Science
WiFi tops best technological innovation poll
Dec 23rd
Surfing the net has become a lot more easier since wireless internet has come into being, and now Wi-Fi has rightly topped the poll for the greatest technological advance of the last decade, according to a survey.
With 35.5 percent votes, Wi-Fi has beaten Sky+, Sat Navs, iPods and Blackberries to win the poll conducted by a leading gadget magazine.
In the survey by ‘Stuff’ magazine, the readers were asked to choose the greatest technological innovation of the past ten years. (more…)
Chinese hackers may be jailed for 7yrs under proposed law
Dec 23rd
Hackers who steal data or manipulate large number of computers may be jailed for up to seven years, according to a proposed amendment to the Chinese Criminal Law.
The penalties will also be applicable to those who offer software or tools for hacking to any intruder.
The existing law offers punishment only for intruding into networks of governments, national defence or leading science sectors; or altering the functions of personal computer systems. (more…)
Telecom services: 3G players will be allowed in 2G space as well
Dec 23rd
Successful bidders for spectrum allocation for third generation (3G) telecom services will also be eligible to get spectrum space for second generation (2G) services, as and when any space becomes available, the Telecom Commission said here Tuesday.
‘New 2G spectrum will be allocated as and when it is available. Currently 2G is saturated and we hardly have any spectrum available, so successful 3G bidders will have to wait in queue to avail of 2G spectrum,’ said R. Ashok, member, finance, Telecom Commission, on the eve of bidding for 3G spectrum.
The member’s statement helped dispel rumours that 3G operators would only be More >
Volvo to unveil world’s ‘first accident-proof car’ next month
Dec 23rd
Car giant Volvo is set to unveil its first ever “accident-proof car”, which will drive itself in traffic by using radar to control the distance.
The Swedish manufacturer will unveil Volvo S60 with automatic brakes at the next month’s Detroit motor show. It will go on the market in 2010.
“This technology helps us take an important step towards our long-term vision of designing cars that should not crash,” the Telegraph quoted Thomas Broberg, the company’s safety specialist as saying. (more…)
Scientists discover biggest breach of Earth’s solar storm shield
Dec 17th
A NASA and National Science Foundation sponsored research has identified the biggest breach of Earth’s solar storm shield, in the form of two holes that allow the largest leaks.
The research determined that Earth’s magnetic field, which shields our planet from particles streaming outward from the Sun, often develops two holes that allow the largest leaks.
According to Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California, Los Angeles, Principal Investigator for NASA’s THEMIS mission (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms), “The discovery overturns a long-standing belief about how and when most of the solar particles penetrate Earth’s magnetic field, and More >
Climate warming causing ecosystem changes in temperate lakes
Dec 17th
A new study has linked ecosystem changes in many temperate North American and Western European lakes to climate warning.
The study, conducted by researchers at Queen’s University and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment in Canada, reports that striking changes are now occurring in many temperate lakes similar to those previously observed in the rapidly warming Arctic, although typically many decades later.
“Our findings suggest that ecologically important changes are already under way in temperate lakes,” said Queen’s Biology research scientist, Dr. Kathleen Ruhland, from the university’s Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL) and lead author of the study.
The scientists studied More >
Fossil hunters discover two new dino species in Sahara desert
Dec 17th
An expedition to the Sahara desert has found the fossilized remains of what are thought to be two new species of dinosaurs.
According to a report in The Times, the ancient remains discovered in Morocco, belong to a giant flying pterosaur and plant-eating sauropod.
Initial examinations suggest that both specimens are unknown to science.
They were unearthed during a month-long quest during which the research team braved floods and storms to reach the dig site and then preserve the fossils.
The scientists even feared that they would never get the bones out of the desert because they were so heavy that their Land Rover More >
Sea levels will rise much faster than predicted
Dec 17th
A new study has found that sea levels will rise much faster than previously predicted, as the world’s glaciers and ice sheets are melting at an alarming rate.
According to a report in The Times, the study, commissioned by the US Climate Change Science Program, said that the rises will substantially exceed forecasts that do not take into account the latest data and observations.
The adjusted outlook suggests that recent predictions of a rise of between 7 inches and 2 feet over the next century are conservative.
The study predicts that sea level rises will be far higher than the levels that were More >
Holes in Earth’s magnetic cloak let the sun in
Dec 17th
The Earth’s protective magnetosphere has two large holes that are letting in disruptive solar winds, scientists said on Tuesday.
Understanding how these holes form will help them better predict the electrical storms that cause power grid blackouts and the aurora, activity that will peak in 2012 as sunspots hit their maximum level.
Scientists at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco said they had been entirely wrong about how solar particles that cause the storms were entering the Earth’s magnetosphere.
The magnetosphere is a bubble of magnetism that surrounds Earth and protects us from solar wind.
Scientists once believed that the particles entered More >
Belief in God weakens positive feelings for Science and vice-versa
Dec 16th
A new study has revealed that attitudes towards God and science can change and yet remain in opposition to one another.
It found that a belief in one weakens positive feelings for the other and this effect appears to be independent of a person’s religious background or views, said University of Illinois psychology professor Jesse Preston, who led the research.
Preston and her colleague, Nicholas Epley, of the University of Chicago, wanted to explore how information about science influences a belief in God, and how religious teaching can also cause people to doubt certain scientific theories. They conducted two experiments designed to More >