacecraft's robotic arm has dug several trenches in the Martian soil near the planet's north pole and been heating soil samples in a series of small "ovens."
It had earlier spotted chunks outside the rover that scientists had identified as ice, but data sent back by the most recent soil sample for the first time showed water inside Mars' dirt, researchers said.
Atlantis roars into space after two-month delay
By DPA
Washington : The US space shuttle Atlantis has lifted off for the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver a long-awaited European-built laboratory.
After days of iffy weather, Atlantis roared off the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 2.45 p.m. (19.45 GMT) Thursday under clear blue skies and climbed steeply to orbit powered by seven million pounds of thrust.
Within minutes, Atlantis shed its booster rockets and external fuel tank as it departed the Earth's atmosphere, set to rendezvous with the space station Saturday.
Binocular telescope captures 3D celestial images
By IANS
Washington : A giant binocular telescope on Mount Graham in Arizona has taken celestial images in 3D for the first time, using its twin, 28-foot primary mirrors together.
The images are not only a milestone for the telescope, now the world's most powerful, but also for astronomy itself, said researchers, Sciencedaily reported.
US, Italy and Germany have partnered for the telescope, known as LBT. They are now releasing the images. University of Arizona owns part of its observing time.
Yahoo! Buzz offers buzz-worthy stories
By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : Leading global internet brand Yahoo! Inc. has introduced Yahoo! Buzz, offering the most interesting and relevant content from websites across the worldwide web and bringing more buzz-worthy stories to the homepage of Yahoo!
Currently in beta, Yahoo! Buzz measures consumer votes and search patterns to identify interesting and timely stories and videos from large news sources as well as niche blogs around the web, the firm announced Wednesday.
Mercedes set for hydrogen drive in 2010
By DPA
Stuttgart : Mercedes has given the B-Class a design makeover with more economical engines and a special fuel-cell hydrogen drive version available in 2010, the car maker has announced.
The four-cylinder engines are up to seven percent more economical than the predecessor with exhaust emissions that undercut current European Union (EU) emission standards by as much as 90 percent, Mercedes said.
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.
Scientists discover new plant in Kerala
By IANS
Kozhikode : Scientists have discovered a new plant species, named Miliusa Wayanaddica and belonging to the Annonaceae family, in Kerala's Wayanad district.
The new plant was discovered by M.K. Ratheesh Narayanan of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Kalpetta, Wayanad, and P. Sujanapal of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI).
It was found in the Meppadi forest range in the Western Ghats at an altitude of 1,400 metres above the sea level.
"The plant is endemic to the area, but has no known local name," Narayanan said.
Device tracks and delivers virus count in minutes
By IANS,
Sydney : You may be ingesting dangerous nano-particles emitted by a car and billions of viruses might be infesting your system especially if you have a virulent infection.
qViro is a revolutionary invention that offers the potential to quickly and cheaply answer these questions. The coffee grinder sized, portable desk top instrument can count the number of viruses in a sample in minutes, powered by a computer drive.
Global chipmaker opens second facility in Hyderabad
By IANS
Hyderabad : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), an US-based global supplier of integrated circuits and processing solutions for computing, strengthened its India operations by opening its second research and design (R&D) facility here.
AMD President and Chief Operating Officer Dirk Meyer launched the facility, which is the firm's fourth in India.
The new 30,000-sq ft centre will accommodate 450 R&D employees focusing on AMD's graphics and computing solutions.
China launches new navigation satellite
By IANS,
Beijing : China successfully launched a fifth orbiter into space Sunday as a part of its indigenous satellite navigation and global positioning network.
The satellite was launched at 5.30 a.m. from the Long March 3I carrier rocket, Xinhua reported.
The satellite will join other four satellites in orbit to form a network that will eventually consist of 35 satellites.
PSLV launch put off due to technical glitch
By IANS,
Bangalore : India has put off the launch of an advanced remote sensing satellite, fixed for May 9, after a technical glitch in its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle was detected, the space agency said here Thursday.
"A marginal drop in the pressure in second stage of the vehicle was noticed during the mandatory checks carried out on the PSLV-C15 vehicle," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement.
Skies ready for triple eclipse
By IANS,
New Delhi : Commencing Tuesday, three eclipses - a lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse and another lunar - will take over the skies, a phenomenon which although experts say is not rare, will nevertheless be nature's grand spectacle.
On July 7, a penumbral lunar eclipse will occur as the moon rises over Australia and sets in western north and south America in the early pre-dawn hours, said C.B. Devgun, director of Science Popularization Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE).
The eclipse, however, will not be visible over India.
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.
