Science

New York, June 11: Social networking isn’t only for the under 40s. More than 25% of Americans 50 years and older stay connected using sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, according to new research.

And nearly half of older adults, aged 50 to 64, say they are savvy about the internet.

Kevin Donnellan, the chief communications officer at AARP, which released the report, said: “The latest data tells us that more and more, social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50 plus, and boomers in particular.”

Washington, June 11: Google spruced up its homepage with images from artists, sculptors and photographers on Thursday, but dropped the feature after drawing the ire of users clamouring for the normally blank background.

The rotating images designed to show off a new feature that lets users personalise their wallpaper originally were intended to be on display on the Google.com homepages of users around the world for 24 hours.

But Google returned to its plain white background prematurely because many users believed the change was permanent.

Seoul, June 11: South Korean and Russian experts launched an investigation on Friday after the spectacular failure of the Asian country’s latest rocket launch, with some researchers blaming inadequate testing.

The Naro-1 rocket, which was Russian-made but assembled in South Korea, veered off course and exploded 137 seconds after blast-off on Thursday.

The mishap came after a first rocket failure in 2009, thwarting South Korea’s plans to launch a scientific satellite and setting back its dreams of joining Asia’s space race.

Washington, June 11: Google has said it was troubled by new regulations in Vietnam that may allow the government to block access to websites and track the activities of Internet users.

“Internet users in Hanoi will soon find that they can’t reach certain sites when browsing the Web at local Internet cafes,” Google policy analyst Dorothy Chou said in a blog post.

Chou said Google’s concern stemmed from a regulation enacted in Vietnam in April that would require all retail Internet locations to install a particular application on their servers by 2011.

New York, June 10: If you’ve had your fill of apocalyptic scenarios, earthquakes, volcanoes and global warming, here comes a new threat which may wipe out the world in 2013.

Imagine a scene from any of Hollywood’s disaster films. An eerie scene where mobile phones go on the blink, GPS is knocked out, TVs go blank and the world is plunged into chaos.

New York, June 10: Facebook is joining forces with a national parent-teachers’ association to promote internet safety through a set of tools and resources for kids, schools and parents.

The world’s largest online social network and the National PTA will work together to build a programme to provide information and support about such issues as cyber bullying, good online citizenship and internet security.

London, June 10: The world’s largest genetic scan of people with autism in their families has found that many patients have their own unique pattern of genetic mutations, not necessarily inherited.

The findings published in the journal Nature help confirm the strong role that genes play in autism, and also suggest that small genetic disruptions may begin in the parents’ eggs and sperm.

Washington, June 10: About 5 500 years ago someone in the mountains of Armenia put his best foot forward in what is now the oldest leather shoe ever found.

It will never be confused with a modern shoe, but the well-preserved footwear was made of a single piece of leather, laced up the front and back, researchers reported on Wednesday in PLoS One, a journal of the Public Library of Science.

Bonn, June 10: Climate negotiators gave a standing ovation to the outgoing head of the UN climate change secretariat on Wednesday even after he told them they would be at risk of a red card in a soccer match for wasting time.

Yvo de Boer, who steps down from July 1 after four years in the job, said governments were doing too little to stick to a promise to limit a rise in world temperatures to below 2C above pre-industrial times.

Cape Town, June 10: As the Soccer World Cup countdown nears its anticipated conclusion, the focus will shift to teams’ performances on the field. One area that has come under scrutiny is a player’s ability to score goals.

But what is the science behind that famous Roberto Carlos goal taken from a free kick during the World Cup in France? The Brazilian kicked the ball far to the right of the wall, but it miraculously appeared to change direction and found the back of the net.

Washington, June 10: Google is getting faster and more comprehensive with a new web indexing system called “Caffeine”.

Carrie Grimes, a Google software engineer, said the internet search giant had completed the system which “provides 50% fresher results for web searches” and the “largest collection of web content we’ve offered”.

“Whether it’s a news story, a blog or a forum post, you can now find links to relevant content much sooner after it is published than was possible ever before,” Grimes said in a blog post late on Tuesday.

Paris, June 09: New research has found Jews share a genetic bond with Cypriots and Druze and confirms the Jewish diaspora maintained a strong DNA continuity despite its long separation from the Middle East, scientists said on Wednesday.

The work, published in the British journal Nature, is part of a wider exploration into human migration based on clusters of tiny differences in genetic code.

