Sydney, October 06: Scientists in Denmark have found a powerful new technique to rid soil of toxic heavy metals faster and more efficiently than current methods.
“Our aim was to speed up the established process for removing metals like lead and cadmium from soil using electrokinetic methods to protect community health and safety,” says Lisbeth Ottossen of the Technical University of Denmark, who led the study.
Paris, October 05: A report charges that Lance Armstrong’s Astana cycling team was given “special treatment” by the International Cycling Union (UCI) during this year’s Tour de France, the online edition of the daily Le Monde said Monday.
The daily cites a report drawn up by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) about the way doping tests were administered during the three-week race, in which Armstrong finished third. His Astana teammate Alberto Contador won the race.
Washington, October 05: Giant chipmaker Intel has recently conducted a study, concluding that Microsoft Windows 7 has improved in performance and stability compared to Windows XP SP3.
The study titled “The Value of PC Refresh with Microsoft Windows 7” takes into consideration Windows 7’s user adoption, performance, stability and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
More than 290 out of 300 Intel users said they “would recommend Microsoft Windows 7 to colleagues,” the study said.
New Delhi, October 05: The largest non-carbonaceous plant fossils, 140 times bigger than today’s algae species, have been discovered in western Rajasthan, opening a new window for understanding evolution of life on earth.
A team of researchers from the University of Lucknow have discovered the fossils with physical characteristics of Vaucheriacean plant, a type of yellow-green algae found in fresh or marine water, five kms from Jodhpur in Sursagar mines region.
Bhubaneswar, October 05: Indian scientists claim to have developed a rice variety that requires no cooking, only soaking in water.
The rice variety developed at the government-run Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) at Cuttack in Orissa is characterized by low amylase content and becomes soft on soaking in water, institute director Tapan Kumar Adhya told IANS in an interview.
Chicago, October 03: Gasps and tears greeted the announcement on Friday that Chicago had lost its bid to host the 2016 Summer Games, as the city went from favorite to also-ran in the multibillion-dollar Olympics sweepstakes.
“This was Chicago’s shot at coming out as a world-class city so it’s deflating,” said Kevin O’Hara, 48, who runs a financial trading firm in Chicago.
Chicago was the first city eliminated in the first round of voting by the International Olympic Committee, with rivals Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo still standing.
London, October 03: Scientists have detected a crack in the armour of the Helicobacter pylori, a common microbe that infects the stomachs of one-sixth of the world’s population, causing gastritis and ulcers.
They identified a group of substances that block a key chemical pathway that the bacteria need for survival. Their study could lead to new, more effective antibiotics to fight these hard-to-treat microbes.
Javier Sancho, biologist at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, and colleagues note in the new study that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria infect the stomach lining.
Korolyov, October 02: A spacecraft carrying a Canadian circus tycoon and a two-man Russian-American crew has docked at the International Space Station.
Billionaire Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte is the seventh paying space tourist to visit the orbital station. The 50-year-old dubbed the first clown in space spent a reported $35 million for his voyage.
His children and partner Claudia Barilla broke into applause after watching the docking Friday on a giant screen at Russian mission control outside Moscow.
Munich, October : The first of two planned satellites for Germany’s defence forces blasted off late Thursday from the European space launch centre outside Kourou, French Guiana, officials said.
The satellite separated from its rocket and was placed into orbit about 30 minutes after launch.
The satellites, both weighing 2.5 tonnes and code-named SatcomBw, will provide communications links to troops in Afghanistan and German Navy vessels in distant seas.
German defence forces already operate sensors from space that can peer through clouds and make radar images of the ground.
London, October 01: Research suggests that Britons are addicted to the internet – even though broadband quality has been ranked behind countries such as Bulgaria and Latvia.
Shopping and social networking are reasons why we spend time online
An average person in the UK is clocking up more than 30 hours a week online, according to a study by independent price comparison service uSwitch.com.
On a typical working day, a person now spends an average of five hours using the internet.
Cairo, October 01: Some Egyptians are lashing out at the government over the case of Culture Minister Faruq Hosni and his failed bid for the top job at UNESCO, blaming the regime or Hosni himself for the defeat.
Egypt fought a tough diplomatic battle to get Hosni elected, and when the man lost out to Bulgaria’s Irina Bokova last week.
Hosni told an Egyptian weekly: “My fight was not against candidates but against states. The conspiracy was bigger than you can imagine.”
Many critics agree that Jewish groups and some pro-Israeli states had a big role in his defeat.
New Yorkm, October 01: As Internet use expands worldwide, the United States said Wednesday it will give other governments and the private sector a greater oversight role in an organization whose decisions affect how computers relay traffic such as e-mail and Twitter posts.
The move comes after European regulators and other critics have said the U.S. government could wield too much influence over a system used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Those critics have complained, among other things, about the slow rollout of Internet addresses in languages other than English.
