Washington, July 23: Microsoft’s big day draws ever closer, with the company saying Wednesday that it has put Windows 7 and a new version of its server operating system in the hands of computer makers. In Microsoft parlance, this is known as R.T.M., or release to manufacturing, and it is the last big step before Windows 7 actually reaches users in late October.
Washington, July 23: Iphone 3G S In the days leading up to the release of Apple’s fourth-generation iPhone, Apple fanboys (and girls) would have almost died to be the first to get their hands on one. Tragically, a young Chinese factory worker did die – after loosing one of the prototypes.
Sun Danyong, a 25-year-old business management graduate from Yunnan province, leapt to his death from his 12th floor apartment in Shenzen, after one of 16 fourth-generation prototype iPhones he was responsible for went missing.
Honolulu, July 22: Hawaii was chosen on Tuesday as the site for the world’s biggest telescope, a device so powerful that it will allow scientists to see some 13 billion light years away and get a glimpse into the early years of the universe.
The telescope’s mirror – stretching almost 30 metres in diameter, or nearly the length of a Boeing 737’s wingspan – will be so large that it should be able to gather light that will have spent 13 billion years travelling to earth.
Cape Canaveral, July 22: Veteran spacewalker David Wolf had some advice on Tuesday for those wondering how to sneeze in a spacesuit.
“Aim low, off the windshield, because it’s going to mess up your view and there’s no way to clear it,” said Wolf, who admitted being in just that predicament during Monday’s spacewalk outside the International Space Station.
Wolf and his shuttle Endeavour crewmates took a break from their construction work at the space station to answer questions sent in by followers of commander Mark Polansky’s Twitter feed, a web-based short messaging service.
Detroit, July 22: The University of Michigan said on Tuesday it is teaming up with Amazon.com Inc to offer reprints of 400 000 rare, out-of-print and out-of-copyright books from its library. Seattle-based Amazon’s BookSurge unit will print the books on demand in soft cover editions at prices from $10 to $45.
The Ann Arbor school said the books are in more than 200 languages from Acoli to Zulu and include an 1898 book on nursing by Florence Nightingale, Notes on Nursing: What it is and What it is not.
Berlin, July 22: A male sea lion from California called Mike has died of exhaustion after over-exerting himself during the mating season in an animal park in Nuremberg, Germany, the city said on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old father of 12 offspring through three different females – Farah, Tiffy and Soda – showed signs of tiredness at around midday on Monday, the southern city said in a statement.
“Mike could no longer get out of the pool and was brought ashore by staff. The extremely weakened animal was treated by a vet but died from acute heart failure around 15:30 (1330 GMT),” it said.
Paris, July 22: Another clue has been found in the Case of the Shrinking Sheep, an animal mystery in which climate change features as the principal culprit.
The tale of scientific sleuthing is unfolding on two Scottish islands, Soay and Hirta, in the remote Outer Hebrides.
Their sole inhabitants are wild sheep which probably arrived there with the first human settlers some 4 000 years ago.
Paris, July 22: A wind storm that ripped across western China’s Taklimakan desert kicked up hundreds of thousands of tonnes of dust that high-altitude winds then carried around the world in less than two weeks, a study says.
On May 8-9, 2007 winds reaching up to 36km/h blew an estimated 800 000 tonnes of dust into the air, according to satellite imaging and computer models.
Trapped against the high walls of the Tibetan plateau, the dust was forced higher and higher, reaching an altitude of around 5 000 metres.
Seoul, July 22: South Korea’s Samsung Electronics on Wednesday announced what it claims is the world’s slimmest “watch phone”.
The handset is 11.98 millimetres thick compared to the 13.9 millimetres of a model by rival LG Electronics, Samsung said in a statement.
The firm plans to sell the new phone, priced at around $639, first in France this month and then other European markets.
The mobile has a 1.76-inch touch screen on which users can check e-mails and play MP3s as well as make calls, Samsung said. It also has a Bluetooth function and voice recognition.
Washington, July 22: Nasa’s new boss said on Tuesday he will be “incredibly disappointed” if people aren’t on Mars – or venturing somewhere beyond it – in his lifetime.
Nasa Administrator Charles Bolden Jnr, 62, said his ultimate goal is not just Mars – it is anywhere far from Earth.
“In my lifetime, I will be incredibly disappointed if we have not at least reached Mars,” Bolden said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Wellington, July 22: A massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake last week has moved the south of New Zealand closer to Australia, scientists said on Wednesday.
With the countries separated by the 2 250-kilometre-wide Tasman Sea, the 30 centimetre closing of the gap in New Zealand’s southwest won’t make much difference.
But earthquake scientist Ken Gledhill of GNS Science said the shift illustrated the huge force of the tremor, the biggest in the world so far this year.
“Basically, New Zealand just got a little bit bigger is another way to think about it,” he told AFP.
Sydney, July 22: Scientists have identified a gene in tomatoes that can be ‘knocked-out’ to create sweeter fruit and long-lasting leaves.
The gene – INVINH1 – plays a major role in limiting the amount of sugar of the plant and if prevented from expressing itself, more sugar (glucose and fructose) could be delivered to specific parts of the plants including seeds and fruits.
