Strange molecule in sky cleans acid rain
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have stumbled upon an unusual molecule that helps break down pollutants, especially the compounds that cause acid rain.
Marsha Lester and Joseph Francisco, of Pennsylvania and Purdue Universities, found the molecule that had exercised scientists for more than 40 years.
Somewhat like a human body metabolising food, the earth's atmosphere has the ability to "burn," or oxidise pollutants, especially nitric oxides emitted by factories and automobiles. What doesn't get oxidised in the air falls back to earth in the form of acid rain.
India set for Putin boost, to sign nuclear, Gorshkov pacts
By IANS,
New Delhi: India and Russia will Friday intensify their strategic and economic ties by signing over a dozen agreements, including an umbrella civil nuclear pact and another accord fixing the cost of the refurbished aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov at $2.35 billion.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will Friday evening holds talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who touches down in India close to midnight Thursday for a brief visit lasting less than 24 hours.
Arianespace to soon decide on launching Indian GSAT-15
Chennai: European space agency Arianespace will have its Launch Readiness Review (LRR) this Friday for the November 10 flight of Ariane 5 rocket with...
Indian American’s Bloom Box churns out power from sand
By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : An India-born rocket scientist has lifted the veil off Bloom Box fuel-cell, a revolutionary new technology that holds the promise to supply the world with abundant clean, cheap energy.
"The core of our technology is simply sand," said K.R. Sridhar, 49, founder of the Silicon Valley clean tech start-up Bloom Energy at Wednesday's unveiling of his invention in San Jose, California on the campus of eBay, one of Bloom's first customers.
The computer helper: Signs of spyware
By DPA
There's a lot of talk about spyware and malware these days. But how do you know if you're infected with it?
Will your PC stop working as expected? Will your financial data be lifted without your knowledge? And if you discover that your computer is infected, what can you do about it? Read on for some answers.
Organic foods fight diseases better, says study
By IANS
London : Food produced organically have up to 40 percent more disease-fighting properties than non-organically grown produce, researchers have found.
Scientists at Newcastle University in Britain raised cattle and grew fruits and vegetables on 725 acres of organic and non-organic farms situated next to each other over a period of four years.
When monkeys flew: 50 years since forgotten space pioneers
By Charlotte Horn, DPA,
Washington : Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong are names printed in bold in the history books. But two smaller, unknown space pioneers who helped make their advances possible had their first flight 50 years ago.
Two monkeys were shot into space by the US space agency NASA on May 28, 1959 - paving the way for humans, like the Russian who became the first man to orbit the Earth and the US astronaut who was the first to set foot on the moon.
India announces largest ever auction of hydrocarbon assets
By IANS,
New Delhi : India Thursday announced the auctions for 80 more hydrocarbon assets in the country, including 10 for coal-bed methane, in the largest such exercise under its new policy on oil and gas exploration.
The 70 oil and gas blocks under round number eight of the new policy include 24 in deep waters, 28 in shallow waters and 18 on-land blocks, Petroleum Secretary R.S. Pandey told reporters here. For coal-bed methane, this is the fourth round of auctions.
The bids from both domestic companies and multinational corporations will be accepted till Aug 10.
I’m an ethical hacker: says whizkid Sahil
By IANS
New Delhi : He looks like your average school going kid, but 14-year-old Sahil Khan, at the release of the second edition of his book "Hackers and Crackers" Wednesday, said he is an ethical hacker and uses his skills to fight cyber crime.
"While chatting, I used to face problems because of the viruses. So, I used to experiment and fiddle. Thus, the results of my experimentation have made me what I am today," said Sahil, who released his book at the sidelines of the launch of monthly magazine "Gadget Guru".
Don’t allow MP3 headphones to get too close to pacemakers
By IANS,
Washington : Don't allow MP3 headphones to get too close to pacemakers and implantable defibrillators; they could be potentially dangerous.
Researchers investigated the effects of MP3 headphones, most of which contain the magnetic substance neodymium, on the operation of implanted cardiac devices.
An MP3 player is a popular digital music player. Earlier this year a US government report concluded that interactions between MP3 players, such as the popular iPod, and implanted cardiac devices are unlikely to occur.
After 3.5 millon years, Pacific creatures set to invade Atlantic
By IANS,
Toronto : With global warming hastening the shrinkage of the Arctic Ocean ice cover, scientists have warned that the North Pole may face ice-free summers as early as 2013.
Further, a US study by two researchers of Indian origin - Geerat Vermeij of University of California at Davis and Peter Roopnarine of the California Academy of Sciences - has predicted that once the Arctic Ocean becomes navigable after 3.5 million years of ice cover, sea creatures from the Pacific Ocean could invade it and subsequently the Atlantic Ocean.
Argentina aims at free wireless internet access
By IANS/EFE,
Buenos Aires : The Argentine government has said it is working to create areas of free public access to the internet across the country through wireless networks.
"We're going to have extensive areas with free internet," Planning Minister Julio de Vido said.
President Cristina Fernandez has given instructions to "work hard" in order to "install within the next 120 days a strong application of the WiFi system in public places", the minister said.
Installation of the service is quick and easy, De Vido told Radio Continental Monday.
‘Dot-asia domain name leads to business image makeover’
By IANS
Brussels : The selling of domain names has been receiving a bit of an image makeover with the launch of dot-asia.
"As a not-for-profit organisation from Asia and for Asia, we want to create partnerships that will drive awareness and promote community benefits. One of the core mandates of the DotAsia Organisation is to contribute surpluses (of funds) back into community projects for Asia," Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia, told EuAsiaNews Tuesday night.
Since its launch Feb 20, DotAsia has received 350,000 applications.
Corn stover being evaluated as sustainable biofuel source
By IANS,
Washington : With galloping oil prices, the quest for efficient and sustainable biofuels has narrowed on corn stover, the leaves and stalks of corn plants that are discarded after harvesting the edible grain. The plant could meet a fourth of the biofuel crop requirement by 2030.
Scientists at the University of Nebraska examined the long-term sustainability of using corn stover as a biofuel crop.
When corn stover is not harvested as a biofuel crop, it can be left on the fields to restore vital nutrients to the soil. Full-scale harvesting of corn stover may deplete the soil.
AITA clears the air over project Apollo Mission 2018
By IANS,
New Delhi : The All India Tennis Association (AITA) secretary Anil Khanna Monday was at pains to explain that the apex organisation of the game was only trying to bring about transparency in the sponsorship world and it had nothing to do with Mahesh Bhupathi as a media report suggested.
