Technology

By IANS, Hyderabad : World's largest social network Facebook Thursday announced that it has over 65 million active users in India, an eight-fold increase over last two years.

By Jay Dougherty, DPA, Washington : Will Office 2010 rescue Microsoft's ubiquitous productivity suite in the same way that Windows 7 resuscitated the reputation of Windows? That's the billion-dollar question. And this week, with the official unveiling of Office 2010, answers begin to emerge. Boasting a host of collaborative features, interface improvements, and seamless integration with the new, free Office 2010 Web Apps, Office 2010 is Microsoft's best attempt to redress the complaints that users had about Office 2007 while not throwing out the 2007 experiment entirely.

By Xinhua London : Britain's astronomers from the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP), a leading planet-hunting team, have announced the discovery of three new planets, according to a press release issued by Keele University. These extra-solar planets named WASP-3, WASP-4 and WASP-5 were seen to transit their host star. WASP-3 is the third planet that the team has found in the northern hemisphere, using the SuperWASP camera sited in the Canary Islands.

By DPA, San Francisco : T-Mobile is to launch the first phone based on Google's Android design Sep 17, in hopes that the new device will compete with Apple's iPhone, Wired magazine reported Friday. The smartphone will be manufactured by Taiwan-based High Tech Computer, and will have a large touch screen that slides out to reveal a five-row QWERTY keyboard. The device, which will be called the G1, will sell for $150 to T-Mobile customers in the first week of launch before it is offered to other customers at a higher price.

By IANS, Washington : Data from faint earth tremors caused by wind-driven ocean waves - often dismissed as "background noise" at seismographic stations - suggest extreme ocean storms have become more frequent over the past three decades, according to a study. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other prominent researchers have predicted that stronger and more frequent storms may occur as a result of global warming trends.

By DPA, San Francisco : Microsoft's latest deal proposal to Yahoo envisages the internet portal selling off its valuable properties in Asia and Microsoft buying its search business in the US, media reports said. The Software giant also proposed buying a minority stake in the whittled down Yahoo that would remain after the sell-off, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday.

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.

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Tuesday said it has become the third-largest mobile operator in the world in terms of subscribers. As per the latest...

By EFE, Lima : Hundreds of footprints and the fossilised remains of various prehistoric animals, probably dinosaurs that lived 120 million years ago, have been discovered in the Ancash region of central Peru. The find came when the Antamina mining company, which is owned by BHP Billiton and Xstrata, among other partners, was building a road from its camp at Yanacancha to the Conococha crossroads, in Huari province, some 400 km northeast of Lima.

By IANS Washington : For the first time ever, astronomers have detected an organic molecule - which plays a key role in the formation of life - on a planet circling a nearby star. The methane molecule has been detected by the Hubble Space Telescope in the atmosphere of the Jupiter-sized planet named HD 189733b, located 63 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula, or the little fox. Under right circumstances, methane can play a key role in pre-biotic (life forming) chemistry

By IANS, Thiruvananthapuram : The Technology Business Incubator (TBI) at Technopark here has bagged the prestigious national award for the best technology business incubator in the country for 2007. Technopark Tuesday said the award, instituted by the department of science and technology of the central government, was for encouraging and recognising the business incubation activity, which plays a key role in promoting the entrepreneurial culture in the country.

By IANS, Washington: About 100 leading business and tech visionaries from around the world would discuss innovative ideas and market ready incubated technologies at the annual emerging technologies conference, EmTech 2010, in Bangalore next month. The two-day conference from Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's) Technology Review is being held in India for the second year in succession, in association with CyberMedia, from March 8.

By IANS New York : A month after checkers was solved by a supercomputer, the machines have an answer to the Rubik's Cube too. A high-speed machine at Northeastern University, Boston, has proved that any of the cubes - no matter how intangible they look - can be properly aligned within just 26 moves. Till now, the best way to crack the Rubik's Cube was in 27 moves. But Dan Kunkle and Prof Gene Cooperman at Northeastern University believe that with more work they could push the count even lower.

By IANS, Muscat : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday congratulated scientists in the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for successfully putting India's first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1 into lunar orbit. The prime minister, who arrived here Saturday afternoon on a three-day visit to the Gulf, sent his congratulatory message after receiving the news. Chandrayaan-1 has travelled more than 380,000 km in 12 days after its launch from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh Oct 22 to enter the lunar orbit Saturday.

By K.S. Jayaraman, IANS, Bangalore : Indian scientists recently carried out a controversial experiment in the ocean near Antarctica to get carbon dioxide captured from the air and stored in the sea. The experiment, meant to combat climate change, was a failure, but the scientists now say they learnt some valuable lessons. The 75-day Indo-German experiment carried out amidst opposition from environmental groups has shown that dumping iron in the Southern Ocean does not help in capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) that is responsible for much of global warming.

