Google mentor Rajeev Motwani dies in drowning accident

Washington, June 08: A much-loved Stanford University professor from India who mentored and backed such sparkling Silicon Valley companies as Google and Rajeev Motwani, Stanford University professor from India & Google mentor, died in a freak drowning accident at his Bay area home on Friday. Paypal died in a freak drowning accident at his Bay area home on Friday, sending the tech community into gloom.

Machine Keeps Heart Beating Outside of Body

Carolina, June 05: Researchers at the North Carolina State University has developed a machine that can keep a heart beating outside the body. The potential medical benefit is huge, though for whatever reason I kept on thinking about Dr. Frankenstein:

“Researchers can obtain pig hearts from a pork processing facility and use the system to test their prototypes or practice new surgical procedures,” says Andrew Richards, a Ph. D. student in mechanical engineering at NC State who designed the heart machine.

Soon, ‘hands-free’ video games

London, May 24: The ultimate computer game that banishes handheld controls and allows players’ gestures to dictate the action on screen is to be launched by Microsoft.

The Microsoft Xbox 360 uses 3-D camera technology, and is aimed at challenging the dominance of the Nintendo Wii, reports The Times.

Allowing users to kick a virtual football, drive a car or practise dance moves with a computer-generated partner simply by monitoring an individual’s movements, the entertainment system will become a must-have for any child or even a youngster.

North Korea launches rocket

Tokyo, April 05: North Korea launched a rocket Sunday, a South Korean foreign ministry official told Yonhap news agency.

Pyongyang said it was putting a communications satellite into orbit, but Japan, South Korea and Washington believe the launch was a screen to test a long-range ballistic missile.

The launch occurred around 11.30 a.m. (0230 GMT) from North Korea’s base on its east coast, the official said.

—-Agencies

Shuttle, space station crews part after 8 days

Cape Canaveral, March 25: After eight days together, it’s time for the space shuttle and space station crews to say goodbye.

The hatches between the linked spacecraft will be sealed early Wednesday afternoon. Three hours later, Discovery will undock.

Discovery will be bringing back five months’ worth of science experiments from the space station. The blood, urine and saliva samples need to be kept cold for as long as possible, and will remain in the station freezer until the last possible moment.

Wages at IT multinationals start melting down

Banglore, February 27: Software multinationals in India have begun freezing wage increases, slashing salaries and postponing merit-based hikes, a study by Indian consulting firm Zinnov has found.

‘Though Bangalore stands highest in its average salary for multinational R and amp;D firms, followed by Pune and Chennai, the economic slump is causing undue pressure on them to retain compensation levels,’ Zinnov director for advisory services C.S. Chandramouli, told IANS after the survey was made public.