Khanna said that AITA was not interested in kicking up an unnecessary controversy, it only sought to check the veracity of ads in the media about a corporate - Apollo Tyres - in quest of producing Grand Slam champions.
Chandigarh to digitise documents of Le Corbusier
By IANS,
Chandigarh : Some invaluable documents related to legendary French architect Le Corbusier who planned Chandigarh in the 1950s can be seen online very soon, thanks to a move to digitise them.
The administration of the union territory of Chandigarh has decided to digitise all the old documents of Corbusier about the designing of the city and all the correspondence between the Indian government and other architects of that time.
Chandigarh is one of India's most well-planned cities.
Indian-American helps design energy-saving PCs
By IANS,
Washington : Personal computers may soon save large amounts of energy by "sleep talking".
Doctoral researcher Yuvraj Agarwal of the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in collaboration with computer scientists has created a plug-and-play hardware prototype for personal computers (PCs) that induces a new energy saving state known as "sleep talking".
Global chipmaker opens second facility in Hyderabad
By IANS
Hyderabad : Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), an US-based global supplier of integrated circuits and processing solutions for computing, strengthened its India operations by opening its second research and design (R&D) facility here.
AMD President and Chief Operating Officer Dirk Meyer launched the facility, which is the firm's fourth in India.
The new 30,000-sq ft centre will accommodate 450 R&D employees focusing on AMD's graphics and computing solutions.
Scientists develop tiny sensor to sniff out toxins
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have developed a stamp-sized sensor that can sniff out some poisonous gases and toxins and can show results simply by changing colour.
The sensor could be useful in detecting high exposures to toxic industrial chemicals that pose serious health risks at the workplace.
While physicists have radiation badges to protect them in the workplace, chemists and workers who handle chemicals do not have equivalent devices to monitor their exposure to potentially toxic chemicals.
Prince Andrew launches ARM’s social programme
By IANS
Bangalore : Duke of York Prince Andrew Thursday launched chip designer ARM's corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme here that will benefit hundreds of underprivileged children in India's silicon hub.
Andrew, second son and the third child of British Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, dedicated 6,000 hours of ARM employees' work to three social organizations - Ashwini Charitable Trust, Sahasra Deepika Institute for Education and the Marathalli government school, located in and around Bangalore.
Scientists track movement of atoms in real time
By IANS,
Washington : A new technique tracks movement of freely moving single neutral atoms in real time, that is more than 99.7 percent accurate and sensitive enough to discern the arrival of a single atom in less than a millionth of a second.
The system, developed by researchers at the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI) in College Park and the Universidad de Concepcion in Chile, employs a novel means of altering the polarisation of laser light trapped between two highly-reflective mirrors, according to a JQI release.
CISF to protect techies, not intrude on their private space
By IANS,
Bangalore : The ceremony to welcome the latest "entrants" to IT bellwether Infosys Technologies at its Electronic City campus here Friday was a grand one, with the company's co-founder, chairman and chief mentor N.R. Narayan Murthy himself doing the honours.
The 101 "new entrants" were, however, no IT geeks joining the country's second largest software exporter as its recruits.
Millions throng to Kurukshetra for holy dip during solar eclipse
By IANS,
Kurukshetra (Haryana) : It was a sea of humanity that arrived in this Haryana town to take a dip in the 'Brahmsarovar' on the occasion of the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century Wednesday.
The administration here said that nearly 1.5 million (15 lakh) were expected to arrive for a holy dip at the 'Brahmsarovar' (Pond of Lord Brahma - the Hindu god considered the creator of the universe) on the occasion.
People started thronging the holy pond since 3 a.m. Wednesday even though the eclipse was expected to take place three hours later.
Experts to study animal behaviour during solar eclipse
By Richa Sharma, IANS,
Bhopal : How would animals and birds behave during a total solar eclipse? Experts at the Van Vihar National Park in this Madhya Pradesh capital will study animal behaviour during the phenomena July 22.
The eclipse Wednesday will be the longest solar eclipse of the century. Lasting six minutes and 39 seconds, it would be visible across Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific.
Safe method to clean up toxic nano-materials developed
By IANS,
Washington : A natural, nontoxic method for biodegrading carbon nanotubes could help diminish environmental and health concerns about using such materials.
A Pittsburgh University research team has found that carbon nanotubes deteriorate when exposed to the natural enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP), according to a report co-authored by Alexander Star, assistant professor of chemistry in Pitt's School of Arts and Sciences.
Don’t have a laptop? Try the virtual computer!
By Jeevan Mathew Kurian, IANS,
Kozhikode : You have heard of desktops and laptops, but now two engineering students in Kerala have come up with a virtual computer that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. All it needs is an internet connection.
K. Ansar and P.P. Ismail, final year computer science students at an engineering college in Vatakara, about 45 km from here, have set up www.bloxtr.com, the prototype of a virtual computer in which you can store all your important documents, favourite music, colourful pictures and even videos.
APJ Abdul Kalam to inaugurate ‘Aero Tech 2008’
By IANS,
Chandigarh : Enthused by the success of Chandrayaan-I mission, the aero scientists of India are all geared up to discuss advances in aerospace technologies at the two-day national level seminar, 'Aero Tech 2008' that will start here Friday. APJ Abdul Kalam, former president of India, will inaugurate the Aero Tech 2008 Nov 14.
Ten technology trends to look out for in 2009
By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,
The year that went by set the foundation for those technologies that are expected to take off in 2009, with focus on energy efficiency and mobility - a bit greener and a lot more faster. Here are 10 of them to watch out for this year:
Mobile Applications: With the India's mobile telecom network expected to grow from over 300 million subscribers now to over 400 million by the end of 2009, mobile applications (m-apps) will become central to entertainment, information, banking and other services - and, of course, revenues for telecom companies.
Yahoo settles lawsuit with Chinese dissidents
By DPA
San Francisco : Yahoo has settled a lawsuit brought on behalf of two Chinese dissidents who were arrested and allegedly tortured after the company gave their details to Chinese authorities.
The settlement came just a week after Yahoo was lambasted in a congressional hearing for supplying information that enabled the Chinese government to identify Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning, who had written anti-government comments on a Yahoo website.
French volcano’s mud may kill superbugs
By IANS
London : Volcanic clay may have the capability to kill deadly bacteria or super bugs, which are resistant to antibiotics, researchers have found.
Lynda Williams of Arizona State University and her colleague Shelley Haydel found that agricur - the volcano clay found in the Massif Central mountain range in France - also kills other deadly bacteria, including salmonella and a flesh-eating disease called buruli, similar to leprosy.
