Two Europeans, four Russians to go on simulated “Mars mission”
By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Two Europeans and four Russians have been selected to participate in an experimental Mars mission simulation, Mars-500, a medical institute spokesman said Monday.
The experiment, which is being run by the Russian Institute of Biological Problems, will sequester the six volunteers in a "Mars Expeditionary Complex" for 520 days beginning late 2008.
New technique to help predict Alzheimer’s early
By IANS,
Sydney : A neuroimaging scan called PiB PET can predict the onset of Alzheimer's in individuals at least 18 months earlier than all currently available diagnostics.
PiB PET can show excess of beta-amyloid (molecule) in the brain and potentially allows clinicians to distinguish patients with early Alzheimer's disease, even before signs of memory loss are present.
Teacher reaches to stars, 21 years after Challenger disaster
By DPA
Washington : Barbara Morgan taught math and reading in the Rocky Mountains, then English and science in the Andes but she wanted to go to even greater heights. The 55-year-old Californian has now taken her classroom to space.
Morgan took off last week as part of the space shuttle Endeavour's seven-member crew.
Even before the astronaut has had the chance to teach for students via satellite, she gave a lesson in perseverance.
China’s orbiter survives lunar eclipse
By IANS,
Beijing : China's solar-powered lunar probe satellite Chang'e-2 has successfully stood the test of a lunar eclipse and hours of flying in complete darkness.
Cell phone with built in radiation sensors to thwart nuclear terrrorism
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.
Satellite collision debris no threat to ISS: Russian space agency
By RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The debris from the collision Tuesday involving two communications satellites poses no threat to the International Space Station (ISS), a spokesman for Russia's space agency Roscosmos said Thursday.
Alexander Vorobyov said that while Roscosmos could not confirm the origin of the satellites, the risk to the ISS and its crew was minimal.
"There are no registered losses in the Roscosmos satellite grouping," Vorobyov added.
After India lands probe on moon, focus back on spacecraft
By IANS,
Bangalore : A day after landing India's first probe instrument on the surface of the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was Saturday getting ready to activate eight other scientific instruments on board the country's first unmanned lunar spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, that is now orbiting the moon and will do so for the next two years.
Use biotechnology for green development: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
By IANS,
New Delhi : Biotechnology provides a viable solution to almost every form of environmental damage and the government must pay more attention to it, says Biocon head Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.
Delivering the seventh Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) here Tuesday evening, Mazumdar-Shaw made a strong pitch for development of biofuels in India without compromising food production in any way.
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.
Police to quiz Gwalior scientists over human sacrifice bid
By IANS,
Bhopal : Two senior scientists of the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) in Gwalior, who allegedly tried to kill their junior colleague in a human sacrifice bid, will be interrogated as soon they return from leave, police said Monday.
"We can't say anything right now. The picture would be clear after the scientists' statements are recorded," Gwalior Additional Superintendent of Police Manohar Verma told IANS.
Kerala-based SunTec ties up with eServGlobal
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Communication and payment service major eServGlobal has signed a partnership agreement with the city-based billing solutions provider SunTec, the latter announced here Tuesday.
SunTec said in a statement that the global WiMax market is rapidly evolving and more than 200 networks were now being deployed and over 100 other trials were in progress.
eServGlobal will use SunTec's TBMS-T product suite, which is designed to help service providers of the communications, media and entertainment industry launch new services quickly and achieve customer growth.
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.
China’s IT giants to hedge against Windows XP shutdown
By IANS,
Beijing: Tencent will join hands with other IT giants to "build a hedge" for Chinese users against potential internet attacks on them after...
Reducing household carbon footprint helps fight climate change
By IANS,
Washington : Like charity, the battle against global warming should also begin at home, according to a new study.
The study set out to establish that going green, recycling items of daily use and reducing your carbon footprint would be easier if a household's environmental impact is monitored.
The study, which enlisted 20 families to assess how well sustainable behaviour might be inculcated among householders, compared fuel, electricity, water costs and waste generation and recommended cost-effective steps to reduce consumption.
Mars: new images show once life-sustaining lake
By Xinhua
Beijing : New spacecraft images show a lake that may have filled a crater for a long time on early Mars might once have been habitable.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the images that suggest the debris-strewn Holden Crater once held a calm body of water that could have harbored life. There is so far no convincing evidence life does or ever did exist on Mars, however.
The crater debris includes a mix of broken boulders and smaller particles called megabreccia.
Russian, European agencies to develop manned spaceship
By RIA Novosti
Zhukovsky (Russia) : The Russian and European space agencies will develop a manned transport spaceship for flights to the International Space Station, the Moon and Mars, the head of the Russian agency has said.
"We agreed today with Jean-Jacques Dordain, the head of the European Space Agency, to form a working group to deal with developing a piloted transport system to fly to the International Space Station, the Moon and Mars," Anatoly Perminov said Tuesday after talks with Dordain on the sidelines of the MAKS-2007 air show in Zhukovsky, near Moscow.
Rare turtle travels 7,000 km to breed!
By IANS,
Toronto : How could a contemporary of the great dinosaurs survive to this day?
A rare leatherback turtle, which has existed since the time of the dinosaurs, has been found to be adept at making the longest ocean journey to breed in warmer places.
Fitted with a satellite transmitter by Canadian scientists to track its journey, the turtle - which is the also world's largest turtle growing up to two metres long and weighing up to 500 kilogramme - travelled over 7,000 km to be found on the coast of Colombia in South America.
India to launch ‘unique’ satellite to study distant glaxies
By NNN-PTI,
Shillong, India : India's space agency along with astronomers from across the country will launch a "unique" satellite later this year to study distant galaxies and black holes.
The Astrosat, scheduled for launch towards the end of the year, will be the country's first satellite entirely dedicated to astronomy.
Astronomers are excited about the prospects thrown up by the Astrosat which is expected to give India an edge in observing the universe.
Sad for Yahoo, gain for Microsoft
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
A sad day for Yahoo! That's the consensus -- a rare one -- across both global technology and investor communities. Yahoo stock dropped 10 percent, Microsoft rose one percent. For once, the markets may have got it right. The decision to work together on their search engines is a big mistake for Yahoo, and a small gain for Microsoft.
