Science

Washington, Nov 24: Efficient large-scale power generation from geothermal and other low-grade heat sources may now be viable, thanks to a revolutionary new technology.

A team led by Behdad Moghtaderi, professor at the University of Newcastle Centre for Energy, worked with Granite Power Ltd (GPL) to develop the technology platform called Granex.

It delivers higher efficiencies than conventional power plants and increases the quantum of power that can be generated from low-grade natural heat and industrial waste sources.

Switzerland, November 24: Scientists say they have smashed together proton beams for the first time in a bid to gather information on the origins of the universe.

Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located underground near the French-Swiss border say they are delighted with the quick progress since the world’s biggest atom smasher restarted on Friday.

Proton beams started traveling at opposite directions around the 27-kilometer tunnel that is located 100 meters beneath the ground in Switzerland at the speed of light on Monday.

Washington, Nov 24: A new aquatic fungus is threatening the existence of many of the amphibians like frogs and toads that have existed for 360 million years, a new study claimed. Bd infects over 350 amphibian species by penetrating their skin, but little else is known about where it came from and how it causes disease.

A new aquatic fungus is threatening the existence of many of the amphibians like frogs and toads that have existed for 360 million years, a new study claimed.

Balasore (Orissa), November 24: The first-ever night trial of India’s nuclear capable Agni-II Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) has failed to meet all the mission parameters, defence sources said today.

“The test-fire, conducted from the Wheeler Island off Orissa coast last night, could not achieve all the desired results and pre-coordinated parameters,” they said after a thorough analyses of the mission data.

Washington, November 24: Most of us in the developed world now have relationships with computers – and access to information and entertainment –that we could not have dreamt about even a decade or so ago. We spend our days sifting emails and browsing the internet, then relax by tweeting or networking online and playing computer games, sometimes all at the same time.

Washington, Nov 24: How does the brain zero in on a single bit of information, out of the tens of thousands that it is bombarded with daily? Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), have discovered a mechanism that the brain uses to filter out distracting thoughts to focus on a single bit of information.

Think of your brain like a radio: You’re turning the knob on to find your favourite station, but the knob jams, and you’re stuck listening to something that’s in between stations.

New York, November 24: Google is following in the steps of Larry Ellison of Oracle. Oracle was the undisputed buyer of companies in the market and now Google is starting to give it stiff competition. The latest acquisition of the search engine major Google is the ad-optimizer Teracent.

Teracent is a startup that customizes online ads on the fly. It was reported in September that Google is interested in the company and now the deal has been finalized.

New Delhi, Novemebr 22: The world’s leading software firm Microsoft is now focussing on the fast growing smartphones market in India after the netbooks segment– a new category created to brigde the gap between mobiles and laptops– received lukewarm response from buyers.

“We have heavily invested in that space and will continue to do so. It is still a very competitive space,” Microsoft Corporate Vice President (OEM Division) Steve Guggenheimer told a news agency.

Washington, November 22: Shuttle Atlantis astronauts began the second of their mission’s three spacewalks to maintain and install more high-tech gadgets on the International Space Station.

The sortie was yesterday delayed by over an hour after false depressurisation alarms earlier rang through the orbiting outpost and jolted mission specialists Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik awake after just two hours of sleep, rattling preparations.

Bresnik, venturing out into space for the first time, was most likely already restless as he awaited the birth of his daughter back on earth.

London, November 22: There may be something in the centuries-old superstitions about the influence of the Moon on epilepsy and seizures, says a new study.

Scientists at University College London have discovered that the number of epileptic seizures — which are related to electrical activity in the brain — goes down when the Moon is at its brightest.

For their study, the scientists examined the record of seizures in a dedicated epilepsy unit, in which every seizure in each 24-hour period is logged for patients. They compared the timing of each seizure with the brightness of the Moon.

Moscow, November 22: Russia’s first civilian cosmonaut and famous spacecraft designer Prof Konstantin Feoktistov died here at the age of 83, state-run ‘Vesti’ TV Channel reported.

Hero of the Soviet Union Feoktistov, who in 1964 made his maiden space flight on board the first of the “Voskhod” (Dawn) series three-seater spaceship with two other cosmonauts, was the first and the only Soviet space traveller who was not the member of the ruling Communist Party.

Washington, November 22: NASA astronauts from the shuttle Atlantis have completed the second of three spacewalks outside the International Space Station (ISS).

Atlantis crew members Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik successfully installed instruments outside the ISS during their excursion, which lasted six hours, eight minutes on Saturday.

Although the sortie was delayed for half an hour due to a false depressurization alarm, the pair managed to get ahead of schedule and do all tasks on the to-do list.

