From Around the Globe

Timeline of the far future

2015-10-30T09:43:00.003-07:00

Pluto's sunset as seen by New horizons

2015-09-21T03:45:00.001-07:00

Dr Shashi Tharoor MP - Britain Does Owe Reparations

2015-07-22T10:44:00.001-07:00

Signs from the future

2015-07-15T04:30:00.002-07:00

Great inventions are never, and great discoveries are seldom, the work of any one mind

2015-07-10T03:25:00.000-07:00

Great inventions are never, and great discoveries are seldom, the[3] work of any one mind. Every great invention is really either an aggregation of minor inventions, or the final step of a progression. It is not a creation, but a growth—as truly so as is that of the trees in the forest. Hence, the same invention is frequently brought out in several countries, and by several individuals, simultaneously. Frequently an important invention is made before the world is ready to receive it, and the unhappy inventor is taught, by his failure, that it is as unfortunate to be in advance of his age as to be behind it. Inventions only become successful when they are not only needed, but when mankind is so far advanced in intelligence as to appreciate and to express the necessity for them, and to at once make use of them.

Potentially habitable exoplanets

2015-07-08T07:32:00.005-07:00

Battle of the internet giants

2015-07-08T01:54:00.001-07:00

Click above to view the full version [h/t PennyStocks.la].

EU awards €2.48m to innovative Irish SME - Exergyn

2015-05-05T09:54:00.001-07:00

Exergyn, an Irish SME, has been awarded €2.48m in EU funding to commercialise its Exergyn Drive engine, which turns waste hot water into electricity.

The specially-designed engine has been created with the application of using waste hot water created during the cooling process of manufacturing and, rather than letting it go to waste, or wasting valuable energy cooling it down again, they can use it to power their engine to create electricity.

The company, which was founded in 2012 by Alan Healy, Barry Cullen and Kevin O’Toole, has expanded to 15 staff and is targeting the European bio-gas sector as they believe that it represents an attractive commercial prospect for power generation.

The Exergyn Drive has already undergone trials and, as of the beginning of Q1 this year, the company is seeking partners to trial five 10kW engines in the bio-gas and power generation industries.

NASA successfully tests engine that violates the law of physics, uses no fuel

2015-03-16T07:45:00.001-07:00

This is great news. NASA has successfully tested a space drive that uses no fuel and so does not use propellant. The drive called 'Cannae Drive' is apparently based on the work of a British scientist named Roger Shawyer called the EMDrive. It is said to work by bouncing microwaves in an enclosed chamber and thus creating thrust.

According to NASA :

"Test results indicate that the RF resonant cavity thruster design, which is unique as an electric propulsion device, is producing a force that is not attributable to any classical electromagnetic phenomenon and therefore is potentially demonstrating an interaction with the quantum vacuum virtual plasma."

Earliest human species found in Ethiopia

2015-03-04T17:50:00.000-08:00

An ancient jawbone fragment is the oldest human fossil discovered yet, a bone potentially from a new species that reveals the human family may have arose a half million years earlier than previously thought, researchers say.

This find also sheds light on the kind of landscape where humans first originated, scientists added.

For decades, scientists have been searching Africa for signs of the earliest phases of the human family, during the shift from more apelike Australopithecus species to more human early Homo species. Until now, the earliest credible fossil evidence of the genus Homo was dated to about 2.3 million or 2.4 million years ago.

Now researchers have found a human fossil in Ethiopia about 2.8 million years old.

Line Following Robot

2015-03-01T17:32:00.002-08:00

Beehive that Automatically Extracts Honey

2015-02-24T05:57:00.004-08:00

The Flow Hive is a new beehive invention that promises to eliminate the more laborious aspects of collecting honey from a beehive with a novel spigot system that taps into specially designed honeycomb frames. Invented over the last decade by father and son beekeepers Stuart and Cedar Anderson, the system eliminates the traditional process of honey extraction where frames are removed from beehives, opened with hot knives, and loaded into a machine that uses centrifugal force to get the honey out.

A Solar panel on your arm (To monitor your vitals !!)

2015-02-24T04:09:00.002-08:00

How wonderful !!

A team of engineers has developed a solar-powered, plastic armband that measures the wearer’s body temperature. You can set a threshold temperature for the device, so that an alarm goes off when your temperature rises too high. It works both inside and outside of clothing. The armband could be adapted to detect other vital signs, too, such as heart rate, the armband’s lead engineer, University of Tokyo professor Takao Someya, said in a statement.

