Ahmadinejad inaugurates Iran’s first nuclear fuel plant
By DPA,
Isfahan (Iran): Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday inaugurated the country's first nuclear fuel manufacturing plant (FMP) located near this central Iranian city.
The FMP, reportedly based solely on work by Iranian experts, is to provide the Arak 40-megawatt research reactor with fuel, producing nuclear fuel tablets, rods and assemblies for the plant, which is to be launched within the next two or three years.
Iran says that with the launch of the FMP, it has de-facto mastered the final stage of the nuclear fuel production process.
Scientists find way of protecting computers against virus
By IANS,
Washington : Code Red, a virulent computer virus, wreaked havoc, infecting more than 350,000 machines in 14 hours in 2001, besides causing a worldwide loss of $2.6 billion.
Now techies at Ohio State University have discovered a way to contain worms like Code Red, which blocked network traffic to subway stations and 911 call centres in the US, and also sought to target the White House website.
"We wanted to find a way to catch infections in their earliest stages, before they get that far," said Ness Shroff, who led the team that worked on the project.
Melting sea ice spurs warming in Arctic
By IANS,
Sydney : Melting sea ice is a major cause of warming in the Arctic, says a new study.
The findings by the University of Melbourne (UM) team reveal that the rapid melting of sea ice has dramatically increased the levels of warming in the region in the last two decades.
Lead author James Screen of the School of Earth Sciences (UM) says the increased Arctic warming was due to a positive feedback between sea ice melting and atmospheric warming.
Space technology to identify whale sharks off Gujarat
By Sanjeeb Baruah, IANS,
New Delhi : Indian scientists will try to distinguish individual whale sharks off the Gujarat coast, using a technique employed by NASA to identify galaxies.
Just as each tiger is distinguished by its stripes, whale sharks too can be identified through a unique pattern of spots that form points of numerous triangles on their bodies, say experts.
As the whale shark grows, the distance between these spots increases, but angles of these triangles remain the same, thus identifying the whale shark.
The method is also used by NASA to identify galaxies.
Monster Saturn electrical storm longest on record
By Xinhua,
Beijing : The longest running electrical storm on Saturn recorded by scientists is creating lightning bolts 10,000 times more powerful than any seen on Earth.
The monster storm appeared in Saturn's southern hemisphere five months ago, when it was first spotted by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, and has persevered to become the planet's longest continuously recorded tempest to date.
China tests space module for 2011 launch
By IANS,
Beijing : China has finished construction of its first module of an unmanned space station and is testing it for a launch in 2011, a military official has said.
The 8.5-tonne Tiangong-1 space module will be put into orbit in 2011 and experts are testing its electronic, mechanical and thermal properties, the unnamed official was quoted as saying by China Daily.
A carrier rocket named Long March II-F will launch the Tiangong-1 into space, the official said, adding that a group of Chinese astronauts, including two women, is undergoing training for the purpose.
Scientists create retina from human embryonic stem cells
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have created an eight-layer, early stage retina from human embryonic stem cells, the first three-dimensional tissue structure to be made from stem cells. The complex tissue structure offers hope to millions with degenerative eye disorders.
It also marks the first step toward the development of transplant-ready retinas to treat eye disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration that affect millions.
Atlantis on last mission to repair Hubble telescope
By DPA,
Washington : For nearly 20 years the Hubble Space Telescope has kept its orbiting eye trained on the universe, and with the launch of space shuttle Atlantis to repair the ageing instrument, scientists hope it will continue to provide important discoveries.
The fifth and last mission to repair Hubble is to launch at 1801 GMT Monday from the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Atlantis crew will undertake five spacewalks, adding two new instruments, repairing two others and replacing other hardware in frequently delicate operations.
India to launch ocean-watching satellite this month
By IANS,
Chennai : Some time between Sep 20 and 25, India will launch a specialised satellite to watch over the Indian Ocean, an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said Monday.
Oceansat 2 will be launched by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) into a sun-synchronous orbit 720 km above the earth, the official said on phone from ISRO's launch centre at Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), 70 km from here.
The PSLV will also carry a number of small "nano" satellites, the official said on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
79,924 panchayats have broadband connections
By IANS,
New Delhi: As many as 79,924 panchayats (village councils) in India had broadband connectivity by February this year, says the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
Data on the DoT website shows the numbers have been achieved against the target of providing all 242,279 panchayats with broadband connectivity by May 2012.
With 182.88 million rural subscribers in January, the rural tele-density stood at 22.18 percent.
As many as 564,225 villages had public telephones by January and the number for rural broadband connections stood at 462,168 in February.
Vietnam to launch first telecom satellite next month
By RIA Novosti
Hanoi : Vietnam's first communications satellite, the Vinasat-1, is to be launched on April 12, a Vietnamese government official said on Wednesday.
Nguyen Ba Thuoc, deputy director of the Vietnamese Post and Telecommunications Corporation, the satellite project's investor, said the satellite would be launched by an Ariane carrier rocket by the French company Ariane Space from the Kourou space center in French Guiana.
Indian research body ties up with Thomson Scientific
By IANS
Chennai : Thomson Scientific, a provider of information solutions to research and business communities, has announced that about 10,000 scientists of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) across 45 labs in India, will now have access to its ISI Web of Knowledge.
Thomson's ISI Web of Knowledge is an integrated, versatile research platform that delivers easy access to high quality, diversified scholarly information in sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities.
Global investors to invest Rs.4.11 bn in Moser Baer unit
By IANS,
New Delhi : Technology leader Moser Baer India Ltd Thursday said its wholly-owned photovoltaic (PV) subsidiary has entered into definitive agreement with a consortium of global investors to raise Rs.4.11 billion for its expansion.
The global investors include Nomura, CDC Group, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, IDFC Pe and IDFC.
"Moser Baer plans to use the funds to expand capacity of crystalline silicon and thin film solar vertical," Moser Baer group chief financial officer Yogesh B. Mathur told reporters.
European science lab spacewalk delayed for one day – NASA
By RIA Novosti
Washington : U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station Saturday but a spacewalk to install a European science laboratory was delayed for a day due an astronaut health problem, NASA said Sunday.
"With no impact to the overall mission objectives, the first spacewalk Monday will be conducted by Rex Walheim and Stan Love, who replaces Hans Schlegel," NASA said but did not specify the health problem.
New force-field to make Mars space trip possible
By IANS,
London : 'Space weather', comprising solar radiation and cosmic rays, poses the single biggest hurdle to man's trip to Mars.
However, latest research shows how advances in fusion research may reduce the threat to acceptable levels, making man's first Mars mission a much greater possibility.
Solar energetic particles, although part of 'cosmic rays' spectrum, are causing the greatest concern because they are the most likely to cause deadly radiation damage to astronauts.