By IANS, Bhubaneswar : The Pathani Samant Planetarium in Orissa has arranged a special feast at its campus during the solar eclipse Friday to dispel any superstition, said an official. "There are superstitions prevalent among people that if you eat during a solar eclipse it will have a bad effect. But we want to dispel superstitions. We have arranged a special feast at the planetarium premises. It will be joined by officials and members of the public during the solar eclipse," said Subhendu Pattnaik, deputy director of the Pathani Samant Planetarium, in Bhubaneswar.

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.

By IANS, Abu Dhabi : Astronomers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have rejected reports that the planet Mars would come closer to Earth Aug 27 and look like a second moon. The Emirates Astronomical Society and the Islamic Moon Observatory Project described the reports carried by some prominent Arabic newspapers as "bad astronomy", the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported. Several e-mails have also been circulating that Mars will be the brightest in the night sky Aug 27 and will look as large as a full moon, creating a rare opportunity to see two moons in the sky.

By DPA, Nuremberg (Germany) : Germany's first driverless mass-transit train line has officially begun service in the southern city of Nuremberg, with a computer in charge of the underground trains. Driverless trains are already in use in other nations, including Singapore's North East Metro Line (NEL) operating since 2003, but Nuremberg's 600-million-euro ($900-million) system is unique because it mixes human-driven and computer-controlled trains on the same track.

By IANS London : A fiery tsunami that raged across the sun last May at nearly 2,800 km per second released the equivalent of two billion times the annual world energy consumption in just a split second. According to researchers, the tsunami, ignited by huge explosions near the sun's atmosphere, covered almost the full disc of the sun-nearly a million kilometre away from the epicentre - in just 30 minutes.

By DPA, Washington : The Spirit Mars rover may have met its match in a patch of sandy soil that has ensnared it on Mars, but NASA scientists said Thursday they will make a last effort to free the little "rover that could". Spirit is one of two rovers that have far exceeded expectations and are now in their sixth year after an expected 90-day mission, exploring the Martian surface and making important discoveries about water on the Red Planet.

By DPA, Washington : Problems with a spacesuit has caused NASA to cut short a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Problems with a system that removes carbon dioxide from the air in astronaut Chris Cassidy's spacesuit caused mission control to end the spacewalk at 2031 GMT Wednesday after five hours and 59 minutes. Carbon dioxide levels were beginning to rise in his suit, but he was not in any imminent danger, NASA said. The spacewalk was to have lasted about six and a half hours.

By Xinhua Beijing : China plans to launch its second lunar probe, Chang'e-2, around 2009, according to a top satellite scientist. Ye Peijian, chief commander and designer of China's first moon probe satellite system, revealed the plan during an interview program on CCTV, China Central Television. However, Ye did not elaborate on the plan with more details. He said Chang'e-1, the country's first lunar probe, had resumed contact with the control center after it moved out of the shadow area caused by an eclipse of the sun at about 14:10 on Thursday.

By DPA, Munich : Monitors frame our relationship with our computers and a great computer is only as good as its monitor. That's why it's important to ask yourself: "What do I want to do with this computer" before purchasing, says Jaroslav Smycek of the Hannover Consumer's Center. Although nearly all flat screen monitors are based on LCD technology, there are differences between the models. "Twisted nematic (TN) Film models are popular. These screens are in the lower end of the price range," says Josef Reitberger of "CHIP" - a Munich-based computer magazine.

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.

New York: You cannot hide from Facebook, no matter what you do. An experimental algorithm out of Facebook's artificial intelligence lab can recognise people...

(Hasan Ahmad is a Bangalore-based young software engineer whose company mPower has recently won the prestigious Lockheed Martin India Innovation 2008 Award from U.S. aerospace major Lockheed Martin for a software automation product called mPire. In this interview with our Assistant Editor Tariq Anwar, he talks about his company and the award.)

Thiruvananthapuram/Frankfurt: Lufthansa Cargo has gone live with Technopark headquartered IBS' iCargo IT solution at 120 stations in its network, including its three hubs of...

By IANS, London : Microsoft has unveiled a new version of its flagship Windows software to run on microchips designed by British company ARM.

By SPA, Houston : The U.S. space shuttle Discovery backed away from the International Space Station on Wednesday, leaving behind a Japanese research laboratory, a new crew member and high hopes for the outpost's completion by 2010, Reuters reported. Pilot Ken Ham pulsed Discovery's steering jets to slip away from the station's Harmony docking port at 7:42 a.m. EDT/1142 GMT. The shuttle arrived on June 2 to deliver Japan's primary contribution to the $100 billion complex, the 37-foot-long (11-metre-long) Kibo laboratory. "We hope we left them a better, more capable station than

By IANS, Chennai : Here is a chef that can prepare lip-smacking sambar, rasam and vatta kozhambu and may give the best cooks in Tamil Nadu a run for their money. But the secret of Chef-bot's culinary skills lies not in a kitchen but in a laboratory. Four students of the Saveetha Engineering College in Sriperumbudur, Chennai's industrial suburb, have designed a robot, Chef-bot, as part of their college project. As of now, Chef-bot's skills are limited to Tamil preparations.