Earthquake in Indonesia: India withdraws tsunami warning

2012-04-11T14:15:00.001-07:00

Courtesy : NDTV

India has withdrawn the tsunami warning issued after the massive earthquake measuring 8.6 on the Richter scale in Indonesia this afternoon, Press Trust of India reports.

A second round of tremors was felt in India in cities like Kolkata and Chennai at 4.25 pm, but there was no tsunami threat from these aftershocks. India's Nicobar Islands, closest to the epicentre of the quake, is still on alert.

The original earthquake struck Indonesia at 2.08 pm, and first reports said it measured 8.9 on the Richter scale. It spurred warnings of a possible tsunami. The quake was later downgraded to 8.6 magnitude.

A little over two hours after the first earthquake, Indonesia reported an aftershock that hovered around 8.2 on the Richter scale.

Officials in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are prepped for emergency processes. People have been asked to move away from the coast and the government evacuated some people from South Andaman as a precaution.

The Indian Air Force has kept ready for relief ops; six teams of 40 people each from the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) have been positioned at Hindon near Delhi, and at Chennai and two C-130 J heavy-lift aircrafts of the Indian Air Force are leaving for Port Blair with NDRF teams and 10 tonnes of relief material.

Before the strong aftershocks, the Home Secretary RK Singh said, "As of now there are no signs of a tsunami." But he said the union government was in constant touch with officials in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

The minutes after the first quake saw emergency drills in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. On the beaches at Chennai, policemen used megaphones to ask people to leave, with little effect. Mobile phone networks were jammed in the city till 4 pm. In Andhra Pradesh, fishermen were asked to return from sea. In the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, civilians were asked to move to higher ground. In Kolkata, metro trains were stopped at 2.40 pm for nearly an hour; as a precaution, passengers were evacuated.

The quake was felt in Singapore, Thailand and India. High-rise apartments and offices on Malaysia's west coast shook for at least a minute.

In India, tremors were reported in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and the southern part of Chennai. The tremors lasted for a few seconds. In Bhubaneshwar, people were seen running out of their homes and offices. No damage has been reported so far.

NDTV viewer AG Kalidass emailed from Bangalore to say, "We were feeling our building shaking." Another viewer Shyam Agarwal writes, "I am from Kolkata. Just now a few minutes back heavy stroke of earthquake has been observed here."

Indonesia's disaster management agency said power was down in Aceh province and people were gathering on high ground as sirens warned of the danger.

"The electricity is down, there are traffic jams to access higher ground. Sirens and Koran recitals from mosques are everywhere," said Sutopo, spokesman for the agency.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the powerful quake was centred 20 miles (33 kilometres) beneath the ocean floor around 308 miles (495 kilometres) from Aceh's provincial capital.

Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that makes the vast island nation prone to volcanic and seismic activity.

A giant 9.1-magnitude quake off the country on December 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people in 13 Indian Ocean countries, including Thailand, Sri Lanka and India.

Facebook purchases Instagram for $1million

2012-04-11T14:11:00.001-07:00

Facebook has bought the Instagram for $1 billion. Instagram is one of the most popular social networking photos sharing application for iOS and Android. It has more than 30 million fans. This news came straightly from the Press release by the Mark Zeckburg, CEO of the world’s largest social networking website, Facebook and the CEO of Instagram, Kevin Systrom.

According to the press release, Instagram will remain as standalone app and service but Facebook may add some features to the Facebook App from Instagram. Here’s the complete press release:

“I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and their talented team will be joining Facebook.

For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that compliment each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That’s why we’re committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram’s experience to build similar features in our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook’s strong engineering team and infrastructure.

This is an important milestone fro Facebook because it’s the first time we’ve ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don’t plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

We’re looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we’re going to be able to build together.”

Instagram has done tremendous progress since last year. This app has more than 27 million Apple fans while 5 million photos are shared per day.

2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR unveiled - BBC Top Gear

2011-11-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR unveiled - BBC Top Gear

Time for a bit of racing eye-candy. Porsche has just given us pictures of this - it's called the 911 GT3 RSR and it's available to buy NOW.

