Science

Washington, February 04: Internet search firm Google is finalizing a deal that would let the US National Security Agency help it investigate a corporate espionage attack that may have originated in China, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

The aim of the investigation is to better defend Google, the world’s largest Internet search company, and its users from future attacks, the Post said, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the arrangement.

New delhi, February 03: Microsoft Corp’s 10-month-old search engine Bing, which has struggled to make headway against Google, can be a viable runner-up and make money online eventually, according to one of its top executives.

The world’s biggest software company has lost more than $5 billion over the past four years trying to build an online business, but hopes to reverse that trend once it completes a search advertising partnership with Yahoo Inc.

Beijing, February 03: Scientists in China claimed to have found a breakthrough in acupuncture therapy which would help detect cancer and brain tumours in patients at an early stage through a super powerful X-ray beam.

The researchers working on synchrotron have detected evidence that acupuncture points differ from other parts of the body.

Hartford, February 03: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. announced a billion-dollar venture on Monday that it hopes will respond to military demand for technology to fight two wars, including Black Hawk helicopters that can see and fly on their own.

The Stratford-based helicopter maker and military contractor said Sikorsky Innovations is intended to speed the transformation of the mechanical helicopter into a computerized aircraft.

Hyderabad, February 02: The Centre today said it was trying to get “best solutions” from within the country and abroad to overcome water challenges.

“We have identified 27 types of water challenges like salinity, iron, fluoride, less water and distant source. All these challenges are on one side and there are some 50-60 solutions on the other side, both in India and abroad,” Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan said today.

“We are not standing on formalities and we will get best solutions from anywhere,” Chavan told a press conference here.

Washington, February 02: American scientists have developed a new code to contain “stealthiest” of self-propagating worms that cause damage worth billions of dollar worldwide.

These worms, also known as infectious computer programmes, are malicious programmes which after being released can spread throughout networks without human control, stealing or erasing hard drive data, interfering with pre-installed programmes and slowing, even crashing, home and work computers.

Washington, February 02: US space agency NASA Monday named five aerospace companies to come up with concepts for transporting humans into orbit under plans announced by the Obama administration to shift responsibility for transportation into space to private firms.

NASA awarded a total of $50 million to the companies to study human spaceflight alternatives after the retirement of the space shuttle later this year. The money comes from government stimulus funds authorized by Congress to jump-start the faltering US economy last year.

Washington, February 01: Getting to space is about to be outsourced. The Obama administration on Monday will propose in its new budget spending billions of dollars to encourage private companies to build, launch and operate spacecraft for NASA and others. The U.S. space agency would buy its astronauts a ride into space just like hopping in a taxi.

London, February 01: NASA is embarking a new ambitious mission to unravel the sun’s interior mechanisms that may help predict solar storms that cause chaos on Earth.

The U.S. space agency hopes the mission — scheduled for February 9 from Space Launch Complex-41, Cape Canaveral AFS, Florida — will help understand the causes of extreme solar activities such as sun spots and solar winds and flares.

According to NASA, after its launch, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will spend five years in orbit trying to discover how such solar phenomena are created.

London, February 01: NASA is sending a new mission in the space to observe the surface of the sun so as to unlock the secret of solar storms and other chaotic activities.

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), scheduled to be launched Feb 9, will spend five years in the space to observe how sunlight is generated. It will try to trace causes of extreme solar activities, such as sun spots, solar winds and flares.

London, January 31: NASA is embarking a new ambitious mission to unravel the sun’s interior mechanisms that may help predict solar storms that cause chaos on Earth.

The US space agency hopes the mission — scheduled for February 9 from Space Launch Complex-41, Cape Canaveral AFS, Florida — will help understand the causes of extreme solar activities such as sun spots and solar winds and flares.

According to NASA, after its launch, the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will spend five years in orbit trying to discover how such solar phenomena are created.

New Delhi, January 31: Wipro’s IT business arm Wipro Infotech has rolled out its environment-friendly and toxin-free Wipro Greenware desktop PCs, which are made using materials free of lethal chemicals.

Mr. Anand Sankaran, senior vice-president and business head, India & ME business, Wipro announced that the newly launched desktops, which are based on the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, do not contain any carcinogenic materials including PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs).

Mr. Sankaran added that greenware would be 15-20 percent out of the yearly desktop output of 2-lakh units.

Washington, January 30: After six years of unprecedented exploration, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit will no longer be a fully mobile robot.

NASA has designated the once-roving scientific explorer a stationary science platform after efforts during the past several months to free it from a sand trap were unsuccessful.