By IANS New Delhi : Advances in the area of bio-nanotechnology would go a long way in helping India's food security, Minister for Food and Agriculture Sharad Pawar said here Wednesday. "Bio-nanotechnology takes agriculture from the era of genetically modified (GM) crops to the brave new world of atomically modified organisms," Pawar said, speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day Fifth Knowledge Millennium Summit on "B2B Bio and Nanotechnology" organised by industry body Assocham.

By Xinhua Beijing : NASA confirmed the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour will launch on March 11 for a 16-day mission, according to media reports Sunday. The NASA mission management on Friday confirmed the official launch time of the Endeavour. On March 11 at 2:28 a.m. EDT, the space shuttle will be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will be the first of three flights to deliver a huge Japanese research complex to the International Space Station.

By IANS, London : A team of scientists has developed a highly energy-efficient method of converting waste carbon dioxide into chemical compounds, marking a breakthrough in the fight to cut greenhouse gases. The team from Newcastle University estimates that the technology has the potential to use up to 48 million tonnes of waste carbon dioxide per year, reducing Britain's emissions by about four percent, ScienceDaily reported. The method developed by the team led by Michael North, a professor of organic chemistry, converts waste carbon dioxide into cyclic carbonates.

By IANS, Chennai : Banking software company Polaris Software Lab Ltd has decided to get into the real estate business, subject to regulatory approvals. A decision to this effect was taken by the company's board here Thursday, Polaris said in a stock exchange filing. While Polaris executives were not available to comment on the diversification, sources close to the development told IANS that the company has some surplus land in Gurgaon near the national capital after building its software development centre.

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.

By IANS, Washington : Mountains can double their heights within two to four million years - many times faster than the existing tectonic theory surmises, a new study has found. The rapid uplift implies that the current theory of plate tectonics will have to be modified to include a process of “delamination”, according to Carmala Garizone of the University of Rochester. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore collaborated in the study.

By IANS, Sydney : Latest fertility treatments helped younger and older women in Australia and New Zealand conceive 10,522 babies in 2006, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. The institute reported that 9,291 babies were born in Australia and 1,231 in New Zealand with assisted reproduction treatment (ART).

By DPA Washington : The year 2007 was good for technology fans. Whether you were largely desktop bound or constantly on the go, this year's technology products went some way towards making your life easier, more fun or more productive. But a few stood out - not necessarily because they broke new ground but because it was clear that their influence would be felt well into the future. Whether you own one of these products or not, it's likely that their presence will have an impact on how you work or play in the year to come. Windows Vista

By DPA, Panama City : Scientists have discovered two new frog species in Panama's rainforests at a time when many of the amphibians are threatened by a fungal disease driving them toward extinction. Pristimantis educatoris was discovered in the Omar Torrijos nature reserve in Cocle province, scientists from the US Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute said Thursday. The frog is two to four centimeters long, varies from dark purple to dark grey in its colouring, and has red or yellow eyes. Its fingers and toes also end in bulbous disks.

By DPA, Washington : US President Barack Obama Saturday named Charles Bolden, a black ex-astronaut, to lead the US space agency into its next chapter that could take it back to the moon. The retired Marine Corps general, 62, flew four times in the space shuttle in the '80s and '90s - two times as mission commander. His nomination must be approved by the Senate. Former NASA head Michael Griffin stepped down in January as Obama was entering office.

Washington: In a first such demonstration, an Indian-origin researcher has developed a system that uses Wi-Fi internet signals to beam power to remote devices...

By IANS, Washington : Two Kansas State University scientists are taking the initiative to cultivate oil-rich algae in oceans for bio-fuel. Certain species of algae high in oil content could be converted into such fuels as bio-diesel, according to Zhijian Pei and Wenqiao Yuan. Algae also have several eco-friendly advantages over corn or other plants used for bio-fuels, including requiring no oil or water to grow.

By IANS, New Delhi: India and Russia will Friday intensify their strategic and economic ties by signing over a dozen agreements, including an umbrella civil nuclear pact and another accord fixing the cost of the refurbished aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov at $2.35 billion. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will Friday evening holds talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who touches down in India close to midnight Thursday for a brief visit lasting less than 24 hours.

bY Xinhua, Taiyuan : China Monday launched remote-sensing satellite Yaogan V from the Taiyuan launch centre in the northern province of Shanxi. The satellite was launched with a Long March-4B carrier rocket at 11.22 a.m., the centre said. It will be used for data collection and transmission involving land resources surveys, environmental surveillance and protection, urban planning, crop yield estimates, disaster prevention and reduction, and space science experiments.

By IANS, Washington : As more and more news appears on the internet as well as in print, it becomes possible to map the global flow of news by observing it online. Using this strategy, computer scientists have managed to track and analyze the "news cycle" -- the way stories rise and fall in popularity. Jon Kleinberg, professor of computer science at Cornell University, Jure Leskovec and Lars Backstrom tracked 1.6 million online news sites, including 20,000 mainstream media sites and a vast array of blogs.

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".