Built to conform to A.C.O. "LM" GTE regulations, it lunges into the 2012 racing season with lots of shiny modifications, the most obvious of which being the body. Width has grown by 48 anabolic millimeters from the outgoing version, allowing Porsche to squeeze 12-inch-wide wheels in astern. Engine wise, there's a 4.0-litre boxer six in the boot, which produces 454bhp through a sequential six-speed.We'd like one. But we can't afford one. The pricetag's an astronomical £515,000. Looks like we - and probably you - will just have to stare at these pictures instead.

Amazing kid with amazing future

2011-11-09T16:49:00.001-08:00

Thomas Suarez is in the 6th grade at a middle school in the South Bay. And while most of his peers are probably fussing over new soccer kleets or watching the Disney channel, he’s creating iOS apps and giving TED Talks.

Suarez, whose not even old enough to have a Facebook account, has been fascinated by computers and technology since before kindergarten. He’s established his own company, CarrotCorp and has made two iOS apps that are currently in the App Store: Earth Fortune, which displays different colors of Earth depending on what your fortune is and his most successful- Bustin Jieber, a Whac-a-Mole for Justin Bieber.

“A lot of kids these days like to play games, but now they want to make them,” he says. “And it’s difficult because not many kids know where to go find out how to make a program…And not many parents have written apps.” Suarez, inspired by Steve Jobs, started an App Club at school where any student can come to learn to design an app. In the future, Suarez wants to create more apps, more games and get into Android programming and development. He plans on continuing his app club and find other ways for students to share knowledge with others.

Knowing that human beings such as Suarez exist makes me really hopeful and excited for the future. Watch his TED Talk from the recent TEDx conference in Manhattan Beach here:

War is not over in Libya. It just started....

2011-11-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

Libya won't be the same anymore. It can never be the same. In fact its going to be worse than iraq or Afghanistan. People are going to die everyday. It won't be a safe land for anyone any time anymore. Nobody will be able to trust anyone. Such a pity. Its a shame that their own people couldn't understand anything about their own country. Brainless fools. Whatever they say, at the end of the day it is nothing other than foolishness.

Just have a look at what cnn says:

The Libyan war may be over, but rivalries rage on among some regional militias, leading to a mutual distrust that poses a challenge to the new leadership.

Earlier this week, the rivalry was evident when dozens of fighters clashed at a Tripoli hospital in what residents said was the biggest armed confrontation in the capital in weeks.

Clashes erupted at 2 a.m. Monday when a half dozen former rebels from Zintan city in the western mountains stormed the hospital, according to doctors.

Some of the former rebels were drunk, and demanded staff hand over a wounded fighter shot earlier that day, according to the doctors, who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.
The patient and the body of a dead fighter had been taken to the hospital earlier, the doctors said, and the former rebels wanted to kill the wounded man.R

Hospital staff declined to hand over the patient, who was undergoing surgery.

Tripoli fighters in charge of hospital security forced them out , but not before the returning fighters shot rounds in the hospital.

Both groups called for backup, which arrived as fighting raged around the hospital grounds until 5 a.m. Witnesses said both sides were using heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns.

Walls near a hospital entrance were riddled with bullets holes, and nearby glass doors and windows were shattered. Across the street, bullets pierced through the walls of two buildings.

There were no deaths from gunshots, but medical staff said three patients died of stress-related causes that they linked to the fighting.

At least three of the Tripoli fighters were wounded in the clashes, according to Salem Abaza, who is in charge of hospital security. He described it as the most serious incident of infighting so far.

Accounts differed over how the three-hour battle concluded, but at least three witnesses said it ended after calls from a local imam and senior commanders from both groups talked by phone with their men.

Tripoli fighters said Tuesday they are concerned about the rising tensions among the various groups, which are increasingly divided along regional allegiances.

"We are concerned, as you can see, every day there is fighting between the rebels, this is something we don't want, we want a united Libya," said fighter Tammam Basheer.

The scene on Tripoli's streets these days -- heavily armed men brandishing guns and racing across the city with no central command and little or no accountability -- has raised concerns among residents.

"There are no security forces, everyone is running their own group, their own brigade, and they all control Tripoli," said Tripoli militia member Taha, who did not provide a second name.

Disarming tens of thousands of fighters who brought down ruler Moammar Gadhafi and bringing them under control is a top challenge for the fledgling interim government.