But it was coming, even if we didn't see exactly this 10-year deal in which Microsoft's Bing will power Yahoo Search.
Divorces contributing to global warming: study
By IANS
Sydney : Increasing number of divorces are contributing to global warming, says a new study that suggests people should save their marriages to save the environment.
After divorce a woman moves out and forms a new household. The study by researchers at the Michigan State University found that this leads to less efficient use of natural resources, more demand for land for housing, and higher expenditure on utilities, reported the online edition of News Australia.
Researchers surveyed 3,283 homes in the US between 2001 and 2005.
ISRO to launch rockets to study solar eclipse
By IANS,
Chennai : The Indian space agency will launch a series of rockets from its two centres between Thursday and Sunday to study Friday's solar eclipse and its aftereffects.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready to send up a series of sounding rockets - rockets carrying instruments to measure the physical parameters of the upper atmosphere - from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and Thumba in Kerala to study the effects of the solar eclipse.
Now, strawberries can be grown in space
By IANS,
Washington : Astronauts may now be able to satisfy their sweet tooth as researchers have found a strawberry that can grow in space with little maintenance and energy.
Cary Mitchell, professor of horticulture, and Gioia Massa, a horticulture research scientist at Purdue University in the US, tested several cultivars of strawberries and found one variety named Seascape, which seems to meet the requirements for becoming a space crop.
Partial solar eclipse in UAE
By NNN-WAM,
Abu Dhabi : The United Arab Emirates and other countries of the region, including Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, eastern parts of Saudi Arabia and northern parts of Palestine and Jordan, witnessed a partial solar eclipse today.
Emirates Astronomy Society deployed an observatory in the breakwaters area to monitor the different stages of eclipse. The eclipse lasted for about 95 minutes, reaching its peak at 3:29 p.m.
Mohammad Shawkat, Head of the Society said the eclipse occurred when the new moon moved directly between the sun and the earth.
The computer helper: Building versus buying
By DPA
Washington : Just about anyone who is handy with a screwdriver these days can build a computer. Computer parts are available everywhere, and with a little know-how, you can assemble them into just the computer you want. But does it really make sense to build your own PC? Read on for some answers.
Q: A friend of mine said I could save money by building my own computer. Is this true, and if so, how much could I save?
Space photos no proof of Ram Setu: NASA
By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : US space agency NASA says pictures taken by its astronauts do not prove the existence or otherwise of a manmade Ram Setu bridge as mentioned in the Hindu epic Ramayana.
"I am not aware of any carbon dating either," said NASA spokesman Michael Braukus, refuting claims by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that the agency had the Adam's bridge in Palk Strait - known as Ram Setu in India - carbon dated as being 1.7 million years old.
Big and thin: PC monitors better than ever
By DPA
Berlin : Chunky, heavy tube monitors appear to have reached the end of their long run as the king of the computer workspace. A hefty competition is under way among flat monitors. The goal: bigger, broader and more handsome.
"Seventeen-inch monitors are already becoming extinct, and 19 inch has become the standard," says Dirk Lorenz from the German consumer-testing organisation Stiftung Warentest in Berlin.
As monitors get bigger, more of them come in wide screen format. That means a 16:10 size ratio instead of the old fashioned 4:3 ratio.
Ruins of 800-year-old pyramid found in Mexico
By RIA Novosti
Mexico City : Archeologists have discovered the ruins of an 800-year-old pyramid in the center of Mexico City, China's Xinhua news agency said Friday.
The ruins, which are about 36 feet (11 meters) high, were found in the Mexican capital's Tlatelolco area, once a major religious and political center for the Aztec empire. The pyramid is believed to have been built in 1100 or 1200.
Archaeologists also uncovered five skulls and a number of rooms near the pyramid which could date back to 1430s.
Scientists inch closer to synthetic blood
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have created particles that mimic some key properties of red blood cells, paving the way for the development of synthetic blood.
Apple introduces new computer models
By IANS,
San Francisco (US): Apple Tuesday updated its computer products lineup with the launch of new notebook and desktop models.
Life on Mars found but destroyed by mistake
By IANS,
London: Bungling NASA scientists are believed to have found tiny live microbes on Mars - but mistakenly killed them by boiling them alive, a media report said Saturday.
Russia in talks with India for transfer of technologies in other fields
Moscow : Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom is in talks with India on transfer of other nuclear technologies in other fields while the second...
US not fixated on Iran answering queries on nuclear projects
Tehran: US Secretary of State John Kerry has acknowledged for the first time that a final nuclear deal would not require Iran to detail...
NASA scientists find smallest, lightest black hole
By Xinhua
Beijing : NASA scientists have identified the smallest, lightest black hole yet found.
The new lightweight record-holder weighs in at about 3.8 times the mass of our sun and is only 15 miles (24 kilometers) in diameter.
Beijing : NASA scientists have identified the smallest, lightest black hole yet found.
The new lightweight record-holder weighs in at about 3.8 times the mass of our sun and is only 15 miles (24 kilometers) in diameter.
NASA’s Cassini clicks Saturn’s moon in best-ever resolution
Washington : A pockmarked, icy landscape looms beneath NASA's Cassini spacecraft in new images of Saturn's moon Dione taken during the mission's last close...
Swiss solar plane makes first flight
By DPA,
Geneva : A solar-powered airplane took off on its first major test flight Wednesday morning, from an airfield in western Switzerland.
The flight of the plane, named Solar Impulse, comes ahead of plans to use a similar solar-powered plane to fly around the world in 2012.
"We want to demonstrate what can be achieved with renewable energy," Bertrand Piccard, the man behind the project, was quoted by the Swiss ATS news agency as saying.
The plane has the wing span of an Airbus A340, the weight of an average car, and is powered by some 12,000 solar cells.
Virgin’s Branson unveils model of tourist spaceship
By IANS
New York : The feisty founder of Virgin Group Richard Branson unveiled here Wednesday a model of the spacecraft that he hopes will usher in organised space tourism as early as next year.