By IANS, Tehran : Iran is preparing to launch five to six satellites into the space as part of its aerospace development programme. "We are currently carrying out a project which will see the design, production and launch of 5 to 6 satellites. We hope to send one satellite into space in the first half of the coming year," Iranian Telecommunications Minister Reza Taqipour said. "Iran has laid the foundation for the development of its aerospace industry in the past three to four years," Taqipour told Fars News Agency.

By Xinhua Beijing : Mysterious sea creatures, including giant sea spiders the size of dinner plates and jelly fish with six meter tentacles, have been found in the murky depths of Antarctica waters, Australian scientists said Tuesday.

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.

By IANS/EFE, Buenos Aires : Scientists have found the fossilised remains of a carnivorous dinosaur in Argentina, officials said. Argentinean scientists from Las Lajas town museum and researchers from Canada's University of Alberta found fossilised bones of "saurischian" (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs in the southern province of Neuquen, 1,300 km south of Buenos Aires, they said Tuesday. The saurischian dinosaurs, which grew to as much as four metres in length and two metres in height, were carnivorous and biped.

By Xinhua,

By IANS, New Delhi : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Wednesday said the design for Chandrayaan II has been completed and it will be launched by 2012. "The designs for Chandrayaan II have been completed and we hope to launch it by 2012," ISRO chairperson G. Madhavan Nair told reporters here on the sidelines of a function organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to felicitate the Chandrayaan I team. The Chandrayaan II project is slated to land a small rover on the moon's surface and collect and analyse samples, he said.

By RIA Novosti, Moscow : A Russian carrier rocket has successfully put into orbit a fifth German SAR-Lupe reconnaissance satellite, a Russian Space Forces spokesman said Tuesday. "A Cosmos 3M carrier rocket, launched at 0240 GMT from the Plesetsk space centre in northern Russia, has successfully orbited a German SAR-Lupe satellite," Lt. Col. Alexei Zolotukhin said. The German SAR-Lupe satellite is designed to provide high-resolution radar images to NATO military commanders in Europe. It offers spatial resolution of less than one meter, and allows imaging at night and through clouds.

By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS, Chennai : As a Kerala state player, George Koshy used to shoot the ball into the basket during his college days. Today, as a rocket scientist with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the tall, 58-year-old M.Tech from IIT-Bombay is the project director for Chandrayaan-1, India's maiden unmanned moon mission, and on his broad shoulders rests the venture's success.

By Andy Goldberg, DPA, San Francisco : Any review of the major technology developments of 2009 would inevitably include copious copy on the Googles, Microsofts and other giants of the tech world. But it was also a year in which the tiny company called Twitter became a major communications force, and when political, economic, social and technological trends combined to put green technology at the forefront of innovation.

By DPA, San Francisco : Troubled internet giant Yahoo saw quarterly profits plunge 64 percent and announced Tuesday that it would cut 10 percent of its estimated 14,300 staff to help control costs. The internet pioneer reported net income of $54 million, or 4 cents a share, compared to $151 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same period last year. The company said revenue rose slightly to $1.78 billion compared to $1.76 billion in the year-ago quarter. The results were in line with analysts' expectations, while the layoffs had also been widely reported in recent days.

By IANS, Chennai : The nascent electric two-wheeler segment, currently estimated at Rs.4.5 billion, is set to grow this fiscal, say manufacturers. But while all are now stepping on the gas to boost sales, their marketing planks differ: while some say their sales pitch would revolve round "convenience", for others, it's "economy" at a time of spiralling fuel price. Ultra Motor India, the New Delhi-based subsidiary of UK's Ultra Motor Co., estimates the Indian market this year to grow to around 240,000 units, up from 170,000 units sold in 2007-2008.

By IANS, Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C9 lifted off successfully with 10 satellites - two Indian and eight foreign - at 9.23 a.m. Monday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre here. Officials said the satellites' launches were progressing as expected. Around 16 minutes into the flight, the satellites will be injected into the polar sun synchronous orbit inclined at an angle of 97.94 degree to the equator.

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.

By IANS,

By IANS, Kuala Lumpur : Six months after sending its first man into space, Malaysia says it has no funds for the second phase of its ambitious space programme. It is "zero cash" for the moment till the entire programme is re-evaluated in terms of knowledge and cost-benefit, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Maximus Ongkili told the media Monday. In the first phase of the programme, Sheikh Muszaphar Sheikh Shukor and two other astronauts blasted into space in a Russian-built Soyuz 11 rocket from Baikonour in Kazakhstan Oct 10, 2007.

By IANS New York : Doctored photos have a way of affecting your memory, according to a new study that used digitally altered images of public events. The study, initiated by the University of California at Irvine, found that doctored photos of public events can make them appear bigger and more violent than they actually were. Findings of the study have been published in the latest issue of the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology, Sciencedaily.com reported.

By IANS, London : A new feature for its Gmail service will automatically filter the most important messages from spam, Google has announced. Priority emails will be placed at the top of the inbox - while others will drop to the bottom. The ‘Priority Inbox’ function is designed to help users manage hundreds of emails received daily, reports the Daily Mail. The new application splits the inbox into three sections: 'Important and unread', 'Starred' and 'Everything Else'.