NASA declares Phoenix Mars lander dead
By DPA,
Washington : A robotic lander that confirmed the presence of ice on Mars was confirmed dead by NASA scientists Monday.
The Phoenix Mars lander was damaged by harsh conditions during the Martian winter and repeated attempts to contact it have been unsuccessful, the US space agency said.
The lander had wrapped up its mission in 2008 and had not been expected to survive the harsh winter, which is twice as long as that on Earth. But scientists needed to make last attempts to contact it in good weather before officially writing it off.
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.
Electronic ‘ears’ guide drills into mine shaft
By IANS,
Sydney : Australian scientists have successfully used an electronic 'ear' to track and control a drill operating 300 metres below the earth's surface.
The successful trial has demonstrated that use of 'microseismics' can potentially cut down costs and improve drilling process for exploration and mining.
The trial was carried out at a coalfield test site in Queensland as part of a programme to develop and exploit coal seam gas.
Tiny bubbles help bugs survive underwater
By IANS,
Washington : Hundreds of insects remain underwater. But how do they manage to breathe? A University of Alberta has found they create tiny air bubbles around them.
The rough, waxy surfaces of insects and spiders are water-repellent. In some species, water-repellence is so pronounced that creatures may survive underwater for indefinite periods.
Microgrid power stations can ensure uninterrupted supply
By IANS,
Washington : Microgrid based power stations with their own energy source and independent control could ensure uninterrupted power supply even after hurricanes or natural disasters.
Texas University professor Alexis Kwasinski has formulated a new plan to de-centralise power architecture that would have kept the lights and phones on in town and cities in such an eventuality.
Soyuz spacecraft moved to launch pad for ISS flight
By RIA Novosti,
Baikonur (Kazakhstan) : A Soyuz-FG carrier rocket due to lift off Sunday to take a crew of three to the International Space Station has been moved to the launch pad at Kazakhstan's Baikonur space center.
The three-stage rocket with the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft was transported from an assembly facility to the launch site Thursday evening for pre-flight preparation procedures.
India to launch two satellites to study climate change
By IANS,
Bangalore : India will soon join a select space club by launching two dedicated satellites in polar orbit to study climate change through atmospheric research and detection of greenhouse gases, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said Sunday.
"The satellites will be launched in 2010 and 2011. The first will be a 50 kg micro-satellite to conduct atmospheric research. The second will be a remote sensing satellite to monitor emission of greenhouses gases like methane and carbon dioxide," Nair told reporters here.
First identical twin camels bred in UAE
By IANS,
Dubai : Scientists here have successfully produced United Arab Emirates' first identical twin camels using embryo splitting technology, WAM news agency reported Wednesday.
According to scientists at Dubai Camel Breeding Centre, the genetically identical twin camels, Zahi and Baih, were naturally born to two surrogate camel mothers Feb 10 and 23. Both are in good health.
For the first time scientists in the Gulf region used a sophisticated technology called embryo splitting technology to produce the identical twin camels from a six-day-old camel embryo.
Vast solar system detected 127 light years away
By IANS,
London : A vast solar system orbiting a sun-like star has been detected 127 light years from the earth.
The planetary system is believed to be the largest ever found beyond the sun.
Astronomers have confirmed the presence of five planets and have tantalising evidence of two more, reports the Telegraph.
The distance of the planets from their parent star follows a regular pattern, similar to that seen in our own solar system. The study is scheduled for publication in the journal Astronomy And Astrophysics.
Mini black holes could be passing through Earth
By IANS,
London : Space is littered with black holes that collapsing giant stars leave in their wake, but a miniature version could be passing through the Earth daily.
Memory chip of future promises massive storage capacity
By IANS,
New York : A hardy, heat-resistant, graphite-based memory device holds the potential of making massive amounts of storage available for computers, handheld media players, cell phones and cameras.
Rice University researchers, who are currently developing the device, said the solid-state device takes advantage of the conducting properties of graphene and would have many advantages over today's state-of-the-art flash memory and other new technologies.
Seeking the roots of the modern potato
By IANS
New York : New research into the history of the potato has rubbished two popular theories about how they travelled from their homeland in South America to Europe - and then to the rest of the world.
The study, by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, used DNA to conclude that a whopping 99 percent of all modern potatoes are descendents of varieties once grown in south-central Chile.
Model to predict volcanic eruptions
By IANS,
Washington : As explosive volcanoes produce tremors at similar frequencies for minutes, days or weeks before they erupt, researchers have developed a way to predict these eruptions.
Global warming affecting world’s largest freshwater lake
By Xinhua,
Washington : Russian and American scientists have discovered that the rising temperature of Lake Baikal, the world's largest lake located in freezing Siberia, shows that this region is responding strongly to global warming.
The research team reported their results Thursday on-line in the journal Global Change Biology. "Warming of this isolated but enormous lake is a clear signal that climate change has affected even the most remote corners of our planet," said Stephanie Hampton, a leading author of the study.
Sony presents new Vaio notebooks
By DPA
Berlin : Sony will present its new FZ series of Vaio notebooks which includes four machines for home use as well as a model designed for business use in the next weeks, the company said.
Nandan Nilekani confident of changing India with ideas
By Madhusree Chatterjee, IANS,
New Delhi : Can ideas change a nation? Co-founder of Indian software giant Infosys and author Nandan Nilekani believes that they can, even if it takes a long time for them to become embedded in the collective psyche of the country.
Chandrayaan to look for water on the moon
By IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : Is there water on the moon? India's lunar explorer, Chandrayaan-1, will try to find out by peeking into the moon's dark corners and sending an American probe to dig there.
When Chandrayaan heads for the moon Oct 22, it will carry on board a 6.5-kg mini synthetic aperture radar (MiniSAR) developed by the Johns Hopkins University applied physics laboratory and the Naval Air Warfare Centre. It will look for water-ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles by digging a few metres into the surface.
Some soil bacteria act as clean-up agents too
By IANS,
Washington : Not all soil bacteria are bad. Some of them act as good Samaritans as they "inhale" toxic metals, strip them of their toxicity and then "exhale" them, say researchers. In the foreseeable future, they might potentially clean-up toxic chemicals left over from nuclear weapons production decades ago.
Using a unique combination of microscopes, researchers at Ohio State University were able to glimpse how the Shewanella oneidensis bacterium breaks down metal to extract oxygen.
Russia to continue Arctic shelf research
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russian scientists will continue to study the Arctic shelf in order to bolster the country's claim to a large swathe of seabed believed to be rich in oil and gas, a Russian lawmaker has said.
President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia's Arctic research is aimed at establishing the country's right to a part of the Arctic shelf.
Artur Chilingarov, member of the lower house of Russia's parliament and a veteran explorer, said international cooperation in the area would continue.