Chinese scientists uncloak invisible object
By IANS,
Washington : Chinese scientists have shown how certain materials beneath an invisibility cloak could allow them to be seen again.
"Cloaking is an important problem since invisibility can help survival in hostile environment," said Huanyang Chen of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.
He and his colleagues have proposed a theoretical "anti-cloak" that would partially cancel the effect of the invisibility cloak, which is another important problem as it turns out.
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.
‘Lane 1 advantage’ for sprinters closest to starter’s pistol
By IANS,
Toronto : Sprinters in lane eight may well be at a disadvantage, says a new study that suggests the reaction time of those close to the source of a loud sound - such as a starter's pistol - is faster.
Researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, who analysed the reaction time of the 100 and 110 metres athletics events at the 2004 Olympics, found that runners closest to the starter reacted much faster than those farther away.
Scientists writing foolproof computer security code
By IANS,
Washington : We often see websites asking us to key in wavy letters into a box to prevent computer robots from hacking into servers and databases. But these codes, which are becoming increasingly complex for an average person, are not immune to security breaches.
A project led by Danny Cohen-Or, computer science professor at the Tel Aviv University (TAU), shows how a new kind of video captcha code may be harder to outsmart. Captcha technology is intended to block spam e-mail and automated systems.
Orbiting ISS crew begins space walk mission
By DPA,
Washington : Two crew members aboard the International Space Station (ISS) began a space walk late Monday to collect science experiments attached to the outside of their orbiting home.
US Commander Mike Fincke and Russian flight engineer Yury Lonchakov used the Pirs airlock to leave the space station and begin a six-hour retrieval mission.
Sky gazers gather in Shimla to see solar eclipse
By IANS,
Shimla : A large number of skygazers gathered in this Himachal Pradesh capital Friday for a glimpse of the rare celestial spectacle - the annular solar eclipse, officials said.
Kamraj Kaisth, principal scientific officer of Himachal State Council for Science Technology and Environment, said a large number of people, especially school children, gathered on the historic Ridge to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon.
China likely to launch its first moon orbiter Wednesday
By Xinhua
Beijing : China is likely to launch its first moon orbiter Wednesday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province.
"The satellite will be launched between Oct 24 and 26," China National Space Administration (CNSA) said, adding that the launch time has been tentatively scheduled at 6 p.m. local time.
The circumlunar satellite, named Chang'e I after the Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, and the carrier Long March 3A have passed all pre-launch tests and have been transported to the launch site, CNSA said.
Russian submersibles plumb record depths to explore Lake Baikal
By DPA,
Moscow : Two Russian submersibles plumbed the depths of Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia Tuesday, diving a record 1,680 metres in one of the world's largest lakes.
"It is a world record for deep-water submersion in fresh water," an organizer told Itar-Tass news agency on the barge fielding expedition that was to last another five hours.
The exploration mission is headed by pro-Kremlin lawmaker Artur Chilingarov, who led a mission with the same two mini-submarines to plant a Russian flag on the sea bed below the North Pole last August.
Technology vital to counter terror: PM
By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said the role of technology in supporting India's counter terrorism and internal security efforts was not being given adequate emphasis and there was need for greater investment in security technologies.
Google India unveils new desktop maps
Bangalore : Google, the world's largest search engine provider, Thursday unveiled a new tool to search, navigate and explore Indian cities, streets, landmarks, restaurants...
NASA satellite pins down timer in ‘stellar bomb’
By IANS,
Washington : A NASA satellite helped astronomers pin down the timing mechanism in a ticking “stellar bomb” some 20,000 light years away.
The twin-neutron star, designated as 4U 1636-53, produces between seven and 10 bursts daily, releasing more energy in 10 to 100 seconds than the sun radiates in an entire week.
The astronomers said they were equivalent to 100 hydrogen bombs detonating simultaneously on a city-sized surface.
NASA’s Messenger sends pictures from Mercury flyby
By DPA,
Washington : NASA Tuesday published photographs sent by its Messenger spacecraft of a flyby of Mercury earlier this week, providing researchers a new view of the planet closest the Sun.
Messenger came within just 200 km of Mercury early Monday in the second of three planned flybys for the craft. It is due to settle into orbit around Mercury in 2011, providing what scientists hope will be the most complete picture yet of the solar system's smallest planet.
Micro gyroscopes to improve navigation in future
By IANS,
Washington : A new array of cheap, high-performance tiny gyroscopes would help airplanes, submarines and automobiles navigate better in the near future.
They are being developed by a team of Panos Datskos, Slo Rajic and Nickolay Lavrik of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. They are radically different from existing ones, which are both big and costly.
These consists of multiple, highly sensitive and accurate silicon chip-scale gyroscopes.
PM lays foundation stone of ISRO campus in Delhi
By IANS,
New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) first campus in the national capital and urged space scientists to continue their focus on need-based science for nation building.
"I am very happy to lay the foundation stone of ISRO's Space Complex in New Delhi. The complex will go a long way in fulfilling the needs for utilisation of space based services in this part of our country," Manmohan Singh said in his speech here.
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.
Space tourism comes of age as France hosts symposium
By Xinhua,
Paris : The southwestern French city of Bordeaux is hosting an international symposium on space tourism, what marks yet another sign that this form of travel is no longer confined to the realm of science fiction, the French media reported on Thursday.
With the first space tickets on sale since 2005, the "symposium which is bringing together international experts from Wednesday to Friday" in Arcachon, near Bordeaux, is expected to create more awareness regarding this form of tourism, according to organizers of the event.
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.
Malaysia Airlines chooses Kerala IT firm’s software
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : MASholidays, the travel and leisure arm of Malaysia Airlines, has opted for the city-based IBS Software Services' tour management solution 'iFly Tour', the IT firm said here Thursday.
iFly Tour, a product under the iFly solution suite, offers an online booking system that is fully integrated with real time inventory of flights, hotel rooms and other products.
"With this new online booking system, MASholidays will introduce new packages and provide more flexibility in our offerings," said Dato Rashid Khan, commercial director of Malaysia Airlines.
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).
E-mail alerts to warn pilots about volcanic eruptions
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists from New Zealand are developing a new system to alert pilots on flights via e-mails about volcanic eruptions by detecting the lightning their ash clouds trigger.
Glaciers melting 100 times faster
By IANS,
London : The world's glaciers are melting up to 100 times faster than any time during the last 350 years.