By IANS, New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday gave away the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards to 21 scientists, institutions and to Mahindra and Mahindra for their flagship vehicle Scorpio. The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards for 2007 went to 11 scientists, including Narayanaswamy Srinivasan of Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science for his contributions in the area of computational genomics.

By DPA, Hamburg (Germany) : Birds instinctively choose the fruit which is healthy and shun less health-giving food options, German researchers have found. Given a choice, birds flock to fruits with the highest levels of antioxidants known as flavonoids, which boost the immune system. The German researchers offered a group of blackcaps, a common European summertime bird, a choice of two foods containing different amounts of flavonoids. They found that the birds deliberately selected the food with added antioxidants.

By RIA Novosti Novosibirsk (Russia) : Russian scientists have developed a potential HIV vaccine. "As we know there is no HIV vaccine. The Americans had high hopes of developing one, but the three vaccines developed most recently all failed trials. The specialists from Vector said there is a hope for an effective vaccine," said a leading geneticist, Vladimir Shumny. Vector stands for the Russian Virology and Biotechnology Research Centre. It is located at Novosibirsk in West Siberia.

By IANS New Delhi : Scientists from across the world, including India, have found a few alien plant species in Antarctica. They are affecting the biodiversity of the ice continent, Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said Tuesday. "Some species of lower plant forms, not native to Antarctica, have been found. For example, a species of European grass, a carnivorous beetle species, Poa annua (a seed plant) and Australian pollen taxa have been reported as alien species in Antarctica," Sibal informed the Lok Sabha.

By IANS, Washington: NASA's solar observatory caught for the very first time on camera a comet's fiery end as it flew too close to the sun's blazing surface.

By DPA Singapore : A portable, battery-powered device has been developed in Singapore to help people suffering from Parkinson's disease regain their walking rhythm, Ngee Ann Polytechnic said Saturday. Physiotherapists from Singapore General Hospital worked with a team from the school's mechanical engineering department to develop the invention. Parkinson's disease is a slow, degenerative disease that deprives sufferers of steady movement, leading to jerky small steps or freezing in narrow spaces, the team said. To take the next step, patients need a cue.

By IANS,

By IANS, Sydney : Educationists have developed a new web-based tool that helps primary schoolchildren to concentrate better and develop literacy skills. The interactive educational software called 'Abracadabra' is designed to help struggling school students aged five to eight years learn basic literacy skills to equip them for the future. The tool has just undergone a 10-week trial that has been described as a success.

By IANS, Washington : A spidery fungus feeding ravenously on military uniforms and tents holds the key to improved biofuel production, according to a study. The finding could enable more efficient and cheaper conversion of maize, switch grass and even cellulose-based municipal waste into ethanol. Ethanol from waste products is a more carbon neutral alternative to petrol. The fungus T. reesei rose to notoriety during World War II when military leaders found it feeding on clothing and tents in the South Pacific and rendering them useless.

By IANS, Beijing : The solar industry in America was "materially injured" by imports of solar cells from China, a US trade panel has claimed.

By Bernama, Tokyo : The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will launch a satellite in 2013 jointly with the European Space Agency, to study the effects of clouds in trying to accurately forecast the progress of global warming, Japanese agency officials said Tuesday. The launch of EarthCARE is expected to increase the accuracy of global warming predictions, such as average temperature rises at the end of the century, a move that would help craft measures to address climate change, said Kyodo News quoted the Japanese agency, JAXA as saying.

By IANS, Sydney : In a pilot project that has far-reaching implications, an Australian power station has used a “carbon capturing” plant to trap a bulk of its CO2 emissions. The “post-combustion-capture (PCC) pilot plant” at the Loy Yang Power Station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley trapped up to 85 percent of its CO2 emissions. The 10.5 metre-high pilot plant is designed to capture up to 1,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from the power station's exhaust-gas flues. Future trials will involve the use of a range of different CO2-capture liquids.

By SPA, Washington : The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said it destroyed an unmanned suborbital rocket shortly after a launch failure early Friday from an island off the Virginia coast. There were no injuries or property damage, NASA said in a statement, but the agency warned that debris from the explosion could be dangerous. NASA believes most of the wreckage fell into the Atlantic Ocean off the Virginia coast. The rocket, made by Alliant Tech Systems, was carrying two experiments. NASA said it is investigating why the rocket failed.

By Xinhua Los Angeles : U.S. scientists ruled out on Friday the possibility of a collision between an approaching asteroid and Mars. Tracking measurements of asteroid 2007 WD5 taken from four observatories have greatly reduced uncertainties about its Jan. 30close approach to Mars so that the odds of impact have dropped to 1 in 10,000, said the Near-Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory based in Pasadena, California. The program normally looks for asteroids and comets that could pose a hazard to Earth.

By DPA Washington : The last time space shuttle Endeavour flew to the International Space Station (ISS) was November 2002 - the last mission before the accident that destroyed shuttle Columbia in February 2003, killing seven astronauts including Indian born Kalpana Chawla. Since the tragedy, Endeavour has remained on the ground - a time US space agency NASA used to outfit the shuttle with all available safeguards. Now the newly equipped Endeavour is getting ready for its premiere.