Cape Town, June 10: At exactly noon on Wednesday, people around the world blew their vuvuzelas, whistled and honked their horns to celebrate the first FIFA World Cup in Africa.

It was called the “Vuvuzela Moment” and it was celebrated in equal style online as it was offline. Tweeters in South Africa and across the world came to the party in fine style, causing the phrase “Vuvuzela” to trend on the world-famous social networking and micro-blogging service as fans across the world spoke about and blew their virtual vuvuzelas in 140 characters.

Washington, June 09: Google lashed out at Apple on Wednesday over new rules which it said would effectively prevent the internet search and advertising giant from placing ads inside iPhone applications.

Omar Hamoui, founder of AdMob, a mobile advertising start-up which Google bought in 2009, said Apple’s new terms of service for application developers would bar the use of AdMob or Google advertising solutions on the hot-selling smart phones.

Toronto, June 10: While most people have gut reactions to websites, a group of scientists is developing software that can actually measure those emotions and more.

Aude Dufresne, professor at the University of Montreal (UofM) Department Of Communications, led a team of researchers that are designing a new software to evaluate the biological responses of Internet users.

Simply put, the new software measures everything in web users from body heat to eye movements to facial expressions and analyses how they relate to online activities.

Seoul, June 09: South Korea called off the launch of a space rocket Wednesday after problems with a safety system, media reports said.

Engineers discovered a leak in one of the oil fire extinguisher nozzles used during blast-off from the launch pad, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said. It added that the problem was not with the rocket itself.

“Both South Korean and Russian engineers are looking at the problem to see what can be done,” ministry spokesman Pyun Kyung Bum was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

New Delhi, June 08: Google’s legal problems surrounding data collection around the world have intensified when it emerged that the company faces a police investigation in Australia, the latest in a growing number of countries expressing concern about its Street View mapping services.

San Francisco, June 07: As part of changes rolling out this week, Yahoo will import personal updates from Facebook’s social networking for users who want a bridge between two of the world’s most popular websites. The Facebook link will need to be turned on by each Yahoo user.

Hyderabad, June 07: Anti-tank guided missile Nag on Sunday successfully destroyed the target in three seconds after its launch from a Nag missile carrier (Namica), Nag Project Director S.S. Mishra told The Hindu.

Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Chief Controller (Missile Systems) K. Shekhar, DRDL director and programme director of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme P. Venugopalan and personnel from of the office of the Director General of Mechanised Forces were present during the test-firing.

Washington, June 06: Who’s in control of your Windows 7 desktop – you or the operating system?

With applications and icons scattered all over the place, constant pop-up notifications, and programmes hidden deep within the Start menu, you might feel like Microsoft has done its best to hinder your productivity rather than enhance it.

But with a little know-how and a few free tools, you can take charge of your desktop like never before.

London, June 06: Scientists at US space agency NASA have found vital clues that primitive aliens could be living on Titan, one of Saturn’s biggest moons.

On the basis of chemical composition found on Titan’s surface, the experts believe that life forms have been breathing in the planet’s atmosphere and also feeding on its surface’s fuel.

The research based on the analysis of data sent from NASA’s Cassini probe has been detailed in two separate studies.

London, June 05: There’s good news for patients who need an organ transplant with scientists developing a new machine that can weave human organs with fragments of tissues.

Researchers at a US-based regenerative medicine firm have already developed a prototype machine capable of growing arteries. They claim the doctors could one day be able to “print” new organs for transplant.

London, June 05: There’s good news for patients who need an organ transplant with scientists developing a new machine that can weave human organs with fragments of tissues.

Researchers at a US-based regenerative medicine firm have already developed a prototype machine capable of growing arteries. They claim the doctors could one day be able to “print” new organs for transplant.

Istanbul, June 05: Turkey has indefinitely shut off access to several Google services including Google Docs.

Turkey’s Telecommunications Communication Presidency released an official statement Friday, saying it has blocked access to some Google IP (Internet Protocol) addresses ‘because of legal reasons’, reported.

Some Google applications may be completely inaccessible or take a long time to load, the statement said.

Helsinki, June 03: Finnish mobile telephone maker Nokia Thursday unveiled a bicyle charger unit aimed at offering “free and environmentally friendly electricity” for handset users.

The kit includes a charger, a dynamo, and a handset holder.

The dynamo – a small electrical generator – uses the movement of the wheels to charge the handset, Nokia said, adding that the dynamo was connected to a jack used in most of the group’s mobile phones.