NASA to launch drought-tracking satellite to track droughts and to study moisture

NASA to launch drought-tracking satellite to track droughts and to study moisture As per the Statement released by NASA, it is all set to launch a  new satellite in January 2015 to improve drought monitoring around the world. The Satellite is named Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite. The satellite will be probably launched on January 29, 2015 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission is going to take the pulse of a key measure of our water planet. The mission will provide the most correct,...

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Unknown 08:15  No comment

Can PM Narendra Modi work his magic on Indian science?

Can PM Narendra Modi work his magic on Indian science?  Prime ministers' speeches are seldom discussed beyond a day or two, and their addresses at the annual Science Congress are discussed still less. Successive prime ministers have waxed eloquent many times at the Science Congress, praising Indian scientists and promising better funding for their research. But without any specific proposals and follow-up action, their speeches and ideas were forgotten quickly, to be remembered and forgotten again in the next Science Congress. This year, however, seems to be different. At the Science Congress, Prime...

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Unknown 08:12  No comment

ISRO wins US award for 'Mangalyaan' mission

ISRO wins US award for 'Mangalyaan' mission The 2015 Space Pioneer Award in the category of Science and Engineering will be given to India's Mars Orbiter programme responsible for the development and deployment of "Mangalyaan," said US based National Space Society (NSS). A representative from ISRO will receive the award in the National Space Society's 2015 International Space Development Conference that will run from May 20 till May 24. It will be held in Toronto, Canada. India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MoM) was launched on November 5, 2013 that was placed into Mars orbit...

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Unknown 08:08  No comment

India Rank Decreasing in Innovation Index : CSIR

India Rank Decreasing in Innovation Index : CSIR  Mumbai: R.A. Mashelkar, one of the top Indian scientists in the country right now has said that the country is lagging in innovative ideas. His assertion comes merely days after the Indian Science Congress became a laughing stock across the world when absurd claims were made by many during the otherwise very respectable science body in the country. The country has fallen 10 ranks down from being No. 66 in 2013 to No. 76 now, revealed eminent Indian scientist and former CSIR director general Raghunath Anant...

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Unknown 08:51  1 comment

Scientists map bowhead whale’s genome; discover genes responsible for long life

Scientists map bowhead whale’s genome; discover genes responsible for long life Scientists in the US and UK have mapped the genome for the world’s longest-living mammal, the bowhead whale, and have also discovered the unique genes responsible for giving the whale a lifespan of more than 200 years. The genome mapping is a result of two separate studies carried out in the US and UK allowing scientists to identify a small number of genes linked to cancer resistance, DNA damage repair and increased longevity. Joao Pedro de Magalhaes, the lead researcher of the...

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Unknown 03:08  No comment

Global warming changing taste of wine

Global warming changing taste of wine London: The taste of some of the world's finest wines is changing as global warming alters the way grapes mature, scientists have found. Grapes such as pinot noir, Merlot and chardonnay are now growing more quickly, subtly changing the compounds produced as they ripen and the ssynchronization between maximum flavor and the ratio of sugar to acid, scientists said. An increasing number of vineyards are thus struggling to identify the perfect moment for picking the grapes to ensure their wines retain their characteristic flavors, according to research...

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Unknown 03:07  No comment

Communications with Mangalyaan to get blocked for 15 days in June

Communications with Mangalyaan to get blocked for 15 days in June After the success of Mangalyaan, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is working on developing the technology to send a manned mission into space, said K Radhakrishnan who recently retired as chairman of the space agency. “The technology available in India needs to take a few more steps to be able to send human beings to space. ISRO is working on them,” he said while speaking at an interaction with senior space scientist Pramod Kale at the 102nd Indian Science Congress hosted...

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Unknown 03:03  No comment

Gizmag Robot learns to cook by watching YouTube

 Gizmag Robot learns to cook by watching  YouTube Our future is promised to be filled with robots equipped to perform all sorts of jobs, and artificial intelligence will pave the way to making that reality possible. Deep learning has received a lot of attention as of late -- we've detailed it a few times in the past -- and latest among it is a project by researchers using YouTube videos of people cooking to teach robots how to use tools. The efforts were recently detailed in a report available to the public. You've likely heard...

