Science

Two king cheetahs, of which only a few dozen are believed to exist in captivity, were born last month at Tama Zoo in the Japanese capital, a park spokesperson said.

The two cubs, which due to a genetic mutation are characterized by the spots on their fur flowing together in lengthwise lines along their backs, are part of a litter of 5 cubs, three of which were born with normal spots.

The zoo plans to begin showing the pair of king cheetahs and their three siblings to the public next month when the weather is warmer, given that these animals are very sensitive to the cold.

China plans to control sandstorms and prevent environmental degradation in Beijing and Tianjin cities in the coming decade, authorities said.

A meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao discussed and passed the second-stage work plan for the Beijing-Tianjin Sandstorm Control Program (2013-22), reported China Daily citing a State Council statement.

The statement said Shaanxi will be included in the programme in 2013, as it is a source of sandstorms for the two metropolises.

Scientists have designed a comprehensive and interactive brain atlas, accessible on the internet to advance neurological research.

The Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, US, created the atlas as a kind of ready reckoner for researchers to compare and contrast their own findings from brain scans and genetic surveys, to unveil more secrets about psychiatric conditions.

The atlas was created from the scans of three ‘clinically unremarkable’ brains – donated following the deaths of a 24-year-old and 39-year-old man, and half a brain from a third man.

China today successfully launched two satellites into space to enlarge its indigenous global navigation network being built to rival United States global positioning system. The 14th and 15th satellites for the Beidou, or Compass, system being built by China were launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest Sichuan province, by a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

India on Wednesday test-fired its nuclear-capable strategic missile Agni-IV with a strike range of about 4000 km from a test range off Odisha coast.

It was test launched with the help of a mobile launcher from launch complex-4 of ITR at Wheeler Island, about 100 km from here, at about 1145 hours, defence sources said.

A high performance on-board computer with distributed avionics architecture and high speed reliable communication bus and a full Digital Control System were used to control and guide the missile to the target.

London, September 18: A recycling ATM offers gadget freaks the option to trade in their discarded mobile phones for cash, rather than dumping them when they go in for the latest model.

Californian company ecoATM has rolled out the machine that is sophisticated enough to see if a screen is cracked, evaluate unwanted goods for resale and recycling – hoping to inspire people to go green.

You may soon insure your Facebook and Twitter accounts against the nuisance of hacking as a UK-based company has launched the country’s first social media insurance.

The information privacy company is offering services to specifically protect against reputational damage, account jacking and ID theft.

Hacking of users accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites are quite common, where another user logs in and posts derogatory or offensive messages, and can cause huge damage to an individual or business’s image.

Russia Monday launched a European weather satellite from its Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said.

A Russian Soyuz-2.1 rocket carried the MetOp-B satellite into space around 8 pm, RIA Novosti reported.

The 4,100 kg satellite is manufactured by Astrium to provide weather data, and is designed to operate in orbit for five years.

IANS

Unless greenhouse gas emissions are curtailed, there is little hope for the survival of coral reefs, supporting a diversity of life forms, warns a new study.

Coral reefs are home to almost a quarter of the species in the oceans and provide critical services – including coastal protection, tourism and fishing – to millions of people world-wide.

Global warming and ocean acidification, both driven by human-caused CO2 emissions, pose a major threat to these ecosystems, the journal Nature Climate Change reports.

Russia Monday launched a European weather satellite from its Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said.

A Russian Soyuz-2.1 rocket carried the MetOp-B satellite into space around 8 pm, RIA Novosti reported.

The 4,100 kg satellite is manufactured by Astrium to provide weather data, and is designed to operate in orbit for five years.

–IANS

Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams has taken over command of the International Space Station (ISS), yet another feather in her cap as she already holds three records for female space travellers.

including a new record for total cumulative spacewalk time by a female astronaut.
Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka ceremonially handed over control of the space station to Expedition 33 Commander Sunita Williams in the Destiny laboratory Saturday afternoon during the traditional Change-of-Command Ceremony, NASA reported.

More than half of youngsters say that friends seeing unflattering pictures of them on Facebook is one of the biggest concerns in their life, a new study has found.

According to the study, four in ten youngsters worry about friends putting uncomplimentary photos of them on the site, with women concerned about it more often than men.

The figures were revealed by a survey for a shopping site in UK. Its co-founder, Duncan Jennings, dubbed the trend “virtual vanity”, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.

The government has drawn a blueprint for developing the next generation of supercomputers that could be 61 times faster than existing machines.

Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal is understood to have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sharing the roadmap to develop “petaflop and exaflop range of supercomputers” at an estimated cost of Rs 4,700 crore over 5 years.

More and more of the capital’s best known monuments may now be illuminated through solar energy.

Building on the experience gained over the last three years and keen on promoting the use of environment-friendly solar energy, the Delhi government plans to light up more of the capital’s historical sites through cheap and plentiful energy from the sun.

The government has drawn a blueprint for developing the next generation of supercomputers that could be 61 times faster than existing machines.

Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal is understood to have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sharing the roadmap to develop “petaflop and exaflop range of supercomputers” at an estimated cost of Rs 4,700 crore over 5 years.

Changing climate, global warming, growing concrete jungles, depleting greenery and most of all mobile towers dotting the skyline of urban and rural areas are seen as plausible causes for decline of sparrows across the country.

Naturalists, conversationists, nature lovers and bird experts were concerned at the declining number of the friendly species of birds, said noted ornithologist Amarjit Gupta.

Gupta pointed out that the greatest danger to the environment was posed by the mobile towers erected atop buildings as the radiation released from them was affecting the avian creatures.

The ozone layer outside the Polar regions will take 40 years to recover to its pre-1980 levels, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Friday.

Over the past decade, stratospheric ozone in the Arctic and Antarctic regions as well as globally is no longer decreasing, but it has not yet started to recover either, Xinhua quoted senior scientific officer of WMO, Geir Braathen as saying.

The ozone layer over the Antarctic is expected to recover much later.

The ozone layer outside the Polar regions will take 40 years to recover to its pre-1980 levels, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Friday.

Over the past decade, stratospheric ozone in the Arctic and Antarctic regions as well as globally is no longer decreasing, but it has not yet started to recover either, Xinhua quoted senior scientific officer of WMO, Geir Braathen as saying.

The ozone layer over the Antarctic is expected to recover much later.

A team of researchers including one of Indian-origin has engineered a special surface which produces no bubbles when the water is boiled.

Researchers from the Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science in US, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia and the University of Melbourne have developed the special surface which could help reduce damage to surfaces, prevent bubbling explosions and may someday be used to enhance heat transfer equipment, reduce drag on ships and lead to anti-frost technologies.

Scientists have cracked one of the most enduring marine mysteries – why adult male killer whales pretty much stay momma’s boys all their lives.

Researchers at the Universities of Exeter and York found that for a male over 30 years, the death of his mother meant an almost 14-fold-increase in likelihood of death the following year.

The female killer whale has the longest menopause in the mammalian species. The reason for the menopause remains one of nature’s enduring mysteries.

Indo-French satellite “SARAL” would be launched onboard PSLV-C20 from the spaceport of Sriharikota on December 12, this year, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Radhakrishnan said today.

“PSLV-C20 will be assembled in about 25 days in Sriharikota and the satellite will be launched on December 12, 2012. As somebody said it’s 12-12-12 (launch date),” he said at the Bangalore Space Expo 2012 here.

Software security services provider Norton on Wednesday said consumer cybercrime has cost the country around Rs 42,000 crore in the past 12 months, impacting 42 million people.

Releasing the findings of its annual cybercrime report, it is estimated that over 42 million people fell victim to cybercrime in the past 12 months in the country, incurring around $8 billion in direct financial losses. In terms of cost, this is a full 18% increase. Against this, the global loss has been pegged at $110 billion.

Railways is setting up a bacteria generation plant at the Rail Coach Factory here to meet the requirement of bio toilets in trains.

“We are setting up a plant here for generating anaerobic bacteria to be used in bio toilets in coaches. The plant will come up in a 100 cubic metre site at the Rail Coach Factory premises,” said a senior RCF official involved with the project.

Railways have set a target of installing bio toilets designed by DRDO in 2500 coaches in the current fiscal.

China’s internet regulatory authority has vowed to strengthen management of the web, as the number of internet users in the country climbed to around 540 million, China Daily reported.

By the end of June, more than 270 million Chinese people had opened Twitter-like micro-blogging accounts. The number of internet users climbed to 538 million, the ministry of industry and information technology said.

Millions of people worldwide can feel their cell phones buzzing in their pockets, only to be taken for a ride by the phantom ringing. It may be due to misinterpretation of sensory signals in the brain, researchers say.

Now scientists may have an explanation and it might not just be in our heads after all.

Larry Rosen, professor of psychology at California State University believes that because people are often anticipating a call they often interpret unrelated stimuli, such as a chair leg dragging against the floor or trousers rubbing their leg as a phone call.