"Two thousand and eight really will be the year of the spaceship," Branson said unveiling a scale model of the new craft at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. He added that his SpaceShipTwo would start testing later this year.
Gravitational waves emanate as ‘sounds of universe’
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists are still looking for gravitational waves -- small ripples in the fabric of space-time which are considered to be the sounds of the universe.
Membrane to cut carbon dioxide emission from coal power units
By IANS,
Sydney : High-tech cling wraps that filter out carbon dioxide (CO2) from waste gases can help save the world, says the researcher who developed the technology.
The membranes can be fitted to existing chimneys where they capture CO2 for removal and storage. They are already being tested on brown coal power stations in Victoria’s La Trobe Valley, said Colin Scholes, a Melbourne University chemical engineer.
"The membrane material is specifically designed to separate CO2 from other molecules," he said.
Round-the-world solar plane suspends flight
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...
Twin NASA probes reach lunar orbit
By IANS,
Washington : New Year's Eve and New Year's Day saw twin US spacecraft entering lunar orbit to study the moon, NASA said.
Microsoft ordered to stop selling Word software by Jan 11
By IANS,
Toronto : Upholding patent-infringement charges by a small Toronto firm agaist Microsoft Tuesday, a US appeals court ordered the software giant to stop selling Word by Jan 11 and pay $290 million in damages.
Microsoft said it will introduce the copies of Word 2007 and Office 2007 without the offending technology by the court-ordered deadline. Tuesday's ruling upholds an earlier injunction against Microsoft that banned the technology giant from selling Word.
Cultural feast, not speeches, excite space meet delegates
Hyderabad, Sep 25 (IANS) A glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of India, complete with dance and music, evoked more excitement among foreign delegates at the ongoing 58th International Astronautical Congress than the speeches on space.
The delegates were treated to a cultural feast at the inaugural ceremony of the five-day Congress at the majestic Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) near Hitec City here.
No funds for Malaysia’s space programme
By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : Six months after sending its first man into space, Malaysia says it has no funds for the second phase of its ambitious space programme.
It is "zero cash" for the moment till the entire programme is re-evaluated in terms of knowledge and cost-benefit, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Maximus Ongkili told the media Monday.
In the first phase of the programme, Sheikh Muszaphar Sheikh Shukor and two other astronauts blasted into space in a Russian-built Soyuz 11 rocket from Baikonour in Kazakhstan Oct 10, 2007.
NASA starts back to moon
By DPA,
Washington : NASA launched its dual moon mission Thursday that will pave the way for humans to return to the moon.
The Atlas V rocket launch lifted off at 05:32 p.m., just 20 minutes after planned, from NASA's Cape Canaveral in Florida.
A scheduling conflict with the Endeavour shuttle delayed the launch by a day.
Wind pattern change may intensify global warming
By IANS,
Washington : Carbon dioxide released from the Antartic Ocean due to shifting wind patterns may drastically increase global warming, say scientists.
Many scientists think that the end of the last ice age was triggered by a change in earth's orbit that caused the northern part of the planet to warm.
This partial climate shift was accompanied by rising levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, ice core records show, which could have intensified the warming around the globe.
Researchers create most comprehensive moon map
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have created the most detailed and comprehensive map of the moon's complex landscape thanks to data provided by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).
Insects ride the wind to migrate, says study
By IANS
London : The enormous numbers of migratory moths flying high above our heads throughout the night aren't at the mercy of the winds, but use them to reach their destinations, according to a study.
While it isn't yet clear exactly how they do it, researchers said the new findings offer the first hard evidence that nocturnally migrating insects have an inbuilt compass that helps guide them.
New smartphones with killer applications could replace PCs
By Andy Goldberg, DPA
Las Vegas : Think that cellphone in your pocket is pretty neat? Think again. Spurred by the phenomenal launch of the iPhone, the prospect of a Google phone and open networks, inventors and entrepreneurs around the world are feverishly developing plans to expand what mobile phones can do.
"They want to combine the computing power of the latest phones with social networks and location-tracking technologies to create a new generation of cell phones," says Simon Blitz, who runs a large cell phone wholesale company in the US.
Kolkata scientist punches holes in UFO theory
By IANS
Kolkata : Media reports of a bright spherical object, streaking across the eastern sky have left many Kolkata residents intrigued, but scientists said it could be just an "optical illusion" - a result of cloud reflecting the city's lights.
Iran to launch first domestic satellite by March
By RIA Novosti,
Tehran : Iran plans to put its first domestically made communication satellite into orbit by March 20, the head of the Iranian space agency has said.
"If we do not run into problems, the first domestic satellite will be put in orbit by the end of this (Iranian solar calendar) year," Reza Taqipour said.
Technical experts were working to complete the preparations, he said, adding that the precise launch date for the Omid, or Hope, satellite would be announced as it drew nearer.
Now, mobile application to minimise accidents
By IANS,
Tel Aviv: A GPS traffic application like Waze can help minimise road accidents with better deployment of police at the most accident prone sites, shows a study.
3.2 million rendered homeless by Nargis: study
By IANS,
Washington : Cyclone Nargis rendered as many as 3.2 million Burmese homeless, according to geographic risk models developed by researchers.
Relying on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), researchers calculated the likely distribution of the population and developed maps of the regions at greatest risk from the storm's effects.
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.
Global warming to imperil tropical species
By IANS,
Washington : Global warming is likely to imperil tropical species much more than fauna in the Arctic regions, even with a slight rise in temperature.
"Many tropical species can only tolerate a narrow range of temperatures, as the climate they experience is pretty constant throughout the year," said Curtis Deutsch of the University of California and co-author of a new study.
Internet highly vulnerable to phishing attacks
By IANS,
London : You are browsing a particular website thinking that it is perfectly secure, but it may not be the case as experts have uncovered chinks in Internet security.
For instance, a weakness in the Internet digital certificate infrastructure allows attackers to forge certificates completely trusted by all commonly used web browsers.
Consequently, it is possible to impersonate secure websites and email servers and to perform virtually undetectable phishing attacks, implying that secure websites are porous and unsafe.
Social networking in outer space
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London : Get yourself a Bebo account right away if you want to send a message to outer space.
