Science

London, January 14: Major changes are needed in the way pedigree dogs are bred in Britain, an inquiry triggered by a hard-hitting television documentary about the Crufts dog show said on Thursday.

The probe raises welfare concerns over puppy farms, inbreeding and the breeding of animals with physical characteristics which are prized at dog shows but can cause health problems for the dogs.

It was set up in the wake of a controversial 2008 BBC documentary about Crufts which said some dogs on show suffered from genetic diseases after years of inbreeding.

Beijing, January 14: In China’s first official response to Google’s threat to leave the country, the government on Thursday said foreign internet companies are welcome, but must obey the law and gave no hint of a possible compromise over web censorship.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu, without mentioning Google by name, said Beijing prohibits e-mail hacking, another reason cited by Google for possibly shutting down its China operation. She was responding to questions about Google at a regular ministry briefing.

Paris, January 14: Global news agency AFP has launched a mobile news application for the Apple iPhone.

The application, which also works on the iPod Touch, offers users the agency’s global news coverage.

“It gives access to the global news agency’s multimedia content in English, Spanish, Portuguese and German, including breaking world news from wars and conflicts to politics, sport and entertainment, as well as the latest major developments in health, science and technology,” AFP said in a statement.

Santa Monica, January 14: Video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. said on Wednesday that the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has brought in more than $1bn in revenue since it went on sale in November.

Given that pace, the game is on track to become the best selling video game ever by number of copies sold, said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan.

Angwin, January 14: John Conover was looking for the best place to grow Napa Valley’s famous cabernet sauvignon grapes. Turns out the same southwest-facing, sunny hillside that gives him great grapes also raises a fine crop of solar panels.

“We wanted to be as green as we can be,” said Conover, a partner in the Cade winery, which is on track for Gold certification under the US Green Building Council’s Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

Green wine is catching on.

Washington, January 14: One night of good sleep is not enough to recover from chronic sleep deficit, which over time hinders a person’s ability to stay alert and attentive, US researchers said on Wednesday.

Many nights of too little sleep when the body’s rhythm says it is time to snooze have cumulative detrimental effects on how a person performs and could be a safety risk, the researchers wrote in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

New York, January 14: The state of US public libraries: Higher demand, tighter funding and much more connected.

“The Condition of US Public Libraries, Trends 1999-2009,” compiled by the American Library Association and released on Thursday, shows a steady upward trend of visits, from 1.23 billion in 2002 to more than 1.4 billion in 2007, and a struggle for money since the recession began.

Out of 45 states reporting, 24 decreased library funding in the previous year, and money for an additional 11 states was unchanged. Nearly 15% of libraries said hours had been cut.

Beijing, January 14: US internet giant Google’s threat to withdraw from China is generating an outpouring of nationalist fervour from the country’s online community, with some cheering it as a victory for the Chinese.

Google, the world’s top search engine, said on Tuesday it would not abide by censorship and may shut its Chinese-language google.cn website because of a massive cyber-attack that also targeted at least 20 other companies.

It also said human rights activists using its Gmail service had also been targeted.

Beijing, January 14: In China’s first official response to Google’s threat to leave the country, the government Thursday said foreign Internet companies are welcome but must obey the law and gave no hint of a possible compromise over Web censorship.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, without mentioning Google by name, said Beijing prohibits e-mail hacking, another issue cited by the company. She was responding to questions about Google at a regular ministry briefing.

Kochi, January 14: It is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and scientists from across the globe are thronging southern India to watch the ‘Ring of Fire’ during the millennium’s longest annular solar eclipse Friday. The southern tips of Kerala and Tamil Nadu will offer the best view of the moon obscuring the sun.

In India, the eclipse will start around 11 a.m. from Kerala and end around 3.15 p.m at Mizoram. The ‘Ring of Fire’ will be best seen in the Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and then in Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi, where it will be visible for the longest 10 minutes and 13 seconds.

New Delhi, January 14: Astronomy lovers are in for a rare celestial treat as they will be able to witness the century”s longest annular solar eclipse tomorrow.

“The solar eclipse on January 15 is the longest annular solar eclipse that will occur in the 21st century,” Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) C B Devgun told.

New Delhi, January 13: Global warming appears to have taken a toll on the climate patterns in Kashmir valley which has been experiencing a decline in snowfall and rise in temperature, weather scientists have found.

Analysing the snow accumulation and ablation patterns in Pir Panjal and Shamshawari regions of the valley during the winters of 2004-05 to 2006-07, scientists have shown that the seasonal snow cover has reduced while the maximum temperature was increasing steadily.

Washington, January 13: A mystery object from space is about to whizz close by Earth on Wednesday. It won’t hit our planet, but scientists are stumped by what exactly it is.

