Science

Hyderabad, December 26: India’s space programme suffered a second successive blow in 2010 as an advanced communication satellite – GSAT-5P – exploded within a minute of its launch from here on Christmas day Saturday.

The geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV-F06), launching a heavy communication satellite from the Sriharikota spaceport, exploded just a minute after launch Saturday evening.

The failure comes nine months after the previous rocket – GSAT-D3 – failed April 15.

Sriharikota, December 25: Advanced communication satellite GSAT-5P, which will ensure continuity of telecom, television and weather services after an earlier satellite is retired, was succesfully launched from the Sriharikota rocket launch centre Saturday. evening.

–IANS

Sriharikota, December 25: India’s space programme suffered a serious setback Saturday as its rocket failed to put an advanced communication satellite, GSAT-5P, in the intended orbit.

Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Rs.300 crore mission failed as its rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) disintegrated after its lift-off.

–IANS

Sriharikota, December 25: India’s ambitious space programme suffered a serious setback Saturday as its rocket carrying an advanced communication satellite exploded after lift off.

‘The rocket’s first stage seemed to have performed normally. The problem seems to have cropped up in the second stage as the rocket didn’t get sufficient thrust,’ an official said.

It was at 4.04 p.m. that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the rocket, with a 2,310 kg GSAT-5P satellite costing about Rs.125 crore.

Hyderabad, December 25: The harmful consequences of over-using mobile phones has been a subject of discussion for many years. Some reports have even suggested it might contribute to cancers and other ailments.

But now, people who cannot part with their mobiles even for a minute can breathe easy.

Radiation shields being promoted by companies are available dime-a-dozen in the market.

These promise to decrease radiation effects by 70 per cent if used in mobile phones.

Elizabeth Priyanka, a student of Loyola Degree College, has been using one for many months now.

Sriharikota, December 25: In a setback for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the launch of the advanced communication satellite GSAT-5P failed on Saturday.

The satellite, which successfully lifted-off on the GSLV rocket from the Sriharikota rocket launch centre here, exploded mid-air following technical problem in the first phase after launch.

Television images showed thick smoke in the sky above the Sriharikota rocket launch centre.

Chennai, December 24: The 30-hour countdown for the launch of advanced communication satellite GSAT-5P started 10.04 Friday morning at the Sriharikota rocket launch centre, about 80 km from Chennai, an official of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

The Rs.125 crore (Rs.1.25 billion) GSAT-5P satellite weighing 2,130 kg will serve the needs of the telecommunication, televison and weather sectors. It will eventually retire the INSAT-2E satellite that was sent up in 1999.

If all goes well, the satellite will be blasted off Saturday afternoon.

Washington, December 24: Some of the world will be able to greet the first part of the new year with a solar eclipse. On the morning of Tuesday, January 4, 2011, an eclipse of the Sun will be widely visible across Europe and as far east as India. The eclipse won’t be visible in North and South America, however.

New Delhi, December 19: A total lunar eclipse Dec 21 will be the last eclipse of 2010, a statement by the Planetary Society, India said Saturday. The eclipse will however not be visible in India.

According to N. Sri Raghunandan Kumar, general secretary of the Planetary Society, the eclipse will begin 10.58 a.m. and after passing through various phases, will end at 4.36 p.m.

The eclipse will be visible in the region covering Europe, West Africa, America, the Pacific Ocean, eastern Australia, the Philippines and eastern and northern Asia.

Chennai, December 19: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has postponed Monday’s rocket launch, meant to put an advanced communications satellite into orbit, following the detection of a leak in its Russian-made cryogenic engine.

The rocket, called a geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV), was to carry GSAT-5P, an advanced communications satellite meant to retire an earlier one sent up in 1999 and ensure continuity of telecom, TV and weather services.

New Delhi, December 17: The new and graphic pictorial warnings on tobacco products were deferred due to pressure from the tobacco industry, including ITC and the Pan Shop Owners Association, an RTI query has revealed.

According to NGO Voluntary Health Association of India (VHAI) that filed the RTI, the government has ‘admitted’ that the new pictorial warnings on tobacco packs have been deferred because of the ‘pressure’ exerted by the industry and other interested parties.

Chennai, December 17: India’s satellite launch vehicle, which is scheduled to blast off Monday with an advanced communication satellite to retire one sent up in 1999 and ensure continuity of telecom, TV and weather services, is now taller by two metres and heavier by four tonnes as compared to its standard configuration.

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s standard configuration for the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) rocket is a height of 49 metres and 414 tonnes in weight at lift-off.

Chennai, December 17: India’s geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV), scheduled to blast off Monday with an advanced communication satellite (GSAT-5P), is now taller by two metres and heavier by four tonnes as compared to its standard configuration.