An interstellar radio telescope normally used to detect asteroids that could hit Earth is being taken off duty Oct 9 to transmit messages from Bebo users into space.
The messages are expected to reach a recently discovered planet in 2029. They will be sent from a telescope of the Russian National Space Agency in Ukraine.
U.S. astronauts complete first spacewalk
By Xinhua,
Washington : Two U.S. astronauts of space shuttle Discovery's crew completed their first spacewalk on Tuesday, attaching Japan's Kibo science module to the International Space Station, according to NASA TV.
With the help of other astronauts inside the station, spacewalkers Michael Fossum and Ronald Garan successfully moved the huge pressurized module of Kibo (which means "hope" in Japanese) from shuttle's payload bay to the port side of the Harmony connecting node at the station.
Space exploration gains pace in China
By Andrei Kislyakov, RIA Novosti,
Moscow : China is going to play a major role in the global space exploration programme. Soon, a new centre for space research may emerge in the eastern hemisphere and push the current players aside.
China's achievements in science and technology, as well as its consolidation of space programmes in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, which have a tremendous economic potential, will contribute to its development.
India’s lunarcraft hunts for ice on moon with NASA orbiter
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first lunarcraft Chandrayaan-1 Friday conducted a joint experiment with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) of the US's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to trace presence of ice in a dark crater near the North Pole of the moon, the Indian space agency said.
"The unique bi-static experiment was carried out jointly when Chandrayaan and Orbiter came closer while orbiting over the lunar North Pole where the permanently shadowed crater is located," the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here.
Google unveils $4.4 trillion “Clean Power by 2030” plan
Washington, Oct 2 (IANS) Search engine giant Google has unveiled a $4.4 trillion plan dubbed Clean Power by 2030 that calls for all energy in the US to come from renewable sources.
The web giant in a release posted on its site said: "While this plan will cost $4.4 trillion (in undiscounted 2008 dollars), it will ultimately save $5.4 trillion, delivering a net savings of $1 trillion over the life of the plan".
World’s biggest computing grid set to process data from Large Hadron Collider
By IANS,
Washington : The world's largest computing grid is all set to tackle the biggest ever data challenge from the most powerful accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Three weeks after the first particle beams were injected into the LHC, the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid combines the power of more than 140 computer centres from 33 countries to analyse and manage more than 15 million gigabytes of LHC data every year.
A gigabyte has 1,024 megabytes of information and a single megabyte has one million bytes of information.
High-tech system to cut hospital infections by half
By IANS,
London : Hospital-based infections continue to be the number-two killer in the US after heart disease.
A new high-tech software programme developed by Tel Aviv University researchers will cut such infections by half.
Yehuda Carmeli professor at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University (TAU), has developed a system for preventing hospital epidemics.
"When a patient comes to the hospital for treatment, the natural barriers that protect them against infection are bypassed," said Carmeli, also a physician at the TAU Sourasky Medical Centre.
UFO seen at China airport
By IANS,
Beijing : Air traffic at an airport in China was restricted for about an hour after a UFO was spotted over it, media reports said Thursday.
ISBA secretariat at Technopark-TBI
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram: The Indian Science and Technology Entrepreneurs Parks (STEPs) and Business Incubators' Association (ISBA) will open its new headquarters in the Technopark-TBI here.
Indian crust sank 200 km after hitting Asian landmass
By IANS,
London : The collision of the Indian and Asian landmasses some 90 million years ago forced the Indian tectonic plate down under the Asian plate to a depth of 200 km - around double of previous estimates - in the earth's mantle, according to a new geological study.
Chandrayaan’s moon impact photos to be released soon
By Devirupa Mitra, IANS,
New Delhi : It is a set of pictures that is among the most anticipated in India - around 3,200 frames tracking the descent of the first-ever Indian-built device to the moon's surface.
But the Indian public may have to wait for some more time to take a peek at that journey.
The images were taken by the 35-kg Moon Impact Probe (MIP) as it hurtled down for nearly 25 minutes after detaching from India's maiden lunar probe Chandrayaan-I and landed on the lunar surface at 8.31 p.m. Nov 14.
NZ astronomers measure smallest planet outside solar system
By Xinhua,
Wellington : Researchers in New Zealand have made the initial measurements of the smallest planet found outside the solar system, the New Zealand Press Association reported on Saturday.
Using the new MOA-II telescope at the Mt John Observatory, near Temuka in South Canterbury, they found the planet outside the solar system which is three times bigger than Earth.
More than 300 planets have been found outside the solar system, and the latest is the smallest planet orbiting a normal star, which is as little as one 20th the mass of the Earth's sun.
Airport scanner can damage diabetes device
By IANS,,
Washington : Full-body scanners used at airports can damage the insulin pump or continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device used by diabetics, caution experts.
A mobile-based security system for BPO employees
By Prashant K. Nanda, IANS
New Delhi : Even as the rape and murder of a Pune call centre employee by her cab driver is fresh on everyone's mind, a software analyst has developed a mobile phone-based system that may provide better protection to BPO staff in transit.
"After two cases of rape and murder of female call centre employees, BPO firms have an uphill task so far as security is concerned. And here comes our system - simple and effective," said Chennai-based V.M. Sankaran Nampoothiri.
Infosys pitches for greater affirmative action
By Rajeev Ranjan Roy, IANS
New Delhi : India's software giant Infosys Technologies wants to expand its affirmative action initiative for the country's disadvantaged groups in association with the government.
Having already trained around 100 graduate and postgraduate science students free of cost as a pilot project in 2007, Infosys has written to the social justice and empowerment ministry, offering to continue the training programme for poor students, mainly from the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Scientists to discuss sex, love with robots
By DPA,
Amsterdam : Scientists plan to gather June 12 and 13 in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht to discuss the possibility of human beings increasingly engaging in personal and even romantic relationships with robots in the coming decades.
Academics from Austria, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Singapore, the US and Britain are due to deliver some 20 presentations.
Stars packed million times more densely in early universe
By IANS,
London : Stars in ultra compact dwarf (UCD) galaxies, discovered recently, may have been packed a million times more densely than in the solar neighbourhood, according to calculations made by a team of astronomers.