The venerable robot’s primary task in the next few weeks will be to position itself to combat the severe Martian winter.

Rome, January 30: Experts have located the source of an ancient aqueduct built by Emperor Trajan nearly 2 000 years ago to supply Rome.

Archaeologists and officials said at a news conference on Thursday that the find near lake Bracciano, north of Rome, was made by a British documentary crew that was filming in the area and was told by residents about an aqueduct believed to date back to the 18th century.

Archaeologist Lorenzo Quilici, an expert on aqueducts, visited the site in June and confirmed it was much older.

London, January 30: The so-called “club drug” ecstasy is more likely than other stimulants like speed or crystal meth to kill young, healthy people who are not known as regular drug users, British researchers said on Friday.

A study of stimulant-deaths in Britain between 1997 and 2007 found that those who died after taking ecstasy were mainly younger and healthier than those who died after taking amphetamines.

San Francisco, January 30: The recent hacking attack that prompted Google’s threat to leave China is underscoring the heightened dangers of previously undisclosed computer security flaws – and renewing debate over buying and selling information about them in the black market.

Because no fix was available, the linchpin in the attack was one of the worst kinds of security holes. Criminals treasure these types of “zero day” security vulnerabilities because they are the closest to a sure thing and virtually guarantee the success of a shrewdly crafted attack.

New Delhi, January 30: Don’t forget to catch a glimpse of the moon this evening. According to scientists, the Moon will be the closer to the earth Saturday than it will be for the rest of the year – appearing at its biggest and brightest.

C.B. Devgun, director, SPACE (Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators) said: “Some full moons are genuinely larger than others and the one today will be huge. It will be 15 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than we will see for the rest of the year.”

San Francisco, January 30: Power plants, oil refineries and water supplies increasingly dependent on the internet are under relentless attack by cyber spies and thugs, according to a McAfee report released on Thursday.

The Critical Infrastructure in the Age of Cyber-War analysis by the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies said the price of “downtime” from major attacks exceeds $6m a day.

“If cyberspace is the Wild West, the sheriff needs to get to Dodge City,” concluded the study commissioned by McAfee, which sells computer security software.

Washington, January 30: President Barack Obama is essentially grounding efforts to return astronauts to the moon and instead is sending Nasa in new directions with roughly $6bn more, according to officials familiar with the plans.

A White House official confirmed published reports on Thursday that when next week’s budget is proposed, Nasa will get an additional $5.9bn over five years.

Hua Hin, January 30: A dozen Asian nations and Russia vowed on Friday to work to double the number of wild tigers by 2022, crack down on poaching that has devastated the big cats and prohibit the building of roads and bridges that could harm their habitats.

However, the historic declaration adopted by the 13 countries that have wild tigers includes no new money to finance the conservation efforts.

Los Angeles, January 30: A California preservation panel has taken the unusual step of naming the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing site as a state historical resource.

The vote on Friday by the California State Historical Resources Commission is part of an effort by several states to have Tranquility Base become a national historic landmark and then a world heritage site.

The designation applies to everything left there by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, not the lunar surface.

London, January 29: Due to its unprecedented sensitivity to magnetic fluctuations, a portable magnetometer will help diagnose heart problems in foetuses, much faster than ultrasound, ECG (electrocardiogram) and existing cardiac magnetometers.

It will also be smaller, simpler to operate, able to gather more information and significantly cheaper than other devices currently available.

New Delhi, January 29: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday held talks with the Scientific Advisory Council to discuss a roadmap to make India competitive and a global innovation hub in science in the next few years.

A team of experts lead by council’s chairman C.N.R. Rao and Minister of Science and Technology Prithviraj Chavan discussed future plans and areas that require attention.

Seattle, January 29: The successful launch of new operating system Windows 7 propelled Microsoft to record revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009, the software giant reported Thursday.

Microsoft reported net income of $6.7 billion, a 60 percent increase on the year prior, while revenue rose 18 percent to $19 billion.

“This is a record quarter for Windows units,” Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s chief operating officer, said in a news release. “We are thrilled by the consumer reception to Windows 7 and by business enthusiasm to adopt Windows 7.”

New Delhi, January 28: Don’t forget to watch the moon on Saturday. The moon will be closest to the earth on that day and will appear to be bigger and brightest of the year, a scientist said Thursday.

Explaining the reason, director SPACE (Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators) C.B. Devgun said: “Some full moons are genuinely larger than others and the one on Saturday will be huge.”

The moon will be 15 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than we will see for the rest of the year, he said.