Cloudy sky plays spoilsport in Bihar’s ‘eclipse village’
By IANS,
Taregna (Bihar) : Thousands of people who have gathered in this Bihar village to witness the century's largest total eclipse were disappointed Wednesday as the sun remained hidden under cloudy skies.
The eclipse was to begin at 5:29 a.m just after the sunrise but cloudy skies spoiled the mood of the thousands of people, children and adults, who thronged there to watch the celestial spectacle
However, people are optimistic for a more clear picture when the eclipse will reach its totality at 6:24 a.m.
US probes Apple’s patent infringement
By IANS,
Washington: A US trade panel Tuesday launched a probe after the Motorola company alleged that its patents were infringed by Apple Inc.
Scientists turn animal waste into ‘bio-plastic’
By IANS,
Sydney : A new process developed by scientists converts low grade animal waste like feathers into plastic products that are bio-degradable.
The “bio-plastic”, as it is being called, would be suitable for agricultural plastic sheeting, seedling trays, plant pots and even biodegradable golf tees, ScienceAlert reported.
China set to launch manned space mission in 2008
By RIA Novosti
Beijing : China is planning to launch its third manned spacecraft and 15 carrier rockets, and orbit 17 satellites in 2008, a senior space official said on Monday.
The spacecraft Shenzhou-7 with three astronauts on board is likely to lift off after the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, said Huang Qiang, secretary general of China's Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND).
Now essence from Ajmer shrine roses
By IANS,
Lucknow: Tonnes of flowers offered at the Ajmer shrine will now be used to make essence from them, thanks to a project undertaken by an institute here.
"Our project would bring into use several tonnes of flowers that are presently being dumped," A.K. Singh, technology and business development head at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), told IANS.
IBSA to take scientific research cooperation to next
By IANS,
Mamallapuram: Taking the trilateral developmental initiative between India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) to the next step, programme coordinators are mulling ways to expand the programme's reach.
Found: World’s oldest living tree, age 9,550
By IANS,
London : A 9,550-year-old spruce, the world's oldest living tree, has been found in Dalarna province of Sweden.
The tenacious specimen has survived by growing between erect trees and smaller bushes in pace with the dramatic climate changes over time.
For many years the spruce tree has been regarded as a relative newcomer in the Swedish mountain region.
"Our results have shown the complete opposite. The spruce is one of the oldest known trees in the mountain range," said Leif Kullman, of Umeå University.
Busy but dying to read? Try an e-reader
By IANS,
New Delhi : Technology is changing the way we read. Italica, a German company, is promoting an e-book reader and archive in India for young professionals whose rigorous work schedules and tight holidays leave little room for reading.
Ruchita Puri, an Amsterdam-based entrepreneur and promoter, who is marketing the device in India, said: "It has a library section which the reader can navigate with ease to find the book. The library can store up to 1,000 books."
The Italica e-reader was launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The device costs 250 euros or Rs.15,991.
Water on moon: new evidence an impetus to Chandrayaan
By Aroonim Bhuyan, IANS,
Dubai : New research findings about evidence of water on the moon give fresh impetus to Chandrayaan, India's maiden moon mission.
According to K. Kasturirangan, the man responsible for putting together the team for Indian space science's most ambitious project, if the mission manages to find evidence of water on the moon, that would count among its biggest achievements.
Iran building new submarine: Report
By Xinhua,
Tehran : Iran has started building a new submarine that is expected to give its navy larger capability, Press TV satellite channel has reported.
Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar Sunday inaugurated the production line of the new submarine Qaaem, which is capable of carrying and firing various torpedoes and subsurface missiles with a special operation crew onboard, according to the report.
"The Islamic republic has become self-sufficient in manufacturing all types of military vessels," Mohammad-Najjar was quoted as saying during the inauguration.
Space telescope launched to spy on black-holes
By DPA,
Washington : After several delays, the US space telescope GLAST Wednesday was heading for a mission expected to shed light on black holes and the gravitational forces causing the universe to expand.
GLAST was launched on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1600 GMT.
GLAST's five-year, $700 million agenda includes up-close spying on the violent explosions and other cosmic catastrophes that astronomers have been observing through the Hubble space telescope and sophisticated observations from Earth.
Up above the world so high, tracking satellites in the sky
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : S.K. Shivakumar is 55 years old. For 32 years out of that, he has been the eyes and ears of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Shivakumar has lost count of the number of satellites he has tracked, but he thinks he is nearing his half century.
As the director, ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (Istrac), he is eagerly awaiting the Wednesday morning launch of India's first lunar orbiter Chandrayaan, so that he can start tracking it in slow motion.