UCDs, discovered in 1999, are still enormous by our standards, about 60 light years across, yet they are less than 1,000th the size of our own galaxy, the Milky Way. A light year is about 10 million km.
Biggest ozone hole over Antarctica in “one or two weeks”
By IANS,
Toronto : A new Canadian study says that cosmic rays, not chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), are the main cause of the depletion of the ozone layer in the earth's atmosphere. The study also predicts that the largest ozone hole - larger than the size of the US and Canada combined - will occur over Antarctica in ``one or two weeks.''
The ozone layer in the earth's atmosphere absorbs the sun's high-frequency ultraviolet rays which are deadly for life on earth and cause diseases such as skin cancer and cataracts.
British lab growing human body parts
By IANS,
London: British experts are growing human body parts like nose and ears in laboratory, Daily Mail reported Sunday.
Satellite shows magnitude of quake damage in China
By IANS,
Sydney : Australian researchers are providing the Chinese government with detailed assessment of the area devastated by the May 12 quake that claimed more than 60,000 lives.
The high-resolution map generated from analysis of satellite images shows the ground lifting by up to five metres in areas affected by the quake.
Radar satellite survey of the devastated area by researchers at the University of New South Wales is giving China information about the level of damage from the magnitude 8.0 temblor.
China to bring 3rd generation n-reactors to service in 2013
By IANS,
Beijing: China will bring third generation nuclear reactors to service in 2013, a top Chinese nuclear company official has said.
Scientists identify structure of key bacteria component
By IANS,
London : Scientists have identified the structure of a key component of the bacteria behind such diseases as whooping cough, peptic stomach ulcers and Legionnaires' disease.
The research sheds light on how antibiotic resistance genes spread from one bacterium to another. These findings may open the way for development of more effective treatments and curtail spread of antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotic resistance spreads when genetic material is exchanged between two bacteria, one of which has mutated to be resistant to the drugs.
Carbon dioxide dictates global climate pattern
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have found the apparent role of carbon dioxide in the intensification of the Ice Ages and corresponding temperature changes in the tropical oceans.
The research, led by a team of Brown University, has established that the climate in the tropics over the last 2.7 million years changed with the cyclical spread and retreat of ice sheets thousands of miles away in the Northern Hemisphere.
Terror gene that can make you laugh too
By IANS,
London : When watching the "Exorcist" did you scream in terror at scenes of spinning heads or did you laugh it off? Depends on which version of the anxiety gene you are born with, scientists say.
A new study says there are different versions of the gene linked to feelings of anxiety which explains how different people react differently to horror films.
A particular variant of what is called the 'COMT' gene affects a chemical in the brain that is linked to anxiety, they have found.
Taiwan uses global positioning system to catch bike thieves
By DPA
Taipei, Feb 16 (DPA) The Taiwan police are using the global positioning system (GPS) to catch bike and motorbike thieves, a radio station reported Saturday.
The police in Taichung, a city in central Taiwan, hit upon the idea after receiving many complaints from people whose bikes and motorbikes parked near Taichung railway station were stolen, the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) reported.
The police installed the GPS under the saddles of several bikes and motorbikes and parked them near the railway station to trap potential thieves.
Yahoo! talking to News Corp to fend off Microsoft
By Parveen Chopra, IANS
New York : Yahoo Inc is in talks with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp for a possible merger of the media conglomerate's MySpace and other online properties with Yahoo! to fend off Microsoft's takeover bid.
The deal is not very likely but the negotiations can help Yahoo! boost its market value above Microsoft's initial offer of $44.6 billion, or $31 per share, made on Feb 1. The possible deal envisages News Corp and a private equity firm buying a significant stake - over 20 percent - in Yahoo!, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
Volcanic eruption in 1600 caused global disruption
By IANS,
Washington : The eruption of Huaynaputina in Peru in 1600 AD led to global disruption, triggering famines and cold winters in many places, according to a new study of records by geologists.
The eruption is known to have put a large quantity of sulphur into the atmosphere, and tree ring studies show that 1601 was a cold year, but no one had looked at the agricultural and social impact, said Ken Verosub of University of California, Davis.
"We knew it was a big eruption, we knew it was a cold year, and that's all we knew," Verosub said.
IITs must act as catalyst to boost technical education: Sibal
By IANS,
New Delhi: Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Saturday said the country's premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) must focus on quality research and act as a catalyst to boost technical education in India.
At IIT-Delhi's convocation ceremony, the minister said: "The great challenge before the IITs is to act as a catalyst in the growth of quality technical education in the country.
Russian Progress cargo ship docks with ISS
By RIA Novosti
Mission Control (near Moscow) : The Progress M-61 cargo spacecraft carrying food, water and fuel for the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) and equipment to repair onboard computers has automatically docked with the global orbital station, the mission control said.
Global warming could raise sea level by five metres: Scientist
By DPA,
Wellington : New evidence shows that if global warming melts the West Antarctic ice sheet, sea levels around the world could rise by up to five metres, a New Zealand scientist said Thursday.
Tim Naish, director of Victoria University's Antarctic Research Centre in Wellington, said the ice sheet was Antarctica's most vulnerable element and was expected to melt first, along with Greenland.
"Polar ice sheets have grown and collapsed at least 40 times over the past five million years, causing major sea-level fluctuations," he said in a statement issued by the university.
Indian-origin researcher uses Wi-Fi to power camera
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...
ISS orbit raised to host spacecraft
By RIA Novasti
Moscow : Russian Mission Control said on Saturday it had successfully adjusted the International Space Station's orbit in preparation for the docking of a Russian cargo spacecraft and a U.S. space shuttle.
Corrections to the space station's orbit are conducted periodically before launches of Russian cargo ships and U.S. shuttles to compensate for Earth's gravity and to ensure successful dockings.
The correction started at 3:42 a.m. Moscow time (00:42 a.m. GMT) with the help of thrusters at the Russian module Zvezda.