Manila, October 01: Environmental damage, shoddy urban planning, corruption and other man-made problems are magnifying the human cost of natural disasters almost every time they strike in Asia, experts said.
Thousands of people have died across the region this week in a relentless string of events that at first may seem to be the fault of Mother Nature, but the enormous death tolls can be equally blamed on people, they said.
Bangalore, October 01: For the first time, India’s space scientists have developed electric propulsion technology that is expected to boost the life of geostationary satellites by upto five years.
In other words, the satellites which today have a lifespan of ten years, could last upto 15 years.
The system — plasma thrusters – would be tested in GSAT-4 spacecraft slated to be launched on board GSLV later this year, ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair said.
New York, October 01: Google is all set to offer a wider preview of its Google Wave as a compelling platform for real time streaming communication. The company (Google) is all set to send out invites for preview to those individuals that have signed up for feedback.
London, September 30: Mercedes-Benz adverts for its new E class saloon series which said “CO2 emissions for the range are down to 139g/km” whave been banned after the advertising watchdog ruled the ads were misleading.
The Advertising Standards Authority noted only two out of the 24 possible permutations in the Mercedes range had a 139g/km figure, the exact CO2 emissions figure per vehicle being dependent on a number of possible variations.
Those variations included the choice between petrol and diesel, manual and automatic gearbox, and were also affected by various alloy wheel size.
Toronto, September 30: Researchers have developed a microchip that is sensitive enough to quickly determine the type and severity of a patient’s cancer and nip the disease in the bud.
“This remarkable innovation is an indication that the age of nanomedicine is dawning,” says David Naylor, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto (U of T).
“Thanks to the breadth of expertise here at U of T, cross-disciplinary collaborations of this nature make such landmark advances possible,” he adds.
Washington, September 30: Glucose-the human body’s preferred energy source-can potentially power our gadgets, cars or homes.
Researchers at Brigham Young University (BYU) have developed a fuel cell-basically a battery with a gas tank-that harvests electricity from glucose and other sugars known as carbohydrates.
“Carbohydrates are very energy rich,” said BYU chemistry professor Gerald Watt. “What we needed was a catalyst that would extract the electrons from glucose and transfer them to an electrode.”
Washington, September 30: Google is in the early stages of looking at ways to write software that would fully integrate plug-in hybrid vehicles to the power grid, minimize strain on the grid and help utilities manage vehicle charging load.
“We are doing some preliminary work,” said Dan Reicher, Google’s director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives. “We have begun some work on smart charging of electric vehicles and how you would integrate large number of electric vehicles into the grid successfully.”
San Francisco, September 30: Microsoft on Tuesday released free software that people can use to protect computers against viruses, spyware and other malicious codes in arsenals of cyber criminals.
Microsoft Security Essentials is available for download at microsoft.com/security_essentials and is built on technology that the global software giant uses in computer security programs it designs for businesses.
Champagne, September 29: bubbles are not just the photogenic companion to a bottle’s opening pop, they also enhance the drink’s flavour, scientists say.
A group of European researchers say they have proven champagne’s fizz – actually scores of chemical eruptions – help unleash the drink’s distinctive taste.
According to the team, a bottle, when poured, leads to the formation of scores of carbon dioxide bubbles, aroma-rich compounds that travel upward toward the top of the glass, exploding on the surface into a burst of aerosol borne flavour.
Mumbai, September 29: Vodafone has been recognised as the most admired mobile service brand online in India followed by Tata Indicom and Aircel, a survey said.
A pan-India survey conducted by Drizzlin Media, a Branding 2.0 consultancy that audited over 1,600 relevant conversations of the 7,000 conversations’ sampled around India’s top 10 telecom brands shows that Reliance Mobile emerged as the least admired brand.
The survey was conducted over ten telecom brands including Airtel, Vodafone, Idea Cellular, Tata Indicom, Aircel, Reliance, BSNL, MTNL, Spice and Loop Mobile.
New Delhi, September 29: After Orange, Vodafone too has joined the ranks of mobile service providers who offer iPhones on their platforms. Vodafone has struck a deal with Apple to sell iPhones in the U.K. and Ireland from early next year, said a brief company statement Tuesday in London.
Washington, September 29: Microsoft says its new computer security program can be downloaded starting today.
Microsoft Security Essentials, as the free antivirus software is called, has been available in a beta test version since June.
The software updates daily to stay current with the latest malicious programs, which can steal passwords or turn PCs into spam servers. Microsoft says it won’t make computers run slower.
Microsoft has said it isn’t out to steal business from companies like McAfee and Symantec, which make popular antivirus programs with more features.
Lucknow, September 29: The ’sanjivani’ may not be just myth. Scientists are now busy trying to identify the magical herb, which according to the Indian epic Ramayana brought back to life Lord Ram’s dying brother Lakshman.
Having found a few Himalayan herbs that match the description of the sanjivani, a team of five scientists at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) here is working on identifying the properties of each of these.