New European ‘space truck’ launched into orbit
By DPA
Bremen (Germany) : Europe's first-ever space transporter settled into orbit Sunday after a successful launch from the jungle of South America.
The orbital cargo ship blasted aloft from the Kourou space centre in French Guiana at 0403 GMT atop an Ariane-5 carrier rocket on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Jules Verne, which is hauling six tonnes of food, fuel and other supplies to the ISS, is the first automated transfer vehicle (ATV) in a series of five.
E-recycling major Infotrek acquires European technology
By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian electronic equipment recycling major Infotrek Syscom Ltd Friday announced that it has acquired European e-waste management technology for its subsidiary Eco Recycling ltd (Ecoreco).
The Mumbai-based firm said that the facility for managing both electrical and electronic waste is based on the "dry process technology" and the unit has been geared to recycle e-waste generated across the country.
Google India launches text messaging service
By IANS
Bangalore : Google India, the Indian subsidiary of the world's largest search engine, Tuesday launched the beta version of its short messaging service (SMS) for mobile users in India for accessing information on the move without an Internet-enabled phone or a computer.
The company said in a statement that through the service (GoogleT search), users could get business listings, movie show timings and more by sending a text message to 54664 from their mobile phones.
‘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.
Unitech allotted spectrum for three service areas
By IANS,
New Delhi : Real estate major Unitech has been allotted 4.4 MHz of spectrum in three service areas, the company said Monday.
“The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued the letter to the company`s telecom subsidiaries for allotment of 4.4 MHz of spectrum in 1800 MHz GSM band in respect of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Kolkata service areas,” a company statement said.
With this, the company has been allotted initial spectrum in 16 service areas out of the total 22 service areas.
Chandrayaan-1 to get within 500 km of moon Tuesday
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first unmanned lunar spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 will cruise closer to the moon early Tuesday when it makes the transition from the earth's elliptical orbit into deeper space, a top space agency official said Monday.
"The liquid apogee motor (LAM) on board will be fired around 5.00 a.m. Tuesday for about five minutes to make the transition and position the spacecraft at about 500 km from the moon's surface and over 384,000 km away from the earth," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) director S. Satish told IANS here.
Understanding Vista’s Windows experience index
By DPA
Washington : In the past, it was difficult to measure exactly how fast one computer ran Windows versus another computer. Now, thanks to Windows Vista's new experience index, the guesswork has been taken out of evaluating performance.
Understand the experience index and you'll be ahead of the game when it comes to judging the performance of a new PC or determining how best to upgrade your existing box.
Space industry part of efforts to achieve vision 2020 – Malaysian PM
By NNN-Bernama
Ipoh (Malaysia) : The country's involvement in space industry is part of broader efforts to attain the Vision 2020 objective of turning Malaysia into a developed country, said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
He said to bring about progress, the government had to implement various initiatives, one of which was Malaysia's foray into space science.
NASA begins launch countdown for Discovery
By Xinhua
Washington : The launch countdown for US space shuttle Discovery has begun, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.
The countdown began officially at 2 p.m. local time (18.00 GMT) Saturday for a scheduled lift off on Oct 23.
NASA managers overseeing the launch preparations for the STS-120 mission said Saturday that space shuttle Discovery is ready for two weeks in space. "All of our systems are in good shape," NASA test director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said.
Iran ready to implement n-deal: Rouhani
Tehran: Iran is ready to start implementing the nuclear deal reached with the world powers in July, President Hassan Rouhani has said following its...
Mobile internet access booms in New Zealand
By IANS,
Wellington: More than half of New Zealanders are now accessing the internet through their mobile phones, the government statistics agency announced Friday.
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.
Slow moving currents new source of renewable energy
By IANS,
New York : A US engineer has developed the prototype of a device capable of tapping slow-moving ocean and river currents for a new, reliable and affordable alternative energy source.
Called the Vivace, the machine works like a fish and turn vibrations in fluid flows into clean, renewable power. It has been featured in the latest issue of the Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering.
Developed by Michael Bernitsas of the University of Michigan, the device harnesses energy from water currents moving slower than three km per hour.
‘Reverse engineering’ the brain to demystify it
By IANS,
Washington : Researchers led by an Indian American are "reverse engineering" the brain to design the first working model of the complex interplay between the mind and body.
For example, when you puick up an ice-cold drink out of the fridge this summer, how do your brain, eyes and hands interact?
"It is still a mystery, really," said University of British Columbia computer scientist Dinesh Pai. "No one has ever completely mapped out the processes at the level of specific neurons, muscles and tendons."
Google to introduce new features for “live” election results
New Delhi : Google said Wednesday it will introduce new features to help provide comprehensive latest news and live update of election results scheduled...
Phase-out of ozone-busting chemicals on Montreal agenda
By DPA
New York : Stepping up measures to save the atmosphere's ozone layer that shields the earth from deadly ultra-violet radiation, governments are considering a total freeze or accelerated phase-out of hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), the ozone-busting chemicals, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said Friday.
Like other international treaties that are lagging behind in implementation, the 20-year-old Montreal Protocol needs another push when 191 governments meet in Montreal starting Monday to review progress in one specific area - the ozone layer.
U.S. researchers create black that’s really black
By Xinhua
Beijing : U.S. researchers say they have made the blackest substance on Earth. So black it absorbs more than 99.9 percent of light.
The material is made from tiny tubes of carbon standing on end and is almost 30 times darker than a carbon substance used by the National Institute of Standards and Technology as the current benchmark of blackness.
Beijing : U.S. researchers say they have made the blackest substance on Earth. So black it absorbs more than 99.9 percent of light.
The material is made from tiny tubes of carbon standing on end and is almost 30 times darker than a carbon substance used by the National Institute of Standards and Technology as the current benchmark of blackness.
New ‘MeGa’ sensor to monitor carbon dioxide concentration
By IANS,
Washington : A novel tube-like sensor would now make monitoring gas concentrations possible over a large area, both cheaply and effectively, doing the work of a number of existing sensors.
Known as membrane-based gas sensors or 'MeGa', they are likely to be used in monitoring underground presence of carbon dioxide in gas pipelines or sewers.
The probe can also be useful in monitoring water bodies, for example, observation of hydrogen sulphide formation, including groundwater, and for monitoring boreholes.
Just ten minutes of talking may improve memory
By IANS
New York : Talking to each other for just 10 minutes may boost intellectual performance and improve memory, a new study had found.