US space shuttle Endeavour lands in California
By Xinhua,
Los Angeles : US space shuttle Endeavour landed in California Sunday afternoon after a 16-day trip, as unfavourable weather conditions in Florida prevented the shuttle from landing in its home base in Cape Canaveral.
Residents across Southern California heard the twin booms around 1.25 p.m. (2125 GMT), when Endeavour broke the sound barrier under the sunny sky as it was gliding into local airspace en route to Edwards Air Force Base near Los Angeles.
iPhone to help find your parked car
By IANS,
Daytona Beach (Florida) : A software developed by a US company enables the recently launched Apple iPhone 3G to give turn by turn directions, that help people find their parked vehicles.
The software called G-park utilises the new iPhone's in-built global positioning system (GPS) feature.
After parking a vehicle car, the user hits the "Park me!" button on the phone screen to drop a GPS flag on the parking location.
To find the parked car, the user hits the "Where Did I Park" button and the phone guides the user to the vehicle by giving directions.t
Move over Orkut, here comes India’s BigAdda
By Azera Rahman, IANS
New Delhi : Check the scribbles in your phone scrapbook, send friend requests on the wireless, have discussions in as many as eight different languages...all on India's social networking site, BigAdda, which could give Orkut and Facebook a run for its money.
With an estimated 1.24 million users so far, this five-month old networking site is fast catching up among Indian youth, especially in tier 2 cities like Guwahati, Nashik, Surat, Tuticorin, Bhilai and Amritsar.
Galileo’s fingers, tooth to be on display
By IANS/AKI,
Rome : Two of Galileo Galilei's fingers and a tooth will be among the objects on display at the opening of a museum in Florence named after the 17th century Italian mathematician and astronomer.
Closed for two years, the Museum of the History of Science will reopen Friday as the Galileo Museum.
People will be able to see the thumb and middle finger removed from Galileo's right hand in 1737, almost a century after his death as the corpse was being transferred to the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, where it remains today.
‘Cockroach of lakes’ choking marine life
By IANS
New York : It has been described as the "cockroach of lakes", and it is spreading so fast that it is adversely affecting not only marine life, but humans as well.
According to a new study, algae - the green scum seen creeping across the surface of water bodies across the globe - has been linked with digestive, neurological, skin and liver disease in humans.
The irony is that algae, or cyanobacteria, are the reason we are all here - the oxygen required for life to flourish on earth was first produced by it.
Moon dust particles gave Apollo mission astronauts tough time
By IANS,
Washington : Fine as flour and rough as sandpaper, moon dust gave Apollo astronauts a tough time by causing 'lunar hay fever', problems with space suits, and dust storms in the crew cabin.
Larry Taylor, director, Planetary Geosciences Institute, University of Tennessee and other scientists will present their research on lunar dust at the joint Oct 9 meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) and American Society of Agronomy (ASA), among others.
Ants offer clues to improve traffic flow, say experts
By DPA,
Hamburg : Ever wonder how hundreds of ants are able to go up and down a narrow twig without bumping into each other? A team of German scientists wants to find out how ants avoid collisions so that they can use the same principle for traffic control.
The scientists built an ingenious super "ant farm" complete with roads, and bridges and a veritable city of ants. Then they observed the traffic patterns of the ants and fed their findings in to a computer.
NASA schedules final shuttle launches through 2010
By SPA,
Washington : The US space agency NASA issued a schedule Monday for the final 10 shuttle programme missions in 2009-10, DPA reported.
The list includes one launch to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven missions to continue construction on the orbiting International Space Station and two unspecified flights available for unspecified purposes.
Photonic crystals will make web surfing super smooth
By IANS
New York : Glitches in web surfing and connectivity may soon be a thing of the past, with researchers working on a potentially perfect way of sorting and distributing voluminous data over fibre-optics worldwide, according to Rana Biswas of the Iowa State University.
The new technology is based on a 3D photonic crystal 'add-drop' filter, which promises vastly enhanced transmission of multiple wavelengths along the same cable.
Dolphins surface, rationalists feast during eclipse
By IANS,
Chennai : Joggers on the Chennai beach were surprised to see dolphins swimming and jumping very near the shore early Wednesday, the day of the century's longest eclipse, even as Dravida Kazhagam cadres ate food in public to debunk superstition linked to the celestial event.
As news about the dolphins being close to shore spread, a large number of people gathered on the beach to enjoy seeing them swim.
The sighting of dolphins is being attributed to the solar eclipse and the resultant changes in the sea.
Computer virus attacks German defence computers
BY DPA,
Berlin : A computer virus that has already hit defence computers in Britain and France has spread to German military systems, the defence ministry in Berlin said Saturday.
The Conficker computer worm has exasperated computer users right around the globe in recent weeks, but security-conscious military users had been thought to be better prepared to repel it.
The spokesman said several German armed forces sites had to be disconnected from the military network after hundreds of computers were taken over by Conficker. However, no other disruptions were reported.
India successfully puts spacecraft into lunar orbit
By IANS,
Bangalore : India Saturday successfully put its first unmanned spacecraft Chandrayaan-I into lunar orbit - a major step towards placing it in its designated slot 100 km from the moon, a top Indian space agency official said.
The spacecraft was placed in an elliptical orbit - at 7,500 km aposelene (farthest from moon) and 500 km periselene (nearest to moon) through complex manoeuvres, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS here.
Railways U-turn on offering exclusive women train coaches to men
Kolkata : In a victory of sorts for female commuters who did not shy to clash with their male counterparts, the Eastern Railway...
Scientific breakthrough in creating synthetic blood
By IANS,
London : Scientists have created red blood cells for the first time from spare IVF embryos cells in Britain as part of a multi-million pound project to manufacture synthetic blood on mass-scale.
IVF or In-vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the womb.
Researchers relied on more than 100 spare embryos left over from treatment at fertility clinics to establish several embryonic stem cell "lines", reports the Telegraph.
New sonar detects concealed underwater objects
By IANS,
London : Scientists have developed a new kind of underwater sonar that can detect objects like reefs and wrecks through bubble clouds that blind conventional sonar.
Advanced Micro Devices sells off manufacturing units to UAE firm
By IANS,
Dubai : Leading American chip maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has spun off its manufacturing facilities to a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based company to create a new semiconductor manufacturing firm.