NASA delays Discovery launch
By DPA,
Washington : NASA has delayed the launch of the space shuttle Discovery by 24 hours to allow more time to review data about a suspect valve in the liquid hydrogen fuel tank, officials said Thursday.
NASA earlier this week postponed a Tuesday launch to the early hours of Friday morning after detecting a problem with the fill and drain valve. The latest plan is to proceed with the launch about midnight Friday (0400 GMT Saturday).
New infotainment features to ease traffic jam frustrations
By DPA
Frankfurt : Manufacturers are looking at new ways of combining infotainment features in cars so that drivers can use time spent in a traffic jam more effectively.
Car parts supplier Siemens VDO is presenting systems linking the mobile phone, MP3 Player or mobile internet with vehicles' onboard computers at the Frankfurt Motor Show from Sep 13 to 23.
The features enable drivers to call up and answer emails or simply choose entertainment.
Intel unveils most powerful chip designed in India
By IANS,
Bangalore : The world's largest chip maker Intel Corp Tuesday unveiled its most powerful six core microprocessor designed and developed at its India development centre in this information technology (IT) hub.
The 45-nanometre chip boasts of a whopping 1.9 billion transistors, six processing cores and 16MB of shared cache memory in the Xeon family.
Technical snag hits BSNL mobile services in Himachal
By IANS,
Shimla: Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) CellOne mobile services were hit in Himachal Pradesh Thursday due to a major technical snag, an official said here.
"Due to some major technical problem at the Sundernagar telephone exchange (in Mandi district), the mobile connectivity of CellOne across the state was badly affected throughout the day today (Thursday)," a senior BSNL officer said, on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
However, he said, by the evening almost 90 percent of connectivity of the mobile users was restored.
Russian regulator rejects Google’s purchase of Rambler ad system
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia's Anti-Monopoly Service has denied the international Internet search engine Google the purchase of a contextual advertising system from the Russian Rambler Web search company.
Rambler Media Ltd. signed in July an agreement with Google on selling its Begun (Runner) contextual advertising system to the U.S.-based Internet search company for $140 million.
The Anti-Monopoly Service said it had rejected the bid as Google had failed to provide all the information necessary to clarify the financial aspects of the deal.
DoT for subscriber-based spectrum allocation, operators clash
By IANS
New Delhi : Notwithstanding the strong protest of GSM operators, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has accepted its technical arm's proposal to allocate the scarce radio waves to all operators based on the number of subscribers.
The technical wing of DoT, Telecom Engineering Centre (TEC), in its report to DoT, has suggested that the subscriber-linked criteria for fresh spectrum allocation be raised by anywhere in between 2-15 times depending on the network.
Two die as people swarm river banks during eclipse
By IANS,
Varanasi : Two people died and four were injured when thousands swarmed the banks of the Ganga here Wednesday morning to take a dip in the holy water, believed to be further blessed by the total solar eclipse.
"One person drowned and the other got crushed in a stampede. The names of the dead are yet to be determined," said P.C. Meena, deputy inspector general of police (DIG).
Just like the Ganga was overwhelmed with people, the Saryu river in Ayodhya also attracted a crowd on this rare occasion.
US to give Iran ‘space’ to mull nuclear fuel deal
By DPA,
Vienna/Tehran, Nov 9 (DPA) The US is willing to give Iran time to come up with a response to a proposed multinational nuclear fuel deal, the US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Glyn Davies, said Monday.
"We want to give some space to Iran to work through this. It's a tough issue for them, obviously," Davies told reporters in Vienna, adding, however, that Washington hopes for a response soon.
Microsoft loses as Toronto firm wins claim over Word patent
By IANS,
Toronto : Ruling against Microsoft, the US Patent and Trademark Office Tuesday confirmed a patent held by
Toronto-based i4i Inc. The tiny Canadian company had taken the software giant to court in 2007 over violations of its patent in Word applications and won the case and got $290 million in damages last December.
The US court of appeals had upheld a lower court order banning Microsoft from selling its patent-infringing Word processing software from Jan 11. The patent pertains to the use of technology that can open documents using the XML computer programming language.
New technique allows 3-D peek at neurons
By IANS,
Washington : A new technique combining a fast-moving laser beam with a special microscope to look at tissues in different optical planes will enable scientists to get a 3-D view of neurons or nerve cells as they interact,
"Most microscopes can only study cell function in two dimensions," said Gaddum Duemani Reddy, clinician at Rice University and co-author of the study. "To look at different planes, you have to move your preparation (of cells) or the objective lens. That takes time, and we are looking at processes that happen in milliseconds."
Facebook unveils new tools
By DPA,
San Francisco : Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg Wednesday unveiled a box of new tools that he said will extend the social networking phenomenon to every corner of the internet.
The announcement came at a conference for Facebook developers called F8, in which Zuckerberg revealed that the world's largest social networking site has 400 million registered users. These include 100 million who use Facebook Connect, the company's online identity technology that allows users to use their profile on thousands of other websites.
Scientists probe earth’s core with quake ‘whispers’
By IANS,
London : Scientists are observing distant earthquakes by 'listening' to them to reveal new clues about the top of the earth's core.
The approach is akin to hearing a conversation across a whispering gallery, such as those in the domes of some large cathedrals.
Using a novel digital processing approach, researchers at the University of Calgary (U-C) analysed faint signals produced by 44 earthquakes. They were able to measure the sound speed at the top of earth's core with unprecedented accuracy.
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.
Protein discovery to hasten biofuel production
By IANS,
Washington : A new protein necessary for chloroplast development, identified by researchers, is likely to pave the way to tailor plant varieties for biofuel production.
Chloroplasts, specialised compartments in plant cells, convert sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen during photosynthesis.
The newly discovered protein, trigalactosyldiacylglycerol 4, or TGD4, offers insight into how the process works.
Narcissists use Facebook for self-promotion
By IANS,
Washington : People with excess of self-love might choose networking sites like Facebook for unabashed self-promotion and publicity.
They are more likely to choose glamorous pictures for their main profile photos, while others are more likely to use snapshots, according to a Georgia University study.
"We found that people who are narcissistic use Facebook in a self-promoting way that can be identified by others," said Laura Buffardi, a doctoral student in psychology who co-authored the study with associate professor W. Keith Campbell.
Prayers to ‘moon god’ for success of lunar mission
By IANS,
Thingalur (Tamil Nadu) : A temple in this Tamil Nadu town dedicated to the moon god conducted special prayers Tuesday for the successful launch of Chandrayaan, India's first lunar mission.
"Since this temple itself is meant for propitiation of the moon god, we conducted prayers for the success of Chandrayaan as it is bound for the moon tomorrow (Wednesday) from Sriharikota," N. Govindarajan, an official of the temple, told IANS.
"The omens during the worship were good and we are sure the mission will be a success," he said.