When applied to other fruits and vegetables, the technology could increase crop seed yield, fruit quality, and lengthen shelf life, according to a Newcastle release.
Honolulu, July 22: Hawaii was chosen Tuesday as the site for the world’s biggest telescope, a device so powerful that it will allow scientists to see some 13 billion light years away and get a glimpse into the early years of the universe.
The telescope’s mirror — stretching almost 100 feet in diameter, or nearly the length of a Boeing 737’s wingspan — will be so large that it should be able to gather light that will have spent 13 billion years traveling to earth.
Tehran, July 22: Iranian inventor Nader Majdnia designs an intelligent bicycle for the blind that he says is automatically controlled without the navigation of cyclists.
“The bicycle has an intelligent control system which eliminates the need for cyclists to direct the bike,” said the Iranian inventor.
According to Majdnia, all the cyclist needs to do is to move the pedals and the bicycle finds its way with the help of optoelectronics.
The bicycle stops when it deviates from its main route.
Sydney, July 22: An Australian amateur astronomer told Wednesday of setting the stargazing world abuzz by snapping the moment a celestial object smashed into Jupiter. Computer programmer Anthony Wesley was doubly happy because the impact he photographed Sunday came on the 15th anniversary of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet, which slammed into Jupiter in 1994 – an event that represented the first observed collision of two celestial bodies in the solar system.
London, July 22: There is more to the final frontier than bubble-helmeted astronauts taking giant leaps in the interests of scientific progress and the planting of national flags.
In fact, the commercial space sector is one of the unsung heroes of the British industry, growing at a steady 9 per cent every year since 1999 – more than three times the rate of the overall economy – and set to double its contribution to GDP over the coming decade, according to research published yesterday by Oxford Economics and Seeda, the regional development agency.
–Agenices
San Francisco, July 21: Forty years after man first set foot on the moon, web pioneer Google launched what could be the ultimate guide to the earth’s natural satellite.
Google on Monday updated its popular mapping software Google Earth with a complete map of the moon that allows you to explore craters, historic sites and human artefacts. The programme even allows you to fly over the surface like a would-be astronaut.
Mumbai, July 21: Did you know animals and birds often prepare for sleep or behave confusedly during total solar eclipse? Well, here are some other little known facts about solar eclipse.
– The longest recorded duration for a total solar eclipse is 7.5 minutes.
– A total solar eclipse will not be visible until the sun is more than 90 percent covered by the moon.
– When the sun is covered 99 percent, day becomes night in the areas where the eclipse is visible.
– In the 5,000-year period – between 2000 BC and 3000 AD – the earth is supposed to witness 11,898 solar eclipses.
Bangkok, July 21: Millions of people across Asia will witness the longest total solar eclipse that will happen this century, as vast swaths of India and China, the entire city of Shanghai and southern Japanese islands are plunged into darkness on Wednesday for about five minutes.
Streams of amateur star-gazers and scientists are traveling long distances to witness the once-in-a-lifetime event.
Washington, July 20: Advances in neonatal care enable two-thirds of premature babies born with respiratory problems to be ready for school at the right age. However, those living in poverty are far less likely to be ready on time than their better-off peers, according to researchers.
Although several factors, including chronic lung disease, brain hemorrhage, and male gender, were associated with lower school readiness, by far the most powerful factor determining school-readiness level was low socio-economic status.
Washington, July 21: The wound that killed a Neanderthal man between 50,000 and 75,000 years was most likely caused by a thrown spear, the kind modern humans used but Neanderthals did not, according to the latest research.
“What we’ve got is a rib injury, with any number of scenarios that could explain it,” said Steven Churchill, professor at Duke University.
“We’re not suggesting there was a blitzkrieg, with modern humans marching across the land and executing the Neanderthals. I want to say that loud and clear,” added Churchill.
Washington, July 21: Advertisements that only mention taste and ignore other senses will be less effective, suggests a new study.
Naturally, most food advertisements mention the taste of the food being marketed. But study authors Ryan S. Elder and Aradhna Krishna from the University of Michigan demonstrate that tapping into our other senses can actually increase consumers’ taste perceptions.
Paris, July 21: For generations, schoolchildren have been taught that raindrops start as micro-droplets that then gather together in clouds with their neighbours to become bigger droplets.
The story goes that complex interaction between these droplets as they fall explains why raindrops come in such a remarkable range of sizes.
But French scientists armed with ultra-fast video footage say something else happens on the way down – and this is why rainfall can range from fine droplets to chubby plops.
Canberra, July 21: A large comet or asteroid has slammed into the Jupiter, creating an impact site the size of Earth, pictures by an Australian amateur astronomer show.
Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory confirmed the discovery using its large infrared telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, said computer programmer Anthony Wesley, 44, who discovered the impact zone while stargazing at home.
News of Wesley’s find on a backyard 37cm reflecting telescope has stunned the astronomy world, with scientists saying the impact will last only days more.
San Francisco, July 21: Yahoo Inc is sprucing up its website’s homepage with a long-promised makeover that is supposed to make it easier to see what’s happening at the internet’s other hot spots.
The revamped home page, scheduled to debut on Tuesday in the United States, is part of an overhaul aimed at recapturing some of the buzz that Yahoo has lost to increasingly popular online hangouts like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.