Advanced Technology Investment Co (ATIC) of Abu Dhabi and AMD Tuesday announced the creation of a new US-headquartered company, temporarily named The Foundry Co (TFC), to meet demand for independent and leading-edge foundry production capabilities.
Sun just another ‘ordinary’ star, finds study
By IANS,
Sydney : The most comprehensive comparison of the sun with other stars has established its ordinariness - and the possibility that life could be common in the universe.
Rather than guess what properties a star should have to enable life, the researchers decided to compare the sun - which already hosts a life-bearing planet - to other stars.
“The question 'how special is the sun' is easier to address because we do have observations of thousands of other sun-like stars,” noted Charley Lineweaver of Australian National University, co-author of the study.
Asteroid 2012 DA14 passes by Earth
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : The massive 2012 DA14 asteroid came closest to the Earth late Friday and is now heading away from the planet, Russian astronomers said.
Signal received from missing Indonesian satellite
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Contact has been made with an Indonesian telecommunications satellite which went missing following a failed launch last week, a Russian rocket firm said Monday.
India can send crew to space in seven years: ISRO chief
By IANS
Washington : The Indian government has been "sensitised" on the issue of manned space flights and India's space agency will be able to send crew to space in seven to eight years, G. Madhavan Nair, head of India's space programme, said here.
"We have sensitised the government on manned space flights. In seven to eight years, we will be able to carry crew to orbit and back," Nair, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and of the Space Commission, said here.
Barriers remain on path to web access for disabled
By Sebastian Bronst, DPA,
Stuttgart : The Internet has no boundaries. At least that's the conventional wisdom. Nonetheless, hurdles remain for many who would like access to the worldwide web, especially those with disabilities. At issue are details seldom considered by web designers, programmers and non-disabled users.
But there are solutions, for example for blind people who want to surf the web. Screenreaders dictate website contents or print pages in Braille format.
S Korea to change astronaut candidate under request by Russia
By Xinhua
Seoul : South Korean Science Ministry may change the candidate for South Korea's first astronaut under request by Russian evaluators, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday.
The Russian evaluators wanted to change Ko San, who was selected by South Korean Science Ministry last September as the country's first astronaut candidate, to Yi So-yeon, Yonhap quoted an unnamed official of the ministry as saying.
The official hinted that the Russian side made the request as Ko may have violated training protocol, Yonhap said.
Group of ministers on 3G meets later Friday
By IANS,
New Delhi : The high-powered ministerial group, set up to decide on issues related with the auction of frequency spectrum for third generation telecom services, is scheduled to meet here for the first time later Friday.
The mandate of the empowered group, which has been set up under Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is to decide the base price for the spectrum auction and the number of operators to be allowed in each telecom circle for offering third generation, or 3G, services.
21,000 respond to teen’s party invite on Facebook
By IANS,
London : A teenager in Britain set up a Facebook group for his birthday party, but was left stunned when 21,000 people confirmed themselves as guests.
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...
NASA names planet after Kerala professor
By IANS,
New York/Kollam (Kerala) : In a rare honour, the US space agency NASA has named a 'minor' planet after a Kerala zoology professor in appreciation of his environmental research.
Sainudeen Pattazhy, who teaches in a college in Kollam, received a phone call from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory run by the space agency Wednesday that the minor planet '5178 CD4' has been named after him.
‘Molecular motor’ twice as powerful as auto engine
By IANS,
Washington : A powerful "molecular motor" that packages DNA into the head segment of some viruses during their assembly delivers twice as much punch as an auto engine, according to a new study.
Packaging DNA is an essential step in the ability of virus to multiply and infect new host organisms.
Parts of the motor move in sequence like the pistons in a car's engine, progressively drawing the genetic material into the virus's head, or capsid, said Michael Rossmann, Purdue University professor of biological sciences.
Google Earth enables views into the universe
By DPA
Hamburg : A new function in Google Earth has opened up the cosmos to Internet viewers.
The new "sky" portion of the software allows users to view the starry skies, navigating through the galaxies with the click of a mouse, says Google spokesman Stefan Keuchel from the company's Hamburg offices.
Constellations, planets, and nebulae are all offered alongside information about their position, size and orbits.
Indian blogs live from Antarctica for the first time
By Devirupa Mitra, IANS
New Delhi : On the icy barrenness of Antarctica, the Indian research station of Maitri has a new voice - the first ever blog by an Indian from the seventh continent.
A member of the 27th Indian Scientific Antarctica Expedition, 56-year-old Sudhir Khandelwal, has typed, so far, 39 posts and nearly 15,000 words, with another one and a half months of his stay to go.
Texas University unveils world’s most powerful laser
By IANS
New York : The world's most powerful laser, more dazzling than sunlight on the sun's surface, has been unveiled. Its output is 2,000 times the combined energy generated by all US power plants.
Known as Texas Petawatt laser, it will enable University of Texas researchers to create and study matter at some of the most extreme conditions, including gases at temperatures greater than those in the sun and solids at pressures of many billions of atmospheres.
What’s new in Internet Explorer 8?
By Jay Dougherty, DPA,
Washington : The challengers keep coming, but Microsoft's Internet Explorer still holds the lion's share of the Web browser market. Most estimates put Internet Explorer's market share at around 72 percent, which means that when a new version of the browser is released, a lot of people will likely be upgrading.
Internet Explorer 8 (IE 8), the long-awaited successor to IE 7, is about to turn a lot of heads, as Microsoft nears completion of a browser upgrade that does significantly more than tack on enhancements to existing features. Here's what's in store.
How Wikileaks became an effective whistle-blowing site
By IANS,
London : It has just released thousands of confidential documents that shed light on the war in Afghanistan, including on alleged involvement of Pakistan's spy agency in terror activities in that country and India. But how has Wikileaks become one of the most important whistle-blowing sites on the web?
The news that the largest leak in American military history came via the website Wikileaks will not surprise long-term watchers of the controversial, multi-award-winning site, The Telegraph newspaper reported here.