Acting Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib is expected to present his Cabinet within two weeks.

Military officials downplayed the tensions among the various militias, and say their biggest challenge is rebuilding the military.

"We would like to reorganize our army again," said Col. Ahmed Bani, the National Transitional Council's military spokesman. "When we have a great and strong army, we are safe. We will save our dreams, we will save our democracy, our borders."

At the Tripoli hospital, staff spoke of other recent incidents of intimidation by armed militiamen and called on authorities to provide protection and pull the weapons off the streets.

"We are really afraid, we do not want stethoscopes to be fighting guns," Dr. Ali Osman said.

Apple Awarded Patent For 'Slide To Unlock'

2011-10-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

If you remember the event when Steve Jobs revealed the first original iPhone back in 2007, you'll remember how the whole crowd was completely awestruck when Steve slided his fingers over the Slide To Unlock text to show off his greatest creation to the world. Now that tiny Slide To Unlock gesture is exclusive to Apple.

Here is what Steve Jobs said about Slide To Unlock back in 2007:

To unlock the phone, I just take my finger and slide it across. Wanna see that again? We wanted something you couldn’t do by accident in your pocket. Just slide it across – BOOM

Head of iOS Scott Forstall is named as one of the inventors alongside a slew of other Apple engineers including Imran Chaudhri, Bas Ording, Freddy Allen Anzures, Marcel Van Os, Stephen O. Lemay and Greg Christie.

The patent application for Slide To Unlock was filed by Apple in December 2005, over an year before the original iPhone was revealed in 2007. Now no other company will be able to use this gesture unless and until this patent is said to be invalid by court.

Boeing 787

2011-10-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

Boeing's first 787 Dreamliner made its first commercial flight today. After years of delays the future of aviation has arrived. And according to reviews, it was a totally pleasant flight. Even if the 787 can't totally fix flying, it might make it a whole lot better.

Okay, so all that happened is that a plane took off from Tokyo and landed in Hong Kong. Happens every day. But passengers aboard the Dreamliner's inaugural commercial flight found themselves actuallyenjoying the experience. The Telegraph's Peter Hughes positively gushed about the plane's creature comforts. And who can blame him: The Dreamliner has higher ceilings and bigger windows and increased cabin pressure, along with softer LED lighting. The 787 is in many noticeable ways a more comfortable aircraft. It sounds awesome.

A lot of people are understandably excited about the plane—Hughes reports that one American fanboy shelled out $31,781 on eBay for a ticket. The plane is much cheaper to operate than its predecessors. Even if the savings aren't passed on to us, passengers will see more non-stop flights on lower-demand routes, which means fewer connections and ameliorated congestion at huge regional hubs.

On top of all of that, it's nice to hear first hand that the plane is a plush ride. Congratulations to the engineers at Boeing for building a commodious and technologically-advanced flying machine. [The Telegraph; Image: Boeing]

India’s $35 Aakash Android tablet lands in America

2011-10-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

The Indian government thinks the $35 Aakash Android tablet has the power to change the world. The device (whose name means “Sky” in Hindi) was produced entirely in India — a point of pride for the Indian government.

The 7-inch Android-based device will be distributed at a government subsidized price of $35, making it the world’s cheapest Android device. The general retail price will be $60, which is still remarkably cheap for such a powerful device. A contract between the Indian government and Canadian development partner DataWind, should put between 10 and 12 million devices in the hands of students across India by the end of 2012, according to Computer World.

And next month, the first Aakash tablets will go on sale throughout India, and millions of children will be able to join the tablet revolution that is transforming education, communication and entertainment across the world.

Indian Army needs Rs 41,000 crore to rev up waning firepower

2011-10-26T20:31:00.001-07:00

The Navy and IAF may be on the modernization track at a pace that's much slower than desired, but it's the Army which seems to be floundering. The 1.13-million-strong force needs as much as Rs 41,000 crore to meet even existing shortages in equipment and ammunition.

The Army has painted a grim picture in its 11th Plan (2007-2012) review, pointing at operational gaps artillery, aviation, air defence & nightfighting capabilities, ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles), PGMs (precision-guided munitions) and specialized tank and rifle ammunition, say sources.

Holding that the "hollowness" in ammunition and equipment is "still critical", the 11th Plan review to the defence ministry says around Rs 41,000 crore will be required "to make up current deficiencies". This, when both China and Pakistan are rapidly modernizing their forces.