By IANS, Abu Dhabi : Thuraya is to develop a high-speed broadband terminal for the maritime industry in partnership with Comtech, WAM news agency reported Thursday. The new terminal, which is designed and built incorporating leading market technology, is set for launch in September.

By IANS, New Delhi : It is an excitement coupled with fear and superstition for many in India prior to the solar eclipse Aug 1. Despite a well known scientific phenomenon behind the solar eclipse, people have not been able to do away with the superstitious beliefs related to the celestial activity. "There are several false beliefs prevalent in our society regarding solar eclipse. Some people even lock themselves in their homes to avoid 'the bad rays' from the eclipse," Nehru Planetarium Director N. Rathnashree said.

By RIA Novosti, Moscow : Russia will spend around 600 billion rubles, or about $25 billion, on scientific research in 2008-2010, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday. "We have allocated substantial resources for the development of such promising areas as nano- and biotechnology, nuclear energy, aerospace and other research in 2008-2010. Federal target programmes alone will receive about 600 billion rubles for these purposes," Putin told a meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

By IANS,

By Sujit Chakraborty, IANS,

By RIA Novosti, Washington : The launch of the shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station is scheduled for 1:36 a.m. EDT [05:36 GMT] on Tuesday, a NASA spokesman told RIA Novosti on Monday. The spokesman said Discovery's technical systems are in order and the launch could only be delayed due to a sudden change in the weather. According to shuttle weather officer Kathy Winter, there is an 80% chance the shuttle will be launched on Tuesday.

By IANS, Washington : A drop in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels seems to have triggered Antarctic ice sheet formation.

By Bernama, Beijing : China will launch its third geostationary meteorological satellite, the Fengyun-2-06, some time next week, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) told Xinhua on Friday. It will take off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province. According to the CMA, Fengyun-2-06 will copy meteorological data from preceding satellites after orbit operation trials. It is designed to replace Fengyun-2-C which has outlived its service.

By IANS, Washington : A natural, nontoxic method for biodegrading carbon nanotubes could help diminish environmental and health concerns about using such materials. A Pittsburgh University research team has found that carbon nanotubes deteriorate when exposed to the natural enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP), according to a report co-authored by Alexander Star, assistant professor of chemistry in Pitt's School of Arts and Sciences.

WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (KUNA) -- A newly developed cell phones detect radiation to thwart nuclear terrorism, able to detect even slight residues of radioactive material, researchers hope will one-day blanket the nation. "It's the ubiquitous nature of cell phones and other portable electronic devices that give this system its power", said Ephraim Fischbach, physics professor at Purdue University, in a statement Tuesday.

By IANS Washington : Terrorism is not rooted in poverty as popularly perceived but could be caused by political freedom and geographic factors, says a new study. "There is no significant relationship between a country's wealth and level of terrorism once factors like political freedom are taken into account," according to Harvard University's Alberto Abadie, author of the study. "Nations with very high or very low levels of political freedom tend to experience little terrorism," said Abadie in a press release.

By IANS, Hyderabad: This information technology hub is expected to witness rapid growth in the IT sector with the setting up of investment region around the city.

By IANS, New York : With a huge Christmas-eve surge in its stock Thursday, Apple Inc. has almost reached market parity with Google and Wal-Mart. The 3.4 percent or $6.94 rise in Apple's stock during the day took its market value to $188 billion. The Apple stock sold for $209.04, surpassing the previous high of $207 last month. The stock surge brought Apple within striking distance of Google Inc. ($196 billion) and Wal-Mart ($204 billion).

By DPA Washington : Two astronauts from the US space shuttle Discovery have completed the mission's first space walk at the International Space Station (ISS). The two US citizens Scott Parazynski and Douglas Wheelock Friday installed the Harmony linking module, which is due to be used in December for docking the European space laboratory Columbus, in a temporary location outside the ISS. They first prepared the module before crew inside the station used its robotic arm to move it into position.

By IANS, Lucknow : Dhruv Sen, a Lucknow University geologist, Saturday said he had again been selected for the second Indian expedition to the Arctic. "It is really a privilege for me as I am one of the eight scientists of the country who will be going on the Arctic expedition," an elated Sen told IANS. All the eight members of the team would meet in Delhi and leave for the trip July 30, he said. Sen said: "Geologically, the Arctic region is very interesting." He was also a part of the first Indian Expedition to the Arctic in 2007.

By IANS New Delhi : Punarbhava.in, India's first interactive web portal for the disabled,was launched here Wednesday, along with a screen reading software that will enable the visually challenged to use computers. An effort of the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) and Media Lab Asia, a part of the communications and information technology ministry, the web portal and the software are aimed at enabling the disabled to get more connected to the rest of the world.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow : Russia's Institute of Medical and Biological Problems has shortlisted 11 volunteers to take part in a 520-day simulation of an expedition to Mars, a spokesman said. The 11 candidates will complete basic spaceflight training and in spring, six of them will be chosen to take part in the experiment, which will simulate all aspects of a journey to the red planet, with a 250-day outward trip, a 30-day stay on its surface, and a 240-day return flight.