Microsoft to strip Internet Explorer browser from European Windows
By DPA,
San Francisco : Microsoft is to strip its Internet Explorer browser from the new version of its Windows 7 operating system that it sells in Europe, the company announced Thursday.
Microsoft said the move was designed to meet criticism from European Union (EU) regulators who have launched an investigation into whether bundling the browser with the operating system is in breach of European anti-trust rules.
Robotic hands designed by Indian American move ultra-tiny particles
By IANS,
Washington : Microscopic, chemically triggered robotic "hands" developed by biomolecular engineers, led by an Indian American, can move ultra-tiny components.
These chemically triggered microscopic devices or 'hands', that manipulate particles smaller than a grain of sand, can be used in lab-on-a-chip applications and micro-manufacturing, the researchers say.
Combined PCs beat second fastest supercomputer in mapping Milky Way
By IANS,
Washington : Legions of personal computers (PCs), engaged in a project to map the Milky Way, beat the world's second fastest supercomputer in sheer performance.
At this very moment, tens of thousands of PCs worldwide are quietly working together to solve the largest and most basic mysteries of our galaxy.
Enthusiastic volunteers from Africa to Australia are donating the computing power of everything from decade-old desktops to sleek new netbooks to help computer scientists and astronomers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute map our Milky Way.
Plants change chemical defences to suit habitat
By IANS,
Washington : Closely related plants produce their own natural chemical cocktails, adapting each set to the individual plant's specific habitat.
Comparing anti-fungals produced by tobacco and henbane, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discovered that only a few mutations in a key enzyme are enough to shift the whole output to an entirely new product mixture.
NASA spacecraft closes in on Mars
By SPA,
Pasadena, California : A three-legged NASA spacecraft was closing in on Mars Sunday for what scientists hope will be the first-ever touchdown near Mars' north pole to study whether the permafrost could have supported primitive life.
The time it takes the Phoenix Mars Lander to streak through the atmosphere and set down on the dusty surface has been dubbed the seven minutes of terror for good reason. More than half of the world's attempts to land on Mars have ended in failures, according to a report of the Associated Press.
US and Russian satellites collide in space
By Xinhua,
Washington : A privately owned US communication satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite in orbit posing a risk to the international space station, US space agency NASA has said.
It was the first such collision in space, NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said, adding that the magnitude of the accident was still unknown.
The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos Thursday confirmed the collision and said that it poses no threat to the International Space Station (ISS).
Japan launches communication satellite
By Xinhua
Tokyo : Japan Saturday launched a high-speed data transmission satellite, the nation's space agency said.
A H-2A rocket carrying the satellite 'Kizuna' lifted off at 17.55 p.m. from the space centre on the island of Tanegashima off the southern tip of Kyushu Island in southern Japan.
A spokeswoman for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the launch went smoothly.
The initial launching was successful despite a delay due to bad weather and an unexpected ship entry in restricted waters near the space centre, the official said.
Wi-fi in homes can be hacked in five seconds
By IANs,
London : Wireless internet networks in millions of homes can be hacked in less than five seconds.
Microsoft delays Windows Vista switch to June 2008
By Xinhua
Beijing : Computer manufacturer feedback saying customers still want to purchase Windows XP has prompted Microsoft Corp. to delay a scheduled transition to its newer Windows Vista software to the end of June 2008.
The world's largest software maker introduced Windows Vista in January with the plan to phase out sales of its predecessor, Windows XP, by Jan. 30, 2008.
Underground ocean may exist on Saturn moon: NASA
By DPA
Washington : New evidence has surfaced of an underground ocean on Saturn's moon Titan, based on data sent back to Earth by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, the US space agency said.
"Titan has one of the most varied, active and Earth-like surfaces in the solar system," Ralph Lorenz, Cassini radar scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, said in a statement Thursday.
Solar-powered plants promise water for world’s poorest
By Ernest Gill, DPA
Hamburg (Germany) : A team of German scientists has come up with a revolutionary design for a small solar-powered mobile water treatment plant which could bring hope to drought-affected areas of the world.
The researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) in Freiburg said they have been carrying out tests on their small, decentralised water treatment plants with an autonomous power supply in recent weeks and that they hope they will move into production in the coming months.
Largest ever dino footprints found in France
By IANS,
Washington : Footprints from sauropod dinosaurs, giant herbivores with long necks, were found in Plagne, near Lyon, France.
The dinosaur footprints in Plagne are circular depressions surrounded by a fold of limestone sediment. These depressions are very large, up to 1.50 metre in total diameter, suggesting that the animals were larger than 40 tonnes and 25 metres in length.
PM congratulates scientists on successful Chandrayaan-1 launch
By IANS,
New Delhi : “The successful launch of the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, India's first unmanned scientific mission to the moon, marks the first step in what we hope will be a historic milestone in India's space programme," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Wednesday.
Rajat Sharma to launch another 24×7 news channel
By IANS,
New Delhi: Noted TV host and India TV co-founder Rajat Sharma is set to launch a new 24X7 news channel.
Called India TV Wiz, the channel will be a bilingual in Hindi and English and is the first channel to have got an approval after the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) returned to power.
"Wiz will be up in six months, perhaps earlier in the beta form. You will see a truly unique bouquet of content that will make it a nationwide phenomenon. Thanks to its ideator, Wiz will break the mould," Sharma said in a statement released here Wednesday.
I have been concentrating on motivating the youth
By A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, IANS,
I did not realize that I have already completed one year after demitting office on 25 July 2007. This one year has been an extremely eventful one me having visited over 12 states in India and nine countries.
It is pertinent to note here that I have not been able to accept more than 10 per cent of the total invitations received.
Last decade warmest on record, says NASA
By IANS,
Washington : The last decade from January 2000 to December 2009 was the warmest on record, according to a NASA analysis.
Looking back to 1880, when modern scientific instrumentation became available to monitor temperatures precisely, a clear warming trend is present, although there was a levelling off between the 1940s and 1970s.
Nano-catalysts to help produce cheap ethanol
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers are combining traditional gassification with high-tech nano-catalysts to extract ethanol from a range of biomass, which includes wood pulp, animal waste and residual distillers' grain.
Gasification is a process that converts carbon-based feedstocks under high temperature and pressure in an oxygen-controlled atmosphere into synthesis gas, or 'syngas'.
Syngas is made up of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (85 percent by volume) and smaller quantities of carbon dioxide and methane.
Smart phone offers ultrasound imaging at finger-tips
By IANS,
Washington : Marrying ultrasound technology with a smartphone, computer experts have created a compact, mobile, palm-sized medical imaging device.
William D. Richard, associate professor and research associate David Zar at the computer science and engineering department of Washington University have made commercial ultrasound probes compatible with Microsoft Windows mobile-based smartphones, thanks to a $100,000 Microsoft grant.