Incidentally, the Army itself has projected the remote but nevertheless plausible eventuality of a simultaneous "two-front war" in a worst-case scenario, as was first reported by TOI earlier.

But the force is nowhere near 100% operational capability, which an earlier projection held would be possible only by the end of the 14th Plan in 2027.

Take, for instance, ATGMs. While "authorized holding" for these missiles is over 80,000, just about half that number is actually held by the infantry, mechanized infantry and armoured corps, say sources. Similarly, the Bofors ghost is yet to be exorcised, with the force failing to induct any new 155mm howitzers since the infamous 1980s scandal.

A senior official, however, said, "Deficiencies are being made up. The Defence Acquisitions Council and Cabinet Committee on Security have cleared some major contracts. It will take some time for the equipment to reach troops."

The Bofors ghost is yet to be exorcised, with the force failing to induct any new 155mm howitzers since the 1980s scam.

Indian IT companies battle fake job offers

2011-10-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

Indian IT firms are facing a major threat in the form of fake job offers being sent to prospective jobseekers in the name of companies and their representatives.

Industry giant TCS says that this is an industry-wide problem and is stepping up efforts to battle the situation.

“We have posted a detailed note on job sites apart from our own website. We also create awareness through announcements in national and regional media and have a toll free service line for assistance,” said Ajoy Mukherjee, global HR Head at TCS.

TCS is one among several IT firms who are facing a similar problem of online job frauds. Other names such as Wipro and L&T Info Tech are also in the list with L&T Info Tech alone receiving several such complaints.

Experts foresee it as a growing trend in the IT industry, and consider fresh job seekers as an easy target.

“Spam Mails is a growing trend especially in the IT industry. These jobs are majorly for fresher's who are ready to do anything to get the job. These fake sites thrive on getting money and the databases, so candidates should not get lured into the trap,” said Vandanaa Pannaswami, associate director at ABC Consultants.

"The industry's requirements are high and at the same time increasing dramatically. The projected requirement for next year is significantly higher than this year," said Som Mittal , president of Nasscom. As the companies look to move to smaller cities for hiring, this is a problem that could need urgent attention.

Indian IT majors are leaving no stone unturned to reduce the growing concern of online job frauds. While Analysts foresee it as a growing trend, IT companies consider Awareness as the key to the problem.

Indian military helicopter 'breaches Pakistan airspace'

2011-10-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

Pakistan's military have forced an Indian military helicopter down after it crossed into Pakistani territory, a spokesman in Islamabad says.

The four Indian army officers on board were taken into detention after the helicopter landed in the Skardu region of northern Pakistan.

There has been no word on the incident so far from the Indian side.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947, two of them over disputed Kashmir.

Pakistani officials say they are now investigating how the helicopter came to cross the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between the two countries.

"The helicopter had came deep into our airspace. It was forced to land. Four Indian army officers have been taken into safe custody. They are safe," Maj-Gen Athar Abbas told Reuters news agency.

He added that India had been informed of the incident.

There were regular clashes across the LoC before the nuclear-armed neighbours agreed to a ceasefire in 2003. They now exchange only sporadic fire and there have been just a handful of clashes in recent years.

Last February, the two countries resumed a formal peace process suspended after the 2008 attack on Mumbai (Bombay), in which gunmen killed 165 people. Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan-based militants.

The two countries' foreign ministers met in Delhi in July and hailed what they said was a new era in ties, agreeing to fight militancy and boost trade and travel.

Achtung: German satellite to crash down tonight, won't land in Germany

2011-10-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

As if it weren't hard enough keeping your house safe from debt collectors these days, now you have something else to worry about: a falling German satellite called ROSAT. The German Aerospace Center has estimated that the hunk of decommissioned, extra-orbital metal will enter the atmosphere sometime between 7:30pm ET tonight and 1:30am ET tomorrow. It's unknown whether any of the thing will survive re-entry, but the 1.7 ton telescope mirror onboard very well may, striking the surface at a hasty 17,398MPH. The agency doesn't know where it will fall, but did reassuringly say that it won't hit Europe -- German scientists basically telling the rest of the world to spend all night worrying while they doze away, peacefully. At least it won't be taking any of its orbital brethren with it...