Science

Washington, March 05: People in a bad mood perform tasks better than those in a good state of mind, a new study has claimed, contradicting the common belief that people err more when they are unhappy.

The University of New South Wales research has found that melancholy might help people hit peak performance.

For their research, a team of scientists led by Prof Joseph Forgas reviewed several of studies in which researchers induced either a good or bad mood in volunteers.

Madrid, March 04: Spanish police said they had arrested three men suspected of building the world’s biggest network of virus-infected computers which hijacked more than 13 million PCs.

The “botnet” of infected computers affected machines in almost every country in the world in homes, universities, banks, government agencies and companies, including more than half of the largest US companies on the Fortune 1,000 list.

It was designed to steal credit card data, online banking passwords, account information for social networking sites and other sensitive information.

Pasadena (US), March 04: Scientists are impressed with the flood of data beamed back by NASA’s most advanced Mars orbiter.

The space agency said yesterday the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has sent back 100 terabytes of information since 2006. That’s equal to about 3 million songs in MP3 format.

Launched from Florida in 2005, the reconnaissance orbiter reached Mars in March 2006. It is the most powerful probe ever sent to the Red Planet.

Washington, March 03: A moon probe has found millions of tons of water on the moon’s north pole, NASA reported Monday. The vast source of water could one day be used to generate oxygen or sustain a moon base.

A NASA radar aboard India’s Chandrayaan-I lunar orbiter found 40 craters, ranging in size from 1 to 9 miles across, with pockets of ice. Scientists estimate at least 600 million tons of ice could be entombed in these craters.

Washington, March 03: NASA scientists say that last week’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile has shortened the length of the day by shifting the earth’s axis.

NASA scientist Richard Gross says the quake has shortened the length of an Earth day by about 1.26 microseconds.

Every microsecond is one millionth of a second.

Gross’s calculations showed the quake should have moved Earth’s figure axis by 2.7 milliarcseconds, which is about 8 centimeters.

Sydney, March 02: A little-used internet authentication system from the 1980s could enable web users to securely log in only once per internet session, says a new study.

PhD researcher S. Suriadi from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Information Security Institute said a secure single sign-on system was more than simply using the same password for multiple accounts.

Suriadi said any future single sign-on system, which could potentially give web users

access to a multitude of accounts, including e-mail, bank and shopping, would require

Washington, March 02: Scientists have detected more than 40 ice-filled craters in the moon’s North Pole using data from a NASA radar that flew aboard India’s Chandrayaan-I.

NASA’s Mini-SAR instrument, lightweight, synthetic aperture radar, found more than 40 small craters with water ice. The craters range in size from 2 to 15 km in diameter.

The finding would give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit, a NASA statement said, adding it is estimated that there could be at least 600 million metric tons of water ice in the craters.

Washington, March 02: Climate models project that the global average temperature will rise about 1 degree C by mid-century, if we continue with business as usual and emit greenhouse gases.

The global average, though, does not tell us anything about what will happen to regional climates.

Washington, March 02: Scientists have detected more than 40 ice-filled craters in the moon’s North Pole using data from a NASA radar that flew aboard India’s Chandrayaan-I.

NASA’s Mini-SAR instrument, lightweight, synthetic aperture radar, found more than 40 small craters with water ice. The craters range in size from 2 to 15 km in diameter.

The finding would give future missions a new target to further explore and exploit, a NASA statement said, adding it is estimated that there could be at least 600 million metric tons of water ice in the craters.

London, March 01: It sounds like something from a sci-fi film, but one in four Germans would be happy to have a microchip implanted in their body if they derived concrete benefits from it.

The survey, conducted by German IT industry lobby group BITKOM, was intended to show how the division between real life and the virtual world is increasingly coming down.

In all, 23 per cent of around 1000 respondents in the survey said they would be prepared to have a chip inserted under their skin “for certain benefits”.

Washington, February 26: Skeptical senators are telling NASA’s chief that the space agency lacks a goal and destination.

Earlier this month, the White House killed the previous administration’s plan to go back to the moon. The space shuttles will soon be retired.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says his agency has an ultimate goal: Mars. But he says it’s more than a decade away and NASA needs to upgrade its technology before astronauts reach the Red Planet.

Taipei, February 25: German wind-power firm InfraVest GmbH plans to quit Taiwan because as it is dissatisfied with Taipei’s policies regarding renewable energy, a newspaper reported Thursday. The United Daily New quoted Wang Yi-yun, vice manager of InfraVest (Taiwan), as saying that the company, which has about 60 staff in Taiwan, has dismissed 10 people and plans to lay off more staff within two months.

“Taiwan’s purchase price for electricity is lower than that of China and far lower than that of Europe,” she was quoted as saying.

Paris, February 24: Small domesticated dogs probably originated in the Middle East more than 12,000 years ago as the descendants of grey wolves, according to a gene study published on Wednesday.