The Indian Space Research Organisation’s standard configuration for the GSLV rocket is a height of 49 metres and 414 tonnes in weight at lift-off.

The rocket that would lift off Monday stands 51 metres tall and weighs 418 tonnes.

London, December 17: After its controversial Street View programme, Internet search giant Google is all set to unveil a new browser that can map out the entire human body.

The high-tech 3D application, called Google Body Browser, has been hailed as a breakthrough in the study of anatomy that could revolutionise people’s understanding of the human body and even fast-track medical research.

New Delhi, December 12: A Navi Mumbai disc jockey was baffled and shocked when police came to his house on Tuesday night asking him about an Indian Mujahideen e-mail claiming responsibility for Varanasi blast.

The e-mail was sent by Akhil Talreja’s unsecured WiFi connection, minutes after the blast. Later, it was found that his connection, which did not require a password, was hacked into by IM terrorists and used for the purpose.

Akhil and his brother Nikhil were detained and questioned for hours.

London, December 12: Computers running the 64-bit version of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system could be rendered unusable if users install the latest anti-virus software update from AVG. The company has now withdrawn the product.

The problem affects the most recent free update for AVG 2011, which was made available to users Dec 1.

AVG has acknowledged that the patch can send some 64-bit Windows 7 machines into a crash cycle, forcing a reboot of the computer from which it never restarts. The anti-virus company has withdrawn the update, reports the Telegraph.

New Delhi, December 12: Newton’s third law of motion states that, “Every action have their equal and opposite reaction.” This theory is also applicable to Indian handset market. On one side, technology advances like a bullet train, but at the same time cyber crimes and viruses surge at an alarming rate.

London, December 07: Pregnant women who regularly use mobile phones are likely to up the risk of bad behaviour in their children.

If their offspring then start using the devices at an early age, the chances of problems rise to 50 percent, according to researchers.

They found that those exposed to mobile phones in the womb had a 30 percent rise in behavioural difficulties at the age of seven, reports the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, which also mirrored an earlier study by the survey team.

Bhubaneswar, December 05: Close on the heels of hacking of the CBI website, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) today said it was developing a mechanism to make websites hacking-proof.

This was stated by Dr V K Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister and Director General of DRDO, on the sidelines of a function where he was conferred with a D. Sc degree by the KIIT University at its annual convocation.

Washington, December 03: A coffee cup sized implantable artificial kidney being developed by a US researcher of Indian origin, is awaiting animal and human trials to bring affordable treatment to millions of kidney failure patients worldwide.

Shuvo Roy, working with a team of engineers, biologists and physicians at the University of California, San Francisco, to shrink the device to the size of a coffee cup, is “excited about advancing it towards large animal and human trials”.

London, December 02: NASA has made a stunning claim of an “astrobiology finding” that could suggest alien life exists – even on Earth.

The discovery could prove the theory of ‘shadow’ creatures which exist here in hostile environments previously thought uninhabitable.

The ‘life as we don’t know it’ could even survive on hostile planets and develop into intelligent creatures such as humans if and when conditions improve.

Researchers will unveil the discovery of a microbe that can live in an environment previously thought too poisonous for any life-form, reports the Telegraph.

New Delhi, December 02: What began modestly in the late 1960s as a way to connect research establishments by the US military has grown phenomenally to become the Internet, networking and empowering billions of people worldwide in myriads of ways. For instance, the latest Wikileaks, comprising million of documents, demonstrate the power of the Internet to change the world and bring transparency in governance.

London, December 01: The makers of web-browser Firefox are working on a system which will allow internet users to stop themselves from being tracked online.

Mozilla wants to build a mechanism which will allow people to opt out of companies secretly monitoring which websites they visit, currently a common practice.

Internet giants like Google and Facebook use such information to sell targeted adverts and make money without ever asking the consent of the user.

London, November 29:Scientists have found a way to reverse aging, unlocking the secret of eternal youth and paving the way for a drug to keep one “forever young”.

Lives could be longer and healthier, free from illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and heart disease, with skin and hair retaining their youthful lustre. Increasing the number of years of healthy life would greatly ease health service costs and reduce the burden on families of caring for frail relatives, the Daily Mail reported, citing the journal Nature.

London, November 29: Scientists have found a way to reverse aging, unlocking the secret of eternal youth and paving the way for a drug to keep one “forever young”.

Lives could be longer and healthier, free from illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and heart disease, with skin and hair retaining their youthful lustre. Increasing the number of years of healthy life would greatly ease health service costs and reduce the burden on families of caring for frail relatives, the Daily Mail reported, citing the journal Nature.