The study found that short-term social interaction boosted intellectual performance of people as much as engaging in so-called intellectual activities for the same length of time, reported science portal ScienceDaily.
"Socialising is just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and intellectual performance," Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the University of Michigan said.
Firefox celebrates five years
By DPA,
San Francisco : The open source internet browser Firefox marked its fifth anniversary Monday, celebrating its rise from an unknown challenger to Microsoft's Internet Explorer to a formidable competitor that has been downloaded over one billion times by 330 million users around the world.
"Over the last five years we've been setting ourselves up for the next five. The web is moving faster, not slower, and modern browsers are set to handle it," said Chris Blizzard of the Mozilla Foundation.
‘Sarah Palin’ most searched-for political term on Internet
By DPA,
San Francisco : Sarah Palin has taken the political world by storm since she was named the running mate of Republican presidential candidate John McCain last month. Now comes evidence that she's also sparking record interest in the online world.
According to online tracking firm Hitwise, "Sarah Palin" was the most searched-for political term, accounting for two percent of all political searches in the four weeks ending Sep 6, the Saturday after the Republican National Convention. At that time, the previously-unknown Palin had been in the national headlines for only eight days.
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.
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.
Solar eclipse blocked by clouds in Tibet
By Xinhua,
Lhasa : Tibet's Cona county was one of the first places in China to view the solar eclipse, which occurred at 8:01 a.m Wednesday, according to an observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
However, the solar view from Cona was blocked by overcast, according to sources from the CAS Purple Mountain Observatory based in Nanjing, eastern Jiangsu province.
The sun sunshine was blocked behind clouds in Lhasa, Tibet's capital.
Solar wind at 50-year low: Experts
By DPA,
Washington : The solar wind is at a 50-year low, potentially opening up the solar system to more dangerous rays from outer space, researchers have said.
Data from the joint NASA and European Space Agency Ulysses solar mission show the cyclical wind - as the plasma and magnetic fields sent out by the sun are called - are at their lowest level since scientists first gathered information on the matter.
Reading devices for digital storage media
By Vivien Leue, DPA,
Frankfurt : You can find them in cell phones, digital cameras and navigation systems. They are digital storage cards, and they can be enormous - at least in a digital sense - holding hundreds of photos or a plethora of large documents.
To transfer their data onto a computer, you can either connect the mobile device to a computer using a USB cable or you can stick the memory card into a card reader. That is a simpler, and in many cases quicker, solution.
Our moon uncommon, say astronomers
By IANS
New York : Though moons are common enough in the universe, ours is rather uncommon, according to a new study by US astronomers.
The Earth's moon, the subject of much art, myth and poetry, was formed out of a tremendous collision, a rare event seen in less than 10 percent of moon formations, Sciencedaily.com reported.
The study, based on new observations by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, was undertaken by researchers at the University of Florida and appears in the latest edition of the Astrophysical Journal.
ISRO preparing for GSAT 4 launch in two months
By Venkatachari Jagannathan, IANS,
Chennai : While the preparations for launch of India's ocean monitoring satellite Oceansat 2 and six other nano satellites Sep 23 is on, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready for the bigger launch slated in the next two months -- that of the communications satellite GSAT 4.
China issues warning on Valentine’s Day computer viruses
By IANS,
Beijing : Technology experts in China have warned internet users to be alert against computer viruses based on the Valentine's Day theme.
Jupiter: Great Red Spot gobbling Baby Red Spot
By Xinhua,
Beijing : Jupiter's Great Red Spot appears to have gotten the best of one of its smaller, younger rival as captured in a recent series of images by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Japan’s Matsushita unveils world’s largest plasma TV
By Xinhua
Tokyo : Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. officially unveiled its newly developed 150-inch plasma display television, the world's largest, at the start of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Tuesday.
The new television, whose high-definition screen is 1.87 meters high and 3.31 meters wide, is to be launched into markets by 2009 if results of market research permit, company officials said, adding that the potential customers would be commercial facilities.
Russia puts US satellite in orbit
By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russia's Proton-M carrier rocket successfully put a US telecom satellite into orbit Monday, space officials said.
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.
GIS system to track Maoists in Jharkhand
By IANS
Ranchi : The Jharkhand police plans to set up a Geographical Information System (GIS) centre to track the movement of Maoists in the state.
The state police would seek the help of the Jharkhand Space Application Centre (JSAC) to get a detailed report of the topography of the state. "We will set up a GIS centre which will help officials to crack down on criminals and Maoist rebels," a senior police official told IANS.
Facebook cancels Indian student’s internship
Washington : Facebook cancelled an Indian-origin student's internship after he exposed a serious privacy flaw in the social media giant's messenger service, a media...
China launches new navigation satellite
By IANS,
Beijing : China successfully launched a fifth orbiter into space Sunday as a part of its indigenous satellite navigation and global positioning network.
The satellite was launched at 5.30 a.m. from the Long March 3I carrier rocket, Xinhua reported.
The satellite will join other four satellites in orbit to form a network that will eventually consist of 35 satellites.
Robot performs world’s first surgery to remove brain tumour
By IANS,
Toronto : Canadian doctors have created history by performing the world's first robotic surgery to remove brain tumour.
In the landmark surgery, neurosurgeons at Calgary's Foothills Medical Centre guided a newly developed robotic system - called NeuroArm - to remove an egg-shaped tumour from the brain of a woman.
Twenty-one-year-old Paige Nickason was discharged from the hospial two days after the nine-hour-long surgery performed Monday.
``I was happy to help by being a part of this historical surgery,'' she said in a statement at the weekend.
Space Shuttle Discovery lands in Florida
By DPA
Washington : The Space Shuttle Discovery touched down at the Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida after a 15-day mission that focussed on construction of the International Space Station.
Discovery, with a seven-member crew led by Pamela Melroy, the second woman to command a shuttle, landed at 18:01 GMT Wednesday.
"Well hello there, it's nice to be back in Florida," Melroy, who steered the craft to the runway, said over the radio after the safe landing.
World Champion Anand gets new technology to better his chess
Bangalore, Dec 22 (IANS) World champion Viswanathan Anand was honoured for defending his world chess title by his sponsors Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) with a top-of the line gaming computer here Monday.
The computer is powered by AMDs top of the line quad-core Phenom processor and the one teraflop ATI Radeon 4870x2 graphics card in a futuristic looking Asus chassis with specifications to match the need of the sporting giant.
Small clicks can cause great pain – how to avoid mouse arm
By DPA
Wiesbaden (Germany) : All of a sudden your arm feels heavy as lead and starts to tingle. You tend to drop objects more frequently than you used to. If you're a frequent computer user, mouse arm may be the culprit.