Astronomers say it may be space junk or it could be a tiny asteroid, too small to cause damage even if it hit. It’s 33 to 50 feet wide at most.

NASA says that on Wednesday at 7:47 am EST, it will streak by, missing Earth by about 80,000 miles. In the western United States it may be bright enough to be seen with a good amateur telescope

–Agencies

Cape Canaveral, January 13: NASA is still shooting for a shuttle launch next month, despite bad hoses for a new room at the space station.

Endeavour is supposed to blast off Feb. 7 with the Tranquility module. It’s a chamber that will provide additional living quarters at the International Space Station.

Recent tests found a problem with the ammonia coolant lines for the module. The metal braiding on two of the four hoses began separating.

Thiruvananthapuram, January 13: The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here, an unit of ISRO, has made elaborate arrangements including launch of sounding rockets to gather data for a comprehensive analysis of the annular solar eclipse, which will occur on January 15.

The atmospheric-ionospheric parameters to be conducted in India would be one of the most comprehensive scientific campaigns ever attempted during a solar eclipse anywhere in the world, a VSSC release said here on Wednesday.

Cape Canaveral, January 13: NASA is finding it is not just mechanical glitches that make the International Space Station a tough place to operate.

Engineers trouble-shooting a problem with the station’s $250 million water recycling system, which processes urine into clean water for drinking, believe the cause is a high concentration of calcium in the astronauts’ urine, which clogs the system.

Scientists do not yet know if the high calcium concentration is due to bone loss, a consequence of living in a zero-gravity environment, or other factors.

New Delhi, January 13: Russia keen to assist Indian firms to construct solar power stations. They are also planning to enter into series of MoUs with Indian partners

Lauding the major renewable energy initiative of Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission, Russia on Tuesday expressed strong confidence that both New Delhi and Moscow had great potential for forging joint ventures and setting up manufacturing facilities for application of solar energy in the fields of industrial, military, civil and space sectors.

London, January 13: The power of grid computing, explored by a European consortium, is helping extend research in a multitude of disciplines, ranging from genetic origins of heart disease to reconstruction of ancient musical instruments to managing fisheries, says a new report.

A grid is a network of high-powered computing and storage resources available to researchers wishing to carry out advanced number-crunching activities.

New Delhi, January 13: Russia keen to assist Indian firms to construct solar power stations. They are also planning to enter into series of MoUs with Indian partners

Lauding the major renewable energy initiative of Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission, Russia on Tuesday expressed strong confidence that both New Delhi and Moscow had great potential for forging joint ventures and setting up manufacturing facilities for application of solar energy in the fields of industrial, military, civil and space sectors.

Chennai, January 13: The Indian space agency will launch a series of rockets from its two centres between Thursday and Sunday to study Friday’s solar eclipse and its aftereffects.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready to send up a series of sounding rockets – rockets carrying instruments to measure the physical parameters of the upper atmosphere – from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh and Thumba in Kerala to study the effects of the solar eclipse.

The solar eclipse Friday will be for a duration of 11.8 minutes. The sounding rockets will be fired before and after.

New Delhi, January 13: 2010 is here with its first solar eclipse on Friday and i am sure you are not going to miss it. As the world looks forward to the millennium’s longest annular solar eclipse Friday, there are superstitions galore in India. But science experts have urged people to shed ‘false beliefs’ and watch the celestial spectacle the right way.

London, January 12: A man’s eyes will tell you if he is looking for a brief fling or a long-term relationship, scientists say.

If he maintains eye contact for long periods, he is thinking of his date as a potential long-term partner.

But if his gaze strays regularly from the face to the body, he is thinking of other – more short-term – things.

The study carried out by Dr Tom Currie of Tokyo University found that faces were far more important than bodies if men were seeking a life partner, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

Moscow, January 12: India would launch its first manned space flights by sending two astronauts into orbit in a Russian spaceship in 2013, according to reports.

For this, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is to finance the acquisition of a Soyuz spaceship and train its astronauts by a Russian commander.

The Russian cosmonaut would lead the two-member crew on an independent space flight lasting several days, Voice of Russia radio reported.

Google has denied favouring Islam over other religions in its suggested searches, after allegations that phrases criticising the faith had been censored.

Typing “Christianity is” or “Buddhism is” into the search engine’s home page generates a range of offensive suggestions for how the user might wish to complete their query.

These include “not a religion”, “a cult”, “fake” and “bull—-“. Few of the suggested searches are positive or neutral.

Chicago, January 11: Movie buffs and sports fans looking to 3D televisions for the ultimate home theatre experience may want to get their eyes checked first – or risk a 3D headache, US eye experts said on Saturday.

The growing popularity of three-dimensional movies such as James Cameron’s Avatar – now a $1bn box office hit – has inspired a crop of 3D TV sets, unveiled this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.