By IANS, Washington : The world's first 'synthetic tree,' created by Abraham Stroock's lab, mimics the process of transpiration that helps move moisture to the highest branches. The researchers' work bolsters the long-standing theory that transpiration in trees and plants through capilliary action, is a purely physical process, requiring no biological energy. It also may lead to new passive heat transfer technologies for cars or buildings, better methods for remediating soil and more effective ways to draw water out of partially dry ground.

By IANS, London : Plants remain an effective way of tackling global warming, despite emitting small amounts of methane, an important greenhouse gas, says a new study. Research led by the University of Edinburgh (UE) in Scotland suggests that plant leaves account for less than one percent of methane emissions - which is considered to be about 25 times more effective than carbon dioxide.

Geneva : The world's largest solar-powered aircraft, Solar Impulse 2, was forced to push back the second half of it's round-the-world flight to...

By IANS, Washington : The hunt for the remote is over! Soon your face will replace it. Yes, a budding scientist has evolved a way to speed up or slow video playback by using his face as a remote. The demonstration was part of a larger project to use automated facial expression recognition to make robots more effective teachers.

By IANS, Washington : A new low cost filtering system kills up to 98 percent of deadly bacteria like E. coli in water within seconds.

By IANS New York : Scientists have listed 11 factors that will help doctors predict if a postmenopausal woman is going to suffer hip fractures over a period of five years. A hip fracture is a common injury for elderly people. A broken hip can lead to more serious problems, even death. For older women, a hip fracture can mean continuing ill health.

By DPA Hamburg : Tired of mobile phones that always need recharging at the worst moments, researchers in Germany are developing a revolutionary new battery that will never need recharging. Mobile phones, notebook computers and iPods are all devices dependent on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries to deliver power. But the German researchers have developed a new class of inorganic ionic conductor with a structure analogous to that of the mineral argyrodite.

By IANS, New Delhi : Information technology services provider HCL Technologies Ltd (HCL) has set up a new global development centre in Sydney as a part of its expansion plan in Australia and New Zealand, the company announced Thursday. With total staff strength of over 500, the Sydney centre is part of HCL's global delivery strategy to offer customers support from various locations across the globe. At present, HCL has delivery centres in India, China, Poland, Singapore and Ireland and has recently announced plans to open another in North Carolina, US.

By IANS, Washington : Adding lime to seawater could dramatically reverse carbon dioxide accumulation in the atmosphere, according to a new study. However, the idea was thought impracticable because of the cost of obtaining lime and the quantity of carbon released in the process. Gilles Bertherin, of Shell, which is funding the project, said: “There are potentially huge environmental benefits from addressing climate change - and adding calcium hydroxide to seawater will also mitigate the effects of ocean acidification.”

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.

By IANS, Washington : Global yearly carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and manufacturing cement have shot up to 8.5 billion tonnes by 2007, from 6.1 billion tonnes in 1992. But the source of emissions has shifted dramatically to developing countries like China and India, according to the US Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL).

By IANS, London : US space agency NASA has unveiled three concept designs for quieter and more energy efficient superplanes that could be ready by 2025.

By DPA Washington : The weather is a concern for the US space agency NASA as the countdown for the delayed launch of the Atlantis space shuttle for an 11-day mission continues. Weather forecasts gave a 30 percent chance of "acceptable conditions" at the scheduled 2.45 p.m. (1945 GMT) Thursday launch time from Cape Canaveral, Florida with the possibility of storms and clouds, NASA said. The launch could also take place Friday, when there is a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions, or Saturday, with a 70 percent chance of good weather.

By Xinhua Beijing : China's State Council, the cabinet, has approved the country's second-phase lunar probe program, the Beijing Times reported on Wednesday. It cited Luan Enjie, the director-in-chief of the China Moon-orbiting Program. "We are organizing people to make detailed plans for the program," Luan told a conference on Tuesday. He also said that investment in the second phase would exceed that for the first lunar probe but didn't give specific figures, the Times said.

By Prensa Latina Washington : US intelligence bought Google data base to enhance espionage on the Internet through restricted Intellipedia network for the 16 intelligence agencies. San Francisco Chronicle says several branches within the community, among them the National Security Agency, the CIA and FBI, are now able to process information collected from Google. The contracts are part of the accords the company sales team promoted with the Feds that already signed similar pact with the Coast Guard, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

By IANS Toronto : An international team of astronomers have detected the largest-ever dark matter structure ever seen, stretching an awesome 270 million light-years across the night sky. The team, comprising French and Canadian scientists, "X-rayed" the dark matter, or an invisible web that makes up more than 80 percent of the mass of the universe. They used a technique called weak gravitational lensing, similar to an X-ray of the body, to reveal the underlying skeleton of the dark matter.