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Unknown 02:57  No comment

Ancient Sanskrit text mentioned air travel’

Ancient Sanskrit text mentioned air travel The retired principal of a pilot training centre said at the Indian Science Congress Sunday that the country’s scientists should use technology listed in an ancient Sanskrit text to build indigenous aircraft and promote Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India initiative. Captain Anand Bodas, who was presenting a paper on ‘Ancient Indian Aviation Technology’, claimed that the science of building and flying a plane was recorded by Maharshi Bharadwaj in Brihad Vimana Shastra, written between 6000 BC and 7000 BC, several millenia before the Wright Brothers built...

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Unknown 02:50  No comment

Modi's Make in India campaign forward?

Will jingoism dressed up as science take Modi's Make in India campaign forward? On Sunday, the Indian Science Congress that is currently underway in Mumbai had 14 sessions covering a wide range of subjects from number theory to environmental health, but what hogged the headlines was an outlandish claim that 7,000 years ago India had planes that could travel between planets. The speaker who made the claim didn't stop with that. He went on to add finer details of these planes such as their size, number of engines and a RADAR system that...

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Unknown 02:47  No comment

Supercomputer simulates the Universe

Supercomputer simulates the Universe  For several years, astronomers have tried to develop the computer-simulated models of the Universe; but without the desired success. The galaxies formed in computer simulations were typically extremely massive, sometimes too small or too old. The computers would generate galaxies of very spherical shape; which haven't been observed. However, a research group comprising of researchers from the Durham University and the Leiden University have succeeded in developing a simulation that is like the real thing! Professor Richard Bower of Durham University says that the simulation of the Universe his team...

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Unknown 09:38  No comment

ZERO GRAVITY DAY IS TOTALLY FALSE

ZERO GRAVITY DAY IS TOTALLY FALSE  It is the Nigerian-prince email of the astrophysics world -- a persistent rumor that a rare planetary alignment involving the Earth, Jupiter and Pluto will cause a momentary fluctuation of gravity here, rendering us all weightless and able to briefly float in the air, or at least land more slowly should we attempt to dunk a basketball at that perfect moment. The latest iteration of this rumor tells us that this historic moment will occur Sunday morning at 9:47 a.m. Pacific Time. But if your memory is...

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Unknown 09:37  No comment

NASA — New Spacecraft Will Be Inflatable

NASA — New Spacecraft Will Be Inflatable Mars. It comes up in every conversation concerning NASA at some point. When are we going to Mars? It turns out that NASA is continually trying to figure out how to do just that, and it now seems that a very simple design solution might be man’s ticket to the red planet. The question of how to safely land a large spacecraft on Mars is just one of many challenges that NASA has to figure out before sending man to the fourth planet later this century. As a result...

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Unknown 09:33  1 comment

Upcoming Astronomical Events for 2015. Great Reasons to Look Up to the Skies

Upcoming Astronomical Events for 2015. Great Reasons to Look Up to the Skies The New Year is right around the corner and with it comes a new set of astronomical events to watch out for. A lot of memorable scenes in the skies were seen in 2014 and the same should be expected of 2015. Right off the bat, planets will be more visible in January, with Venus and Mercury returning to the evening skies as soon as the New Year turns. Jupiter will also start showing in the same month and will...

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Unknown 07:10  No comment

Frog gives birth to tadpoles as a first in the scientific world

Frog gives birth to tadpoles as a first in the scientific world LONDON: For the first time ever, scientists have found a frog that gave birth to tadpoles. Nearly all the world's 6,000 frog species lay eggs but new born tadpoles are a first in the scientific world. An international team of researchers followed this unique species of fanged frogs from the Sulawesi Island in Indonesia for over a decade. On Thursday, they announced the first ever evidence confirming external fertilisation in frogs - the female lays eggs during mating while the male releases sperm to...

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Unknown 09:21  No comment

New Project to Grow Lettuce on Mars

New Project to Grow Lettuce on Mars A student team in the UK plans to grow lettuce on Mars by 2018 using the atmosphere and sunlight on the red planet. LettuceOnMars, a student project from the University of Southampton Spaceflight Society, has reached the finals of an international competition, run by Mars One, a Dutch non-profit organisation, to land experiments on Mars. It is one of the ten short-listed university projects that was selected for technical feasibility and popularity.The winning payload will arrive on Mars in 2018 together with the official Mars One...

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Unknown 09:20  No comment