Chip-maker AMD reports sixth quarterly loss in a row
By IANS,
San Francisco : One of the world's biggest chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) posted its sixth consecutive quarterly loss, but the company executives vowed a return to profitability in the second half of the year, the New York Times reported Friday.
AMD Thursday reported a net loss in the first quarter of $358 million, or 59 cents a share, narrowed from a net loss of $611 million in the year-ago quarter. The net loss included an impact of $50 million, or 8 cents a share, related to the acquisition of the graphics technology maker ATI.
Scientists develop brightest ever x-ray source
By IANS,
Washington : The x-ray has just got 100 million times brighter, thanks to next-generation light sources like free electron laser oscillator - or the X-FELO.
X-FELO will open up breakthrough scientific opportunities in various research fields. Its characteristics are ideally suited for bulk-sensitive, hard x-ray photo-emission spectroscopy.
Existing technology uses undulators to create bright x-ray beams of spontaneous emission at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne.
India launches satellite-based navigation system
By IANS,
New Delhi : India Tuesday launched a satellite-based navigation system to aid air traffic in the region and joined a select club of nations which have similar capabilities.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel launched the Global Position System Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) based on a constellation of 24 satellites positioned in six earth-centred orbital planes.
Arabsat launches its BADR-6
By NNN-KUNA,
Riyadh : The Arab Satellite Communications Organisation (Arabsat) has announced that it will launch its BADR-6 satellite on July 4.
The BADR-6, manufactured by Astrium of France, will be launched by an Ariane 5 Rocket. It will take place in French Cayanne in South America.
Khalid Balkhyour, Arabsat president and CEO, disclosed Monday that the BADR-6 satellite is an Astrium Eurostar E2000 model and is a multipurpose communications satellite designed to serve the Arab world and neighbouring regions and countries.
Aluminium-water propellant promising for future space missions
By IANS,
Washington : A new type of green rocket propellant, comprising frozen mixture of water and "nanoscale aluminium" powder, is being developed that could be manufactured on the moon, Mars and other water-bearing bodies, says a new study.
The aluminium-ice, or ALICE, propellant might be used to launch rockets into orbit and for long-distance space missions and also to generate hydrogen for fuel cells, said Steven Son, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University.
India successfully test fires exo-atmospheric missile interceptor
Bhubaneswar: India successfully test-fired for the first time an exo-atmospheric missile interceptor at a defence base in Odisha Sunday.
The missile operates outside the atmosphere...
China’s 1st spacewalk mission to launch in October
By Xinhua,
Beijing : China's Shenzhou VII manned space mission, which will include the first spacewalk by a Chinese "taikonaut," is to launch in October, said a spokesman of the China manned space engineering office here on Thursday.
He would not give the exact date of the launch, but said a day would be selected in October.
A crew of six astronauts had been chosen for the mission, with three manning the spacecraft and three substitutes, said the spokesman.
Two of the astronauts on board the spacecraft would prepare for the historic spacewalk, he said.
New telecom network guidelines next month: minister
By IANS,
New Delhi : The government is expected to issue guidelines for third generation (3G) and wireless broadband (WiMax) networks by June, Minister for Communications and Information Technology A. Raja said here Friday.
"By June the guidelines will be issued for 3G and WiMax," Raja said at an industry conference, adding that these networks would be rolled out by January 2009.
ISRO to set up astronaut training institute
By IANS,
Bangalore : Buoyed by the successful launch of the country's maiden unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to start an institute to train astronauts for its planned first manned space mission by 2015, said a top official.
Future refrigerators to run on heat, not electricity
By DPA
Hamburg : The refrigerator of the future will run on heat, not costly electricity, according to a team of innovative scientists in Germany.
The research could be a boon in hot countries where fridges and air-conditioning systems are vital, said the group of young scientists, who are working on at the Innovationszentrum Wiesenbusch Gladbeck (IWG), in cooperation with the University of Applied Science in nearby Gelsenkirchen.
Toy rocket inspires variable-speed bullets
By IANS,
Chicago : A US company is developing a gun that can fire bullets with variable speed and can be set to kill, wound or just cause a bruise.
Lund and Company Invention, a Chicago-based toy design studio, which makes toy rockets that are powered by burning hydrogen, is receiving funding from the US army to adapt the same technology for firing bullets as the army is interested in weapons that can be switched between lethal and non-lethal modes, NewScientist reported.
Chandrayaan confirms moon was once completely molten: Scientist
By IANS,
Panaji : Chandrayaan's moon mineralogy mapper has confirmed the magma ocean hypothesis, meaning that the moon was once completely molten, a senior scientist said Wednesday.
"It proves beyond doubt the magma ocean hypothesis. There is no other way this massive rock type could be formed," said Carle Pieters, science manager at the NASA-supported spectroscopy facility at Brown University in the US.
Pieters, who was in charge of the moon mineralogy mapper on Chandrayaan, was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Low Cost Planetary Mission Conference here.
Atlantis starts home journey
By DPA,
Washington : The US space shuttle Atlantis separated from the International Space Station (ISS) Sunday to prepare for its home journey on the shuttle's last-ever mission before being retired.
The Shuttle with its crew of six astronauts eased away from the ISS at 1522 GMT for the return flight and its scheduled landing in Cape Canaveral, Florida Wednesday.
The shuttle had brought new Russian research equipment and a docking module to the ISS in the ongoing construction of the international station.
Scientists pinpoint presence of female sex hormone in plant
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have unearthed female sex hormone progesterone in a plant, upsetting conventional wisdom that only animals secreted it.
A steroid hormone produced by the ovaries, progesterone prepares the uterus for pregnancy and maintains it. A synthetic version, progestin, is used in birth control pills and other medications.
"The significance of the unequivocal identification of progesterone cannot be overstated," said the study by Guido F. Pauli, College of Pharmacy, Chicago and colleagues.
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.
Scientists have better insight into how we see
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists now have a better insight into how the mammalian brain transfers, processes and stores visual information.
The study, led by Mark Williams, senior lecturer at the Macquarie University, said: "The inner workings of the mammalian brain are incredibly complex and our understanding of the processes at work is still rudimentary."
"If we think of the visual system as a complicated web of connections at the rear of the brain, these findings allow us to make better sense of this web by more effectively mapping the way information is transferred and processed."
First South Korean astronaut returns to earth
By Xinhua,
Moscow : The Russian Soyuz spacecraft with South Korea's first female astronaut Yi So-yeon aboard landed safely in the Kazakh steppe on Saturday, according to the Mission Control Center.
The spacecraft carrying Yi, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko undocked with the International Space Station (ISS) and started trip home earlier Saturday.
The Soyuz capsule landed in the Kazakh steppe at 12:51 Moscow time (0851GMT), 20 minutes later than the planned time and 420 km from the planned landing site, the Misson Control said.