4,000 year-old temples found in Peru
By IANS/EFE,
Lima : Peruvian archaeologists have discovered two ceremonial temples believed to be buried since more than 4,000 years.
NASA spacecraft becomes first to enter Mercury orbit
By IANS,
Washington : A NASA spacecraft, after over six years of space travel, has become the first to enter the orbit of Mercury, the agency said Friday.
India calls for transparency in internet surveillance
By Arul Louis
United Nations : India has called for transparency and accountability in internet security surveillance and for striking balance between human rights and...
India to launch maiden mission to moon on April 9 next year
By NNN-APP
New Delhi : India has planned to launch its maiden mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-I on April nine next year.
Media reports said the mission planned by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Hyderabad.
Quoting Mylswamy Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-I, the reports said “a launch windows are available for the next two days in case the launch does not happen on that day.”
Oriya portal offers free breaking news on mobile phone
By IANS
Bhubaneswar : An Oriya news portal is offering free news briefs to all its readers through SMS.
The portal, www.odisha.com, has introduced the service after a tie-up with SMSGupShup, a free group messaging service provided by Mumbai-based Webaroo Technology India Pvt Ltd.
The portal already introduced last month a premium local breaking news service for mobile subscribers. It has now said it would also provide the news for free. The free news would contain advertisements.
India is top spam sender in Asia: study
By IANS,
New Delhi : India is the top spam sender in Asia and the seventh largest in the world, accounting for over four percent of the total global spam, says a study.
"India is the leader among Asian countries in spam, accounting for more than four percent of the total global spam and is ahead of other Asian countries such as China (3.39 percent), Republic of Korea (2.57 percent) and Thailand (2.04 percent)," says Trend Micro, a firm that provides Internet content security, focusing on securing the exchange of digital information for businesses and consumers.
Researchers identify gene that may help improve rice yield
By IANS,
Washington : A gene in rice identified by scientists, that controls the size and weight of the grains, might open the way to high-yield variant and benefit vast numbers for whom it is staple.
"Our work shows that it is possible to increase rice yield by enhancing the expression of a particular gene," said Hont Ma, professor at the Pennsylvania State University.
Chinese taikonauts prepare for spacewalk
By XInhua,
Beijing : Two Chinese taikonauts have moved from re-entry module of Shenzhou-VII spacecraft to its orbital module, starting preparations for the country's first spacewalk mission.
According to the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre (BACC), two taikonauts were testing the functions of the control panels and charging the EVA (extra-vehicular activities) space suit Saturday morning.
Google announces cloud-computing service
By IANS,
San Francisco: Google has announced Compute Engine, a cloud-computing service that allows businesses to run their applications on servers in the tech giant's data center.
Goojje not to change logo despite Google objection
By IANS,
Beijing : Chinese web portal Goojje has said it "will not change" its logo despite US search giant Google's threat to sue it over copyright infringement, according to a media report Wednesday.
Goojje's logo resembles the logo of Google Inc and also bears a paw print sign like that of Baidu Inc, the biggest Internet search engine in China and Google Inc's arch rival in the country.
ETI Dynamics, Greenhouse Capital to export clean technology
New Delhi: New Delhi-based ETI Dynamics and Auckland-based Greenhouse Capital on Tuesday announced a partnership to invest $100 million in exporting clean technologies from...
China to introduce nuclear power technologies from Westinghouse
By Xinhua
Beijing : China's State Nuclear Power Technology Co. (SNPTC), officially inaugurated Tuesday, is set to introduce third-generation nuclear power technologies from the Westinghouse Electric Co.
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.
Data from Chinese lunar orbiter available to all
By Xinhua
Shanghai : Scientists and astronomy enthusiasts all over the country all have access to data sent back from China's first lunar orbiter Chang'e-I, a leading scientist in the program said here Sunday.
Eclipse chasers see perfect ‘Ring of Fire’ onboard special cruise
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
Male : It was a breathtaking experience for the 950 eclipse chasers onboard Aquamarine, India's first eclipse cruise, as the moon covered the sun's disc making a 'Ring of Fire' in the sky - the millennium's longest annular solar eclipse Friday.
The island nation of Maldives provided the best view of the celestial event.
People from the age group 4 to 70 held solar goggles to their eyes or had their cameras pointed skyward on the Sun deck of the cruise ship since 9.30 a.m. to get a clear view of the event.
Ancient mass migration of men from Africa populated world
By IANS,
Washington : Modern humans quit Africa over 60,000 years ago in a migration that many believe populated the earth.
Now, researchers have revealed that men and women weren't equal partners in that exodus. By tracing variations in the X chromosome and in the non-sex chromosomes, they found evidence that men probably outnumbered women in that migration.
Yahoo to spend $100 mn to promote its brand
By Xinhua,
San Francisco : Yahoo Inc. said Tuesday it will spend $100 million to promote its brand globally.
"Our vision is to be at the centre of people's online lives - to be at the place where their world meets the larger world," Yahoo said in a statement quoting the company's chief marketing officer Elisa Steele.
"This is much more than an advertising campaign," Steele added. "It's about how Yahoo delivers its promise to the market in everything we do. Our brand strategy shows our commitment to delivering personally relevant online experiences."
Indian students ensure robot’s walk to global contest
By Azera Rahman, IANS
New Delhi : Two students from the premier engineering institute BITS at Pilani have developed for the first time in India a humanoid robot that will be shown at the world's biggest robot contest in San Francisco.
Samay Kohli, 21, and Arpit Mohan, 19, are all set to leave for the US despite funding problems.
"Although non-resident Indians (NRI) have developed humanoids before, we are the first Indians here to have developed one," Kohli beamed.
Facebook named world’s top social networking site
By DPA,
San Francisco : Facebook has overtaken MySpace to become the world's most popular social networking site with 132 million unique visitors in June, according to new figures from web tracking firm ComScore.
The study also found that Facebook's visitor growth far outpaced that of MySpace, with Facebook visits up 153 percent on an annual basis, compared to just three percent growth for MySpace. Other social networks showing strong global growth include Hi5 (100 percent) Friendster (50 percent), Orkut (41 percent) and Bebo (32 percent).