"Mouse arm is a modern form of classical tennis elbow," explains Jan Bernholt, an orthopaedist from Duesseldorf. "Small movements that are constantly repeated can lead to ailments in the upper and low arm. An ergonomic workspace can help prevent this," he said.
Will the Big Bang test end the world on Wednesday?
By Venkata Vemuri, IANS,
London : If critics are to be believed, the end of the universe will begin coming Wednesday when a Welsh miner's son launches the world's biggest scientific experiment to know how the universe was born.
The well-known Welshman physicist, Lyn Evans, dubbed Evans the Atom, will this week switch on a giant particle accelerator designed to unlock the secrets of the Big Bang.
On Wednesday, Evans will fire up the Large Hadron Collider, a 17-mile-long doughnut-shaped tunnel that will smash sub-atomic particles together at nearly the speed of light.
Scientists close to fabricating a practical atom laser
By IANS,
Sydney : Scientists are on the verge of fabricating the first practical atom laser that holds the promise of ever more precise measurement in industry, medical science, navigation and mining.
The breakthrough has been made possible by overcoming a host of theoretical and technical hurdles, allowing for the laser's continuous operation unlike previous versions that drained the source material and switched off.
Sky gazers can expect celestial fireworks Monday
By IANS,
New Delhi : Sky gazers can expect to see an exhibition of celestial fireworks over the next two days as the night sky will be lit up by the famous Leonid meteor shower expected to peak on Monday.
Amateur astronomers of the capital can see about 15 to 20 shooting stars every hour for the next couple of days.
"People can watch for the meteor showers during the early hours Monday. There will be fireballs in the sky," said N. Rathnashree, director Nehru Planetarium here.
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.
MySpace ejects 90,000 convicted sex offenders
By DPA,
San Francisco : Social networking website MySpace.com has said that it had ejected more than 90,000 registered sex offenders following an agreement last year with state attorneys general to improve child safety.
The figure, which MySpace provided to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, was more than double the number that MySpace had predicted that it would find when it launched the crackdown on online threats to minors.
Chandrayaan-I shows India means business in space: ISRO chief
By NNN-PTI,
Bangalore : The successful landing of the Moon Impact Probe on the lunar surface has not only boosted the confidence of ISRO to undertake inter-planetary travel in future, but also conveyed a firm message to the world that India means business in the field of space, ISRO chief G Madhavan Nair said here Saturday.
Endeavour heads for International Space Station
By DPA
Washington/Moscow : US space shuttle Endeavour blasted off early Tuesday, carrying major additions to the International Space Station from Japan and Canada.
Endeavour launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida at 2:28 am (0628 GMT).
"This is a great launch and a real tribute to the team to get it ready to go fly," Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for Space Operations, said of the rare night launch.
Space shuttle Atlantis launch set for Jan 10
By DPA
Washington : After postponing the launch of space shuttle Atlantis multiple times, NASA has said it would next try to takeoff Jan 10.
The shuttle is to bring the European-designed Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS) and was originally to launch Dec 6, but was delayed because of problems with fuel cut-off sensor system inside the shuttle and its external fuel tank.
Iran to launch three satellites
By IANS,
Moscow : Iran has plans to launch three satellites in the near future, according to the Iranian embassy in Moscow.
Scientists spot largest molecules in space
By IANS,
London : Scientists in Canada have spotted the largest molecules existing in space called buckyballs.
The roughly spherical molecules consist of a "third type of carbon", after graphite and diamond, which occur widely on earth.
Buckyballs, on the other hand, have only been created in labs and have never before been proven to exist elsewhere, reports The Telegraph.
The BBC reported that a research group used an infrared telescope owned by Nasa to spot the buckyballs in "a cloud of cosmic dust surrounding a distant star".
Chasing an eclipsed sun through India
By IANS,
New Delhi : There was excitement in the air as a shaded sun peeped from an overcast sky at dawn Wednesday with tens of thousands of people across the country gathering at rooftops, planetariums and parks to watch the century's longest total solar eclipse.
The eclipse started at sunrise in Surat in Gujarat at 5.28 a.m. when the moon started covering the sun and reached its peak at around 6.23 a.m. when the sun was completely obscured by the moon. The eclipse ended at 7.25 a.m.
Yahsat signs letter of intent with Arianspace to launch satellite in 2010
By NNN-WAM
Abu Dhabi : Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJsc (Yahsat), a wholly owned subsidiary of Mubadala Development Company, has signed a letter of intent with Arianespace, the world's leading launch service and solutions company, to launch the Yahsat 1A communications satellite.
The satellite is currently being manufactured by the consortium of EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space. The expected launch date is the second half of 2010.
Technical Institute for community – An attempt to provide respectable life
By TCN News,
Hyderabad: Madrassa students wearing hard hat along with traditional ‘topi’ (skull cap) handling heavy machinery, it is not an ordinary scene, but...
Coastlines remain intact, despite climate change: study
By IANS,
Sydney : Preliminary research from the windswept coast of southern France suggest that world's coastlines remain largely intact despite climate change.
The urgent question is whether even small changes in sea levels due to climate change will wreck this natural balance and trigger devastating coastal erosion.
Key parameters are being recorded on equipment constructed by a joint team from Universities of New South Wales (UNSW) and Plymouth (Britain), in what is believed to be the single largest array of scientific instruments ever deployed in experimental coastal research.
Computer programme to predict premature births under development
By IANS,
Sydney : Universities of Melbourne and Newcastle are jointly developing a computer programme to predict premature births.
About 17,000 premature births occur in Australia each year. It accounts for 70 percent of deaths among newborns and 50 percent cerebral palsy cases.
Roger Smith, professor, University of Newcastle, said identifying patterns in hormone levels could be the key to determining high risk pregnancies.
China: spacewalk on course for October
By NNN-Xinhua
Beijing : China is planning to conduct its first spacewalk in October from a Shenzhou VII spacecraft, senior space engineers said.
They also said a research team had been set up to conduct a feasibility study for a space station.
Wang Yongzhi, former chief designer of China's Manned Space Program, said the launch date had originally been scheduled for after the Olympics (Aug 8 to 24) and Paralympics (Sept 6 to 17).
Exhibition on train to inspire science among youth
By IANS
Chennai : A unique exhibition on board a train will travel to 57 destinations across India to encourage youths into the world of science.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will officially flag off the Science Express here Oct 30.