University of California at Los Angeles researchers Melissa Gray and Robert Wayne led a team that searched for variations of a gene called IGF1 which is a characteristic of small dogs.

“(The variant) probably arose early in their history,” said Gray, whose paper is published online by BMC Biology, an open-access journal.

Washington, February 24: US internet giant Google today posted ads for dozens of positions in its China business.

The move suggests it may be rethinking its threat to leave the country over cyber attacks and online censorship.

Google is seeking to hire 40 staff, including engineers, sales managers and research scientists in Beijing, Shanghai and the southern city of Guangzhou, according to advertisements seen on its website.

Paris, February 24: A Court in Milan has convicted three Google Italy executives over an internet video showing a handicapped teenager being bullied, Google spokesman Bill Echikson says.

Each executive was given a six-month suspended sentence for violation of privacy, Echikson told AFP today, adding that Google would appeal the verdict.

The video, uploaded on Google Video where it remained for nearly two months in late 2006, showed four students bullying the teenager with Down’s syndrome in front of more than a dozen others who did not intervene.

Washington, February 24: Shortly, spacemen may orbit the Earth in inflatable space platforms, now that NASA has made them a main concern.

According to a report published in New Scientist, NASA declared a modification in this route on February 1.

In place of the planned crewed operations to the moon, the organization aims to pour funds into r&d of inflatable space habitats.

The outline listed technologies on National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s list but provided only some aspects.

Washington, February 24: An Indian American rocket scientist has invented a little power plant, which is being hailed as an important breakthrough in the energy sector as it is believed to replace the big power plants and transmission lines.

Christened ‘Bloom Box’, it would be unveiled by K R Sridhar in the Silicon Valley tomorrow, a preview of which was given at the CBS’s popular show ’60 Minutes’ this weekend.

It is just like a laptop of the power sector, the CBS reported.

New Delhi, February 23:Global IT major HP Tuesday unveiled technology solutions for the retail sector and small and medium businesses, designed to cut costs and enhance customer experience.

The retail technologies launched here include touch-enabled personal computers, point-of-sale systems, and LCD digital signages with an interactive display.

“In-store technology solutions have the potential to transform the retail sector in 2010,” said Chua Hwee Koon, vice president of the mobile business unit, in the company’s Asia Pacific region.

Florida, February 22: The shuttle landed at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida late Sunday night, wrapping up a successful two-week mission.

During their visit to the International Space Station, commander George Zamka and his crew installed a new room and big bay window. The addition marked the virtual completion of the orbiting outpost.

The weather almost didn’t cooperate. All day, clouds threatened to keep the shuttle in orbit. But the sky finally cleared, and Mission Control gave Mr. Zamka permission to make a rare nighttime landing.

Los Aageles, February 21: The University of Southern California (USC) has announced it will set up a new science and technology centre to study life below the earth’s surface.

The university will use a $25-million grant from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to create the centre for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations, Xinhua reported Saturday.

Brussels, February 19: US computer software giant Microsoft may go ahead with buying competitor Yahoo!’s internet search and advertising business, the European Commission ruled Thursday.

The deal is part of Microsoft’s strategy to challenge Google’s commanding position amongst internet search engines. Google controls more than 90 percent of the market in the European Economic Area (EEA), compared to less than 10 percent for Microsoft and Yahoo! put together.

Mumbai, February 18: India’s first set of indigenous 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, would be a reality in the next six years, as the excavation work at Kakrapar in Gujarat has already begun, NPCIL chairman and managing director S.K. Jain said.

The Centre had last October given a financial sanction of Rs 24,000 crore for four units of 700 MW of PHWRs, two each at Kakrapar and Rawatbhata in Rajashtan, he said.

Pasadena, February 18: A glowing comet. A star-forming cloud. A new view of the Andromeda galaxy. A dense galaxy cluster.

NASA on Wednesday released the first images from its sky-mapping spacecraft, which captured a hodgepodge of cosmic targets two months after its launch on a mission to map the entire sky.

“We’ve got a candy store of images coming down from space,” principal investigator Edward Wright of the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a statement.

Washington, February 18: With their construction work finished, the 11 astronauts aboard the shuttle-station complex accepted congratulations Wednesday from President Barack Obama, who assured them of his “unwavering” commitment to NASA.

The VIP call came just hours after the two crews threw open the shutters on the International Space Station’s big new bay window. They were still reveling in “this new grand view that we have of the world below us,” as the station’s skipper, Jeffrey Williams put it.

Florida, February 17: Astronauts ventured out on the third and final spacewalk of their mission Tuesday night to unwrap the International Space Station’s phenomenal new lookout –the best window on the world that orbiting crews have ever had.

Robert Behnken and Nicholas Patrick had a multitude of chores to complete outside, but the most anticipated was the unveiling of those seven windows, a fitting grand finale to the shuttle mission’s spacewalks.

“Let’s take the covers off,” shuttle commander George Zamka urged as the spacewalk got under way.