Scattering light causes blazing colours of sunsets
By IANS
New York : Ever wonder why the sky turns a deep and blazing red or orange at sunset? It's thanks to a phenomenon called scattering, explains a new study.
Scattering happens when light collides against molecules in the atmosphere, causing it to scatter.
The study, by researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, shows how scattering determines the colours you see in the sky at sunset or sunrise.
According to Steven Ackerman, who led the study, the colour blue, being of shorter wavelength, is scattered more than other colours by the molecules.
S.Korea switches ISS mission astronauts over alleged violations
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : South Korea's first astronaut will be a female engineer, following a last-minute swap over allegations that the main candidate broke rules in the Russian training center, Yonhap agency said on Monday.
The agency said the decision to send Yi So-yeon, 28, to the International Space Center instead of Ko San was made following requests from the Russian side.
Molnia-M carrier rocket to orbit Russian military satellite
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : A Molnia-M booster rocket was launched from the Plesetsk space centre in north Russia Tuesday to orbit a Cosmos military satellite, a Russian Space Forces spokesman said.
The carrier rocket was launched at 8.39 a.m. Moscow time (4.39 a.m. GMT), and was scheduled to put the military satellite into orbit at 9:35 a.m. Moscow time (5:35 a.m. GMT).
The four-stage medium-range Molnia-M, which has a lift-off weight of 305 metric tonnes, is used for launching spacecraft of up to two metric tonnes into high-elliptical orbits.
BMW to run on LPG
By DPA
Saarbruecken (Germany) : A German research and development team is planning to build a record-breaking car based on the BMW 1 Series car using an engine which runs on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The perfect kid: part computer, part robot
By IANS
New York : Here's one kid who lives up to the dictum that children must be seen and not heard. Meet Wizkid. Part computer, part robot, this Swiss machine is as endearing as any child, but unlike most kids, it doesn't walk or talk, and it pays perfect attention.
More important, it will also hopefully change the way people interact with machines.
Wizkid will be on display at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) here and will be part of its Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit, which opens Feb 24.
NASA rules out asteroid collision with Mars
By DPA
Washington : Scientists have drastically reduced the chances of a 50-metre-wide asteroid striking Mars later this month, saying the rock will likely keep a distance of about 26,000 km.
The US space agency NASA said Thursday it was "effectively ruling out" a collision, reducing the probability to 1 in 10,000. Ten days ago the odds stood at 1 in 25 - nearly 4 percent.
Suicide method websites outnumber counselling sites
By IANS
Washington : A first-of-its kind study on Internet and suicides has found that a net search throws up more sites that detail methods of self-annihilation than those offering help and support.
The study also concludes that people bent on taking their lives are most likely to find sites that offer detailed and factual methods of killing themselves rather than sites that discourage them.
Researchers from the universities of Bristol, Oxford and Manchester replicated a typical search, visiting popular websites like Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask.
Revolutionary fuel cell design to make cheaper vehicles feasible
By IANS,
Sydney : A reworked design of fuel cells used in the latest hybrid cars will help make vehicles more reliable and cheaper to build in the future.
The breakthrough is based on the inclusion of a specially-coated form of popular outdoor and sporting clothing material Goretex in the fuel cell.
Monash University scientists have designed and tested an air-electrode, where a fine layer 100 times thinner than human hair of highly conductive plastic is deposited on the breathable fabric. The conductive plastic acts as both the fuel cell electrode and catalyst.
Remote sensing agency comes under ISRO
By IANS,
Bangalore : The autonomous National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) has become a state-run body and brought under the Indian Space Research Organsiation (ISRO), the space agency said Monday.
Renamed the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), the Hyderabad-based entity will be integrated with other ISRO centres for the development and operations of the ground segment under India's remote sensing programme.
“The society has been merged with ISRO in view of the allied activities carried out in aerial and satellite remote sensing,” ISRO said in a statement.
Russian astronomer discovers new comet
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russian amateur astronomer Artyom Novichonok, a student of Petrozavodsk university, has discovered a new comet, website Astronet said.
Plasma mystery unlocked!
By IANS,
Toronto : Canadian researchers claim to have developed a technique to get clues into the mystery of plasma - the most abundant form of matter in the universe.
Unlike general matter in which negatively charged electrons and positively charged protons are bound by electromagnetic force to form a neutral atom, plasma is that state of matter which can have surplus of negative or positive charge.
Also called ionized (or charged) gas, plasma can be as common as in fluorescent light bulbs or exotic in the extreme, as a thermonuclear explosion.
Navy gets lab-on-wheels to test radioactivity
By IANS
New Delhi : An environmental survey vehicle (ESV) - a radiological laboratory on wheels - developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was formally handed over to the Indian Navy here Monday.
DRDO chief M. Natarajan handed over the ESV to the Indian Navy vice-chief, Vice Admiral Nirmal Verma.
Designed and developed by the Defence Laboratory at Jodhpur, the ESV is equipped with state-of-art instruments to measure radioactivity levels in solids, liquids and in the air.
Zenit rocket to orbit Israeli satellite in late April
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : The launch of a modified Zenit rocket to put an Israeli communications satellite into orbit has been scheduled for April 24, Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said on Monday.
Russia started preparations for the launch of a Zenit-3SLB rocket with a DM-SLB booster and Israeli AMOS-3 satellite on board from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan in October last year.
"This weekend, the booster was delivered to site 31 [at Baikonur] for fuelling and fitting with the AMOS-3 satellite," Roscosmos said in a statement.
Indian nuclear scientists to benefit from end of British ban
By IANS,
London : The end of a British ban on exporting sensitive nuclear technology to India will facilitate greater exchanges between nuclear scientists from the two countries, a British minister said.
After a six-year-freeze, Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell said Britain will “encourage contacts between UK nuclear scientists, academics and those working in or with the UK nuclear industry with their Indian counterparts, except where we consider that such contacts might be of assistance to the weapons-related aspects of its nuclear programme."
Agenda for India: Information Technology
TwoCircles.net presents “Agenda for India”. Series editor is Charu Bahri.
Challenges & Solutions
Information technology professionals Amin Ismaili and his wife Shahin Ismaili, both of whom work as Assistant Systems Engineers with TATA Consultancy Services Ltd., identify India’s heavy dependence on markets in the USA as the greatest challenge presently facing the Information Technology (IT) and IT enabled services (ITES, more commonly spoken of as outsourcing) industries.
Monkey uses its head – and a robotic arm!
By IANS,
Washington : Using signals from its brain and nothing else, a monkey has activated a human-like robotic arm to feed itself.
This advance is likely to spur development of prosthetics for those with spinal cord injuries and with “locked-in” conditions such as Lou Gehrig's disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
“Our immediate goal is to make a prosthetic device for people with total paralysis,” said Andrew Schwartz of the University of Pittsburgh and co-author of the study involving the monkey.