The journey covering 57 destinations in 200 days, "will enthral everyone into the world of science," said T. Ramasai, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST).
The exhibition is a joint initiative of DST and a chemical firm BASF.
Online game to foster awareness on warming among kids
By IANS,
Sydney : Computer animation students have designed an online game to help children understand ways they can reduce their impact on climate change.
Programme coordinator of multimedia at Swinburne University of Technology, Peter Ciszewski, said the University's student designers have incorporated educative elements into animation and game play techniques to produce the game.
EU Court slaps hefty fines on Microsoft
Luxembourg, Sep 17 (DPA) In a landmark ruling with key implications for European Union (EU) competition policy, a court in Luxembourg Monday backed the bloc's decision to inflict a multi-million-euro fine on Microsoft for abusing its dominant position in the software market.
With a sentence read out in a packed court by presiding judge Bo Vesterdorf, the EU's Court of First Instance overturned almost the entire content of Microsoft's appeal against a 2004 ruling by the European Commission (EC).
India schedules auction of third generation telecom spectrum
By IANS,
New Delhi : India Wednesday announced the schedule for auctioning radio frequency spectrum to private players for third generation (3G) telephony, with the process due to begin Thursday by issuing a general notice to interested players.
The schedule calls for the process to end April 10. The government also said auction for spectrum for broadband services will also be held two days after the process concludes for 3G spectrum.
Crush of people kills two eclipse watchers in Varanasi
By IANS,
Varanasi : Two people were killed here Wednesday morning when thousands of people gathered at the banks of the Ganges to watch the solar eclipse.
"One person died because of drowning and the other got crushed in a stampede. The names of the deceased are yet to be determined" said P.C. Meena, deputy inspector general of police (DIG).
Malaysia to shelve space programme for lack of funds
By DPA,
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysia's fledgling space programme will be temporarily shelved due to a lack of funds, six months after sending its first astronaut to space, a news report said Tuesday.
Science minister Maximus Ongkili said the initial plan to send a second astronaut to space could not be carried out due to a problem of budgeting.
"There's zero money. The ministry will have to look for money if it wants to continue with the programme," Ongkili was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times daily.
U.S., Japan to conduct joint research on sonic boom modeling
By Xinhua,
Washington : NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) intend to conduct joint research on sonic boom modeling, the U.S. federal space agency announced Thursday.
Sonic Boom is the shocks caused by the supersonic flight of an aircraft. Sonic booms can generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding a lot like an explosion.
Custom designed catalysts to revolutionise production
By IANS,
Washington : Chemists have engineered a synthetic version of a natural enzyme which had the same catalytic power as that of its counterpart. These designer enzymes could revolutionise areas like drug production, environmental chemistry and bioremediation.
Catalysts are molecules that speed up chemical reactions both in the industrial and biological processes, without being changed themselves.
US scientists find northern India’s water is vanishing
By IANS,
Bangalore : Using satellite data from the US space agency NASA, American scientists have found that groundwater levels in northern India have been declining by as much as 30 centimetres per year over the past decade. Researchers concluded the loss is almost entirely due to human activity.
Watch that big, bright Jupiter tonight
By IANS,
New Delhi : As the sun goes down Monday, Jupiter, the largest celestial body after the Sun in the solar system, can be seen in the sky with naked eye.
Ghazal festival to be live-streamed online
Mumbai : The annual ‘Khazana - A Festival of Ghazals’ concert, which will bring together renowned ghazal artists like Pankaj Udhas and Rekha Bhardwaj,...
NASA SpaceX mission to ISS explodes after launch
Washington : The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket-propelling Dragon spacecraft laden with crucial supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) exploded shortly after lift-off in...
Researchers teach computers to search photos by subject
By IANS,
Washington : Penn State University researchers have developed a statistical approach, called ALIPR, that one day could make it easier to search the net for photographs.
The public can participate in improving ALIPR or automatic linguistic indexing of pictures in real-time accuracy, by visiting www.alipr.com, uploading photographs, and evaluating whether the keywords that ALIPR uses to describe the photographs are appropriate.
Dubai-based scientists produce region’s first identical twin camels
By NNN-WAM,
Dubai : In an unprecedented breakthrough in the GCC region, Dubai-based scientists have successfully produced the first identical twin camel using the embryo splitting technology.
Zahi and Baih, the two identical twins, were naturally born to two surrogate camel mothers on Feb 10 and 23 respectively after a pregnancy period of 13 moths.
According to the scientists team at Dubai Camel Breading Centre, the genetically identical cubs are in a good health.
Point and click guidance for Ellie the robot
By IANS
New York : Ellie helps people with limited mobility accomplish everyday tasks, getting them things like towels, tablet bottles and telephones. Thank her, and you will probably receive a hum in response.
Ellie (written El-E) is a robot - an extremely versatile one. And what makes her unique is the fact that unlike robots struggling to respond to speech or gestures, Ellie works on a unique point-and-click model.
Chandrayaan-I enters lunar orbit
By IANS,
Bangalore : India's first unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-I was Saturday put into lunar orbit at around 5.15 p.m., scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here.
The spacecraft was successfully put into an elliptical orbit after complex manoeuvres.
"The liquid apogee motor on board the spacecraft was fired for about 805 seconds to put Chandrayaan-1 into an elliptical orbit with 7,500 km aposelene (farthest from moon) and 500 km pericelene (nearest to moon)," ISRO director S. Satish told IANS.
850 new species discovered in semi-arid Australia
By IANS,
Sydney : About 850 new species inhabiting underground water, caves and micro-caverns have been discovered in semi-arid Australia. These invertebrates include various insects, small crustaceans, spiders, worms and many others.
The team - led by Andy Austin, professor at the University of Adelaide (U-A), Steve Cooper, South Australian Museum, and Bill Humphreys, Western Australian Museum - conducted a comprehensive four-year survey of underground water, caves and micro-caverns.
Facebook grows, makes a profit
By DPA,
San Francisco : Facebook, the world's largest social network on the internet, is finally turning a profit, the privately held company said.
The Silicon Valley, California, company, which was started six years ago by a student at Harvard University, said late Tuesday that it had reached a positive cash flow for the first time and also passed the 300-million user mark.
The stratospheric growth in the site's user base from 150 million at the start of the year, allowed the company to turn a profit earlier than the 2010 date it had previously predicted.
Young engineers launch device to save power
By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Seven engineers, all in their mid-20s, have developed a new device that they claim will save power losses from computers and gadgets running on electricity.