Munich, November 22: Dashboard, a new function from Google, lets the company’s customers keep an eye on what personal data Google has gathered on them.

For example, the function shows what information is gathered when people use services like Google’s e-mail programme Gmail or access other sites, like YouTube, reported the company’s German operations.

New online virus threat comes via banner ads

Cologne, November 22: Recently, criminals managed to place a doctored banner ad carrying a virus on the homepage of the New York Times, a mainstay of American journalism.

The fact they could do so is bad enough. Worse: it’s not an isolated case. It’s becoming more and more common for unsuspecting computer users to accidentally pull Trojan horses and other damaging programmes onto their computer via these ads.

Copahegan, November 22: After a year’s delay, scientists at the world’s biggest accelerator have restarted an experiment to recreate “Big Bang” conditions that had sparked suggestions the earth would be sucked in by millions of black holes.

Scientists at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) have established circulating particle beams in both directions in the underground Large Hadron Collider, a step that is already beyond where the experiment stalled during a first attempt in September 2008, CERN spokesman James Gillies said.

Cologne, November 22: Recently, criminals managed to place a doctored banner ad carrying a virus on the homepage of the New York Times, a mainstay of American journalism.

The fact they could do so is bad enough. Worse: it’s not an isolated case. It’s becoming more and more common for unsuspecting computer users to accidentally pull Trojan horses and other damaging programmes onto their computer via these ads.

Geneva, November 21: Scientists moved Saturday to prepare the world’s largest atom smasher for exploring the depths of matter after successfully restarting the $10 billion machine following more than a year of repairs.

The nuclear physicists working on the Large Hadron Collider were surprised that they could so quickly get beams of protons whizzing near the speed of light during the restart late Friday, said James Gillies, spokesman for the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

The machine was heavily damaged by a simple electrical fault in September last year.

London, November 21: After lying dormant for 4,000 years one of Europe’s most powerful volcanoes, Campi Flegrei near Naples in Italy, is showing signs of life.

Instinct would tell you to stay away, but an international team of scientists are doing exactly the opposite. They are preparing to drill a 2.5-mile hole into the heart of the volcano to investigate beneath the surface.

Geneva, Nov 21: Scientists switched on the world’s largest atom smasher on Friday night for the first time since the $10 billion machine suffered a spectacular failure more than a year ago.

It took a year of repairs before beams of protons circulated late Friday in the Large Hadron Collider for the first time since it was heavily damaged by a simple electrical fault.

New York, Nov 21: Barack Obama were among the 10 most influential moments on the Internet in the past decade, according to the annual Webby awards.
Barack Obama’s election as US President, launch of Wikipedia and emergence of the iPhone have been listed among the 10 most influential moments on the Internet in the past decade, the annual Webby awards said.

New Delhi, Nov 20: New Google Inc software will start up a computer as fast as a television, the search company said on Thursday as it showed off its Chrome operating system designed for computers that do their work on the Web.

Google gave the world the first peek at its Chrome OS four months after declaring its intention of developing the PC’s main software, a move that pits it directly against Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc.

Florida, November 20: Two US astronauts left the safety of the International Space Station Thursday to install spare parts that will help it continue running smoothly in the future.

Space shuttle Atlantis crew members Michael Foreman and Robert Satcher left the airlock at 1424 GMT for the planned six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk.

They will focus on installing a spare antenna to the outside of the station.

The Atlantis brought thousands of kilogrammes of extra supplies to the station as the shuttle programme enters its expected final year in 2010.

Mumbai, Nov 19: India will install Imaging Riometer at its permanent research station in Antarctica in a few months time to study the absorption of radio noise in the lowest part of ionosphere, a top scientist from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism said here.

“The three-member team, led by IIG scientist P. Elango, will assemble and install an array of 16 receivers of Imaging Riometer,” IIG Director Dr. Archana Bhattacharyya told.

Elango and K.U. Nair of IIG have already reached the station ‘Maitri’ while C. Selvaraj will join them on November 30, she said.

Washington, Nov 19: US space shuttle Atlantis has docked at the International Space Station (ISS) Wednesday after nearly two days of journey.

Commander Charles Hobaugh steered the shuttle to a docking with the station at 1651 GMT, reported quoting US space agency NASA.

Before the docking, Hobaugh maneuvered Atlantis through a backflip rotation to expose the heat shield to station flight engineers and photographers Jeffrey Williams and Nicole Stott.

Washington, Nov 19: Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit here next week, Indian and US space agencies have signed a letter of intent (LoI) for collaboration on India’s Oceansat-2 satellite for studying the seas.

The LoI signed between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) promotes opportunity for receiving Oceansat-2 data by the US agencies for research, education and activities of public good, the Indian embassy said.