Device turns heat into sound, then electricity
By IANS
Washington : Physicists in US have developed a small device that they claim can turn heat into sound and then into electricity.
Specialised search engines bring you more info
By DPA
Washington : If your search for information on the Web starts and ends with Google, Yahoo, or MSN, you're missing out. Sure, you can use the big three search engines to find more types of information than ever before.
But there are still some specialised search engines that do better with less. If searching the Internet is part of your daily routine, consider putting the following tools in your toolbox - and your bookmark list.
Shuttle Endeavour undocks from International Space Station
By Xinhua
Washington : Space Shuttle Endeavour undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday to begin its return trip to Earth, according to NASA TV.
"Physical separation, Houston," shuttle pilot Charlie Hobaugh told Mission Control.
Undocking took place according to schedule at 7:56 a.m. EDT (1156 GMT) as the shuttle and ISS passed 214 miles (about 344 km) over the South Pacific.
New Year’s Eve revelers to be treated to rare ‘blue moon’
By DPA,
New York : Times Square revelers will be treated to a rare "blue moon" on New Year's Eve Thursday night.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to watch the ritual descent of the crystal ball in Times Square to usher in 2010 at midnight. But what many of them may not yet expect is a special full moon above their heads, the second this month.
Behind India’s rise as IT power lies 25 years of C-DOT
By Sam Pitroda, IANS,
This month marks the 25th anniversary of what is now widely acknowledged to be India's first defining steps towards an information and communications revolution. It was in August 1984 that the Centre for Development of Telematics or C-DOT was set up with the specific intention of indigenising digital switching technology to meet India's unique requirements.
Lunar eclipse coincides with winter solstice in 400 years
By IANS,
London : If the skies are clear just before dawn, you could be treated to the sight of the moon's surface turning a blood red in the western hemisphere Tuesday.
Earth-sized planets found beyond solar system
By IANS,
Washington : NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first Earth-sized planets orbiting a sun-like star outside our solar system, the US space agency has announced.
NASA plans to put man on Mars b 2037
By Fakir Balaji, IANS
Hyderabad : The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) plans to put man on Mars by 2037, a top official of the US space agency said here Monday.
"We are planning many missions. Our long-term game-plan is to put man on Mars by 2037, so that by 2057, when the International Aeronautical Congress (IAC) holds its centenary, we should be celebrating the 20th year of putting man on the red planet," NASA administrator Michael Griffin told the delegates at the first plenary of the 58th IAC on the inaugural day.
NASA probe finds second mountain range in Pluto’s ‘heart’
Washington : The New Horizons probe has found a second mountain range situated between bright, icy plains and dark, heavily-cratered terrain on the...
Climate experts put EU case to India on emissions trading
By DPA,
Potsdam (Germany) : Top European Union experts on climate change briefed Indian scientists near Berlin Tuesday on an ambitious programme to "trade" carbon-dioxide emissions round the globe so as to cut the overall pollution level.
Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, a leading German scientist who works from Potsdam, argued that India would be a beneficiary for decades on end from a fair scheme, since it could earn income by selling the valuable rights.
U.S. space shuttle Endeavour lifts off
By Xinhua
Washington : The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour, with seven astronauts aboard, lifted off at 2:28 a.m. EDT (0628 GMT) on Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida,NASA TV live broadcasting showed.
The shuttle is delivering a two-armed robot made by Canada, the first part of Japan's space laboratory Kibo and a collection of experiments to the International Space Station.
‘France to provide Pakistan nuke technology’
By IANS,
Islamabad : France has agreed to provide Pakistan with civilian nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, state-owned PTV reported Friday, quoting Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
According to Qureshi, France has expressed its readiness for cooperating with Pakistan in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
The affirmation came during President Asif Ali Zardari's discussions with his French counterpart Nicholas Sarkozy.
Further negotiations on this will be held in July this year, Qureshi said.
Scientists breed ‘mighty mice’ with super stamina
By IANS
New York : They can run non-stop for up to six hours at 20 metres per minute and are said to be metabolically similar to Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong. Meet the 'mighty mice' bred by researchers at Case Western Reserve University.
This special breed eats 60 percent more than normal mice, remains fitter, trimmer and lives longer than wild mice, according to an article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Some female mighty mice have also had offspring at 2.5 years of age, an amazing feat because most mice do not reproduce after they are a year old.
Scientists discover secret of rainforests survival
By IANS,
Washington : A rare trace element that helps rainforests trap nitrogen to support their prodigious growth could be the secret of their survival.
Most of the nitrogen that supports the rapid, lush growth of rainforests vital to our eco-system comes from tiny bacteria that can turn nitrogen in the air into soil fertiliser.
Until now, scientists had thought that phosphorus was the key element supporting the vast expansion of rainforests, according to Lars Hedin, professor of ecology at Princeton University who led the research.
Now disabled could operate wheelchairs, computers with tongue
By IANS,
Washington : People with severe disabilities will soon be able to operate a computer or control a powered wheelchair simply by moving their tongues, thanks to a new magnetic device.
This device could help individuals "with high-level spinal cord injuries, return to rich, active, independent and productive lives", said Maysam Ghovanloo of Georgia Tech School who developed the new system with graduate student Xueliang Huo.
Saharan dust storms sustain life in Atlantic Ocean
By IANS,
London : Saharan dust storms help sustain life over large regions of the North Atlantic Ocean, according to a latest study.
Liverpool University researchers found that plants are able to grow in these regions because they are able to take advantage of iron minerals in Saharan dust storms.
This allows them to use organic or recycled material from dead or decaying plants when nutrients such as phosphorous - an essential component of DNA - in the ocean are low.
Google Chrome is third most popular browser
By IANS,
London : Google Chrome is now the world's third most popular web browser with one in five users preferring it.
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.
RCom launches new search engine on mobile
By IANS,
New Delhi : Leading telecom service provider Reliance Communications (RCom) Thursday launched an information service called 'Quick Search'.
Powered by OnYoMo.com on Reliance Mobile World (R-World), the service includes information on banks, automated teller machines (ATMs), shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, cinema theatres, educational institutions, hospitals, blood banks, chemists and airline offices.
U.S. Launches Gamma-Ray Telescope into Orbit
By SPA,
Washington : A U.S. gamma-ray telescope was launched into space Wednesday on a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The orbiting Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) will probe the most energetic form of light. Gamma rays are millions to hundreds of billions of times more powerful than what can be seen with the human eye.
NASA sets date for space shuttle’s final mission to Hubble
By Xinhua,
Washington : The U.S. space shuttle's final service call to the Hubble Space Telescope is now set for Oct. 8, NASA announced Thursday.
Shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to Hubble was moved from Aug.28 to Oct. 8, due to a delay in deliveries of shuttle components, including the external fuel tanks, said NASA in a statement.
NASA said it also need more time to prepare shuttle Endeavour for a possible rescue mission approximately two weeks after STS-125 launches.
Cisco unveils social network platform for IT community
By IANS,
Bangalore : Networking major Cisco Tuesday unveiled a social learning network platform for the global IT community aimed at talent development to meet the growing demand for networking skills.
The platform will enable networking professionals and those aspiring for a career in IT to share, discuss and exchange ideas in an online environment, the company said here in a statement.
Versatile new micro-sensors to sniff out explosives
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have discovered a way to detect explosives based on the physical properties of their vapours and are readying the technology, which utilises micro-sensors, for field testing.
"Certain classes of explosives have unique thermal characteristics that help to identify explosive vapours in presence of other vapours," said Thomas Thundat, Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) and University of Tennessee researcher who conducted the study with colleagues at ORNL and the Technical University of Denmark.
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.
Symantec to unveil new security solutions
By IANS
Bangalore : Symantec Corp, the $5.2-billion leading security and information management solutions provider, will showcase its latest Norton anti-virus software products to technology stakeholders at a vision summit in Mumbai Thursday.
The US-based firm's experts will demonstrate benefits of security infrastructure in enterprises and organisations using IT tools in their operations on local, national and global scales.
New NASA tools bring Mars closer to young explorers
Washington : On the third anniversary of the Mars landing of NASA’s Curiosity rover, the US space agency has unveiled two new online tools...
U.S., China space debris still orbiting Earth
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Debris from the U.S. intercept of a spy satellite in February and from China's anti-satellite test in Janaury 2007 is still orbiting Earth, according to a space debris expert.
T.S. Kelso's CelesTrak satellite tracking software shows some 15 pieces of the busted up USA 193 spysat are still flying around, although when the successful intercept was reported, estimates were that all pieces would re-enter Earth's atmosphere within 40 days.
A recent analysis shows the last piece of clutter will decay about 100 days post-intercept, Kelso reported.
Space shuttle Discovery arrives at space station
By DPA,
Washington : Space shuttle Discovery docked Monday at the International Space Station after the day-and-half journey from Earth, carrying an enormous Japanese-made research module and a small Russian-made pump for a malfunctioning lavatory.
"Capture confirmed," said a Discovery crew member to Earth control officials.
At the time of docking at 1803 GMT, the station was orbiting over the South Pacific, 350 km above Earth's surface.
Why India’s $35 computer joke isn’t funny
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
Here we go again! India's Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has "launched" a $35 computer, evidently a "dream project" of his. The touch-screen, Linux-based device looks iPad-inspired, but we know little about how it works.
It emerged from a student project with a bill of material adding up to $47, a price that the minister wants to bring down to $10 "to take forward inclusive education". It promises browser and PDF reader, wi-fi, 2GB memory, USB, Open Office, and multimedia content viewers and interfaces.
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.
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...
India approves Rs.7.74 bn satellite navigation project
By IANS,
New Delhi : The government Thursday gave its approval to a satellite-based navigation system, which would meet the growing air traffic and strengthen aviation navigation system.
“The new navigation system would increase safety, improve airport and airspace access in adverse weather conditions, and enhance reliability and reduce flight delays,” Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
US firm announces plan to mine near-Earth asteroids
By IANS,
Los Angeles : A newly established US company, Deep Space Industries, Tuesday announced a plan to harvest near-earth asteroids.
Micromax to invest Rs.400-Rs.500 crore in Hyderabad plant
Hyderabad: Mobile phone manufacturer Micromax will set up its manufacturing plant in Hyderabad with an investment of Rs.400 crore to Rs.500 crore, a Telangana...
How to avoid computer-induced arm pain
By Aliki Nassoufis, DPA,
Cologne (Germany) : Repetitive strain is a creeping threat for any 21st century computer user. Steady mouse clicking may seem innocent, but many computer users find that pain starts in their arm and eventually spreads to their wrist and shoulder.
In the days of the good old typewriter, people suffered from so-called writer's cramp. Although the phrase has since been shelved, the problem still applies to anyone who spends hours at a desk.
China to broadcast solar eclipse live on Internet
By Xinhua,
Beijing : While the best observation place in China for Friday's solar eclipse is a small county in the far-away Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region, most people can also see it in all its glory on their laptop.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) will broadcast the total solar eclipse, the first in China this century, live on the Internet, the Division of Information Technical Sciences (ITS) said on Tuesday.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) will broadcast the total solar eclipse, the first in China this century, live on the Internet, the Division of Information Technical Sciences (ITS) said on Tuesday.
Indian-origin food scientist gets international award
Wellington : A noted Indian-origin food scientist based in New Zealand has been honoured for his contribution in improving the quality, safety and...
High tension in NASA before Sunday’s Mars landing
By DPA,
Washington : For nearly 10 months, the US space probe Phoenix has been travelling the 195 million km from Earth to Mars.
On Sunday comes the tense moment of truth. That's when NASA's planetary probe is to land on the north pole of Mars. Phoenix's mission is to look for signs of life in a region of the red planet where earlier missions showed evidence of ice.
But before it gets that far, it must land successfully, and nerves were strained in the run-up to touch down.
Last tune-up for Hubble telescope before space shuttle launch
By IANS,
Washington : From a fuzzy beginning nearly 20 years ago, Hubble Space Telescope has now revolutionised astronomy, its stunning images stirring global imagination.
But as the International Year of Astronomy dawns, the renowned telescope is preparing for its final chapter, starting with the scheduled May 12 launch of the space shuttle Atlantis for NASA's fifth and final service mission to the telescope.
Microsoft and Ford team up on electric cars
By DPA,
New York: Microsoft and Ford are to collaborate on the development of an electric car that will use Microsoft technology to streamline the battery-charging process, the companies announced Wednesday at the opening of the New York International Auto Show.
Ford said it will use Microsoft's Hohm electric-car charging optimization service to help drivers determine the best time to charge their vehicles and how to best minimize impact on the grid.
PSLV rocket launch successful, five satellites put into orbit
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh) : Five satellites, including the advanced high resolution cartography satellite Cartosat-2B, were placed in orbit Monday after India's space agency ISRO successfully launched its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket from here.
"I am extremely happy to say PSLV 16 was a successful flight. All the satellites were injected precisely," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said.
Astronomers discover two extrasolar planets
By Xinhua
Washington : Researchers from 11 countries have discovered two extrasolar planets, each with a mass less than that of Jupiter, orbiting a star about half the size of our Sun.
The new discovery was reported on Thursday and will be published on the Feb. 15 issue of journal Science.
Although there has been a flurry of extrasolar planet discoveries in recent years, most of the planets have been massive bodies much larger than the giants of our own solar system.