"The product, 'Spara', is ready and will be launched when our office at the Technopark's Technology Business Incubation opens Wednesday," said Nelvin Joseph, CEO of Artin Dynamics, the start-up firm floated by the seven engineer-entrepreneurs.
Addressing reporters here Tuesday night, Joseph said his company dealt with artificial intelligence and will develop products and services with this in mind.
Researchers crack key HIV riddle after decades
By IANS,
London : Researchers have cracked a key riddle that has foxed scientists for decades, potentially opening the way to better treatment of HIV, says a new study.
Imperial College London and Harvard University researchers have grown a crystal that reveals the structure of an enzyme called integrase, which is found in retroviruses like HIV.
When HIV infects someone, it uses integrase to paste a copy of its genetic information into their DNA.
Platypus genome holds key to mammalian evolution
By IANS,
Washington : Scientists have decoded the genome of one of the most unusual creatures in existence - the duck-billed platypus. And now they know why it is part bird, part reptile and part mammal.
The platypus represents the earliest offshoot of mammalian lineage - a branch-out that occurred 166 million years ago from primitive ancestors with both mammalian and reptilian features.
"At first glance, the platypus appears as if it was the result of an evolutionary accident," said Francis S. Collins of the National Human Genome Research Institute.
New tech helps physically impaired enter virtual worlds
By IANS,
Washington : Relying on fleeting brain waves, a futuristic technology enables people with severe muscle disorder to operate computers and enter a 3-D virtual world to chat or stroll.
The technology, demonstrated by Junichi Ushiba of Keio University, opens up a world of possibilities for serious motion-impaired people to communicate with others and to work normally.
This marriage of leading-edge technologies in brain science and the Internet also heralds the world's first successful example to help the physically impaired meet people in the virtual world.
Earth more sensitive to CO2 than estimated
By IANS,
London : The earth's temperature may be 30 to 50 percent more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) than has previously been estimated, says a new study.
The results show that components of the earth's climate system that vary over long timescales - such as land-ice and vegetation - have an important effect on this temperature sensitivity, but these factors are often neglected in current climate models.
Moon mission, a great event for India: Abdul Kalam
By IANS,
Hyderabad : Former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Tuesday said the launch of India's maiden unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-1 was a great event for the country.
"What I am looking for is a great event. It is a very important day. India lacks payload and it is going to land its payload on the moon," he said during a brief chat with reporters on the sidelines of the first world congress on disaster management here.
"It will take eight to 10 days (for landing of payload on moon)," he added.
Apple releases new operating system for Mac computers
By DPA
Los Angeles : Apple has released a new operating system for its ever more popular Mac computers.
The upgraded OS 10.5, nicknamed Leopard, was released Friday and includes some 300 improvements including a 'time machine' that tracks and resurrects lost data, and improved video-conferencing abilities.
The eagerly awaited system was delayed by several months while the company's engineers worked on developing the iPhone.
Rival Microsoft, whose software powers 90 percent of the world's computers, released its newest operating system, Vista, in January.
BMW developing cars that ‘sense’ danger to pedestrians
By DPA,
Munich : BMW is refining a car-to-car communication system that offers more pedestrian protection by "sensing" situations and persons that cannot normally be seen by motorists, according to the car maker.
In a typical situation a child could suddenly jump onto the road from between two parked vehicles. In such a case the moving vehicle would communicate with an electronic transponder carried by the child or cyclist for protection.
‘India’s space success underscores technological capability’
Chennai : The success of the Mars mission "underscores the country's technological capability in the space sector", said a senior nuclear scientist Wednesday.
India Wednesday...
Mapping a tiny but ruthless killer
By IANS,
London : Don't go by its size. The Etruscan shrew, one of tiniest known mammals that weighs just two grams, ranks among the quickest, most ruthless and adaptive predators.
It overcomes starvation by feeding twice its weight of crickets, cockroaches and spiders daily, preys that are nearly its size. Hence the attacks have to be quick as a flash.
“The Etruscan shrews trust in their sense of touch and the tactile shape recognition to an extent we do not know from other animal species,” said Michael Brecht of Bernstein Centre in Berlin.
Infosys bags Australian CSR award
Bangalore: Indian IT bellwether Infosys Ltd won the 2013 Ian Kiernan award for enhancing its corporate social responsibility (CSR), becoming inclusive and meaningful to...
Google announces own operating system to take on Microsoft
By DPA,
New York : Internet giant Google announced Wednesday the arrival of its own computer operating system, initially designed for use with Netbook computers.
Google Chrome OS, based on the company's nine-month old browser software, is to be available to consumers from the second half of 2010, a statement on Google's blog said.
Google says that Chrome OS is their "attempt to re-think what operating systems should be", the product is seen as upping the pressure on dominant operating system provider, Microsoft, and its proprietary system, Windows.
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.
Computer spies breach $300 bn US fighter jet project: WSJ
By Arun Kumar,IANS,
Washington : Computer spies have broken into the US Defence Department's costliest weapons programme ever, the $300 billion Joint Strike Fighter project, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Similar incidents have also breached the Air Force's air traffic control system in recent months, it said citing unnamed "current and former government officials familiar with the attacks.
Nine win funding for rural innovation projects
By IANS
Chennai : The Rural Innovation Fund (RIF), promoted by Microsoft India among others, has selected nine innovators, who will receive $15,000 (Rs.590,000) each to implement their projects to empower rural India.
Microsoft India has established a RIF corpus of $200,000 to encourage innovations that will benefit rural India.
Beware of e-mail scam offering to ‘rescue’ friends
By Frederick Noronha, IANS
Panaji : Goa-based Rudolf Ludwig's friends started getting frantic e-mail messages about the musician-turned-art gallery owner being stranded in Nigeria and badly in need of money.
His wife Yolanda fielded off telephone calls to their Goa home, explaining that nothing of this sort had happened.
When more friends started phoning in, Ludwig, who was very much in Goa, realised his e-mail account on the popular GMail network had been hacked into. His password had been changed and he couldn't enter his own account.
Total solar eclipse in most of China
By Xinhua,
Chongqing (China) : A total solar eclipse was observed at many places in China Wednesday morning, officials said.
At 9.15 a.m., many places in the upper reaches of China's longest river, the Yangtze, were engulfed in total darkness.
The moon's shadow blocked the sun, leaving only the solar corona visible in China's Chongqing Municipality and Guang'an City in southwestern Sichuan province.
The cities in the region turned off the streetlights for better viewing of the total eclipse that lasted for about four minutes.