By Prensa Latina Toulouse : Images broadcast directly from the control center in this French city showed the successful connection of the Automated Transference Vehicle VERNE with the International Space Station Thursday. The ATV and supplier VERNE -as it was baptized- connected with the ISS at 14:45 GMT, setting a new space stage for France and Europe in general. Experts in Toulouse, south of France, said VERNE, with its 17 tons of weight, was moving at a relative speed of 6 to 7 centimeters a second, to connect to Russian space module Zvezda, in the rear part of the ISS.

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.

By IANS, Hyderabad : GVK Biosciences, a leading contract research organisation, Wednesday said it has received approval from Turkey to conduct bioequivalence studies. A three-member delegation from Turkey's ministry of health inspected the GVK Bio clinical pharmacology unit (CPU) here and carried out a detailed audit of the facility for systems and processes. This approval enables GVK Bio to cater to generic drug manufacturers in Turkey as well as to those who intend to market their products in the country, said a statement from GVK Bio.

By IANS New York : Ellie helps people with limited mobility accomplish everyday tasks, getting them things like towels, tablet bottles and telephones. Thank her, and you will probably receive a hum in response. Ellie (written El-E) is a robot - an extremely versatile one. And what makes her unique is the fact that unlike robots struggling to respond to speech or gestures, Ellie works on a unique point-and-click model.

By IANS,

By IANS London : Extreme cold conditions enable electronics to work better and with less thermal noise, according to Srinivas Vanapalli, a Dutch researcher of Indian origin. Vanapalli has explored the possibilities of cooling components at the chip level, to temperatures 150 degrees Celsius below zero, which also boosts its speed and reliability, ScienceDaily reported. Vanapalli, of the University of Twente, has constructed a proof-of-principle cooler, which cools more effectively than conventional ones and holds promising commercial applications.

By IANS, London : Water flowing from the North Atlantic Ocean into the Arctic Ocean is at its warmest level for more than 2,000 years.

By IANS, New Delhi: With less than a month to go before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh goes to the US, the government is planning to introduce the contentious Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill in the Lok Sabha Monday. The bill is likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha Monday, said government sources here. The passing of the bill, which seeks to limits damages to American nuclear companies in case of an accident, is a crucial step India is required to complete under the 123 civil nuclear agreement with the US.

By IANS, London : Researchers have cracked a key riddle that has foxed scientists for decades, potentially opening the way to better treatment of HIV, says a new study. Imperial College London and Harvard University researchers have grown a crystal that reveals the structure of an enzyme called integrase, which is found in retroviruses like HIV. When HIV infects someone, it uses integrase to paste a copy of its genetic information into their DNA.

By IANS, London : India's lunar mission could spark off a land grab on the moon, a British paper speculated Tuesday. The Chandrayaan satellite signals the “possibility of a race for mineral wealth on the lunar surface”, particularly helium-3, The Guardian newspaper reported. While planet Earth was believed to have only 15 tonnes of helium-3, moon is thought to contain up to five million tonnes.

By IANS, New Delhi : Terming India's maiden moon mission as “fantastic” and “great”, renowned American astronaut Jerry M. Linenger Friday said bringing back the probe to earth will be “very difficult”. “Moon Mission is a great achievement for India and for me as well. It's fantastic to see India's growing role in space,” Linenger told IANS on the sideline of Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here. “I am not underplaying the achievement, but let me tell you that bringing back the mission to earth will be very difficult,” he said.

Chennai : Gujarat-based Adani group on Saturday signed an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government to supply 648 MW of solar power from...

By IANS, Chennai : India will launch three satellites next month and two more by the end of this year, said a senior official here.

By IANS, Washington : Researchers have found a way to make lightweight paper batteries and supercapacitors cheaply -- by just dipping paper or fabric in a special ink infused with nanoparticles. Capacitors, like batteries, store energy, but by electrostatic rather than chemical means, as well as stretchable textiles known as 'eTextiles' - capable of storing energy while retaining mechanical properties of paper or fabric. The type of nanoparticle used in Stanford University engineer Yi Cui's experimental devices varies according to the intended function of the product.

Kolkata : In a victory of sorts for female commuters who did not shy to clash with their male counterparts, the Eastern Railway...

By DPA, Geneva : The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), also known as the Big Bang machine, made history here Tuesday, as the machine smashed together particles at the highest energy reading ever recreated in a laboratory. "Experiments are collecting their first physics data - historic moment here!" scientists at the lab wrote on their Twitter feed. The excitement at finally being able to record data, after countless setbacks, was noted in previous messages, which included numerous exclamation points from the researchers in Geneva as each step of the process was completed.

Chennai/New Delhi: Microsoft on Tuesday launched its public cloud services from newly inaugurated local data centres in two states -- Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra...

By IANS/EFE,

By IANS, Panaji : In a considerable downer for space conspiracy theorists, Chandrayaan-1's terrain-mapper camera has recorded images of the landing site of US spaceship Apollo 15 and tracks of its lunar rovers that were used by astronauts to travel on moon's surface nearly four decades ago, a scientist said Wednesday. Prakash Chauhan of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the images captured by the hyper-spectral camera on board Chandrayaan-1 debunked conspiracy theories that have claimed that the Apollo 15, the fourth US mission to land on the moon was a hoax.