Science & technology

Emerging from the shadow of the Bofors scandal, the Army on Friday inducted its first artillery gun systems in three decades. The M777 Ultra Light Howitzers from the U.S. and K9 Vajra-T self-propelled artillery gun from South Korea were inducted at the Devlali Field Firing Ranges in Maharashtra. The third …

China unveiled on Tuesday a replica of its first permanently crewed space station, which would replace the international community’s orbiting laboratory and symbolises the country’s major ambitions beyond the earth. The 17-metre core module was a star attraction at the biennial Airshow China in the southern coastal city of Zhuhai. …

Suggests eliminating or limiting fear and violence in a parent-child relationship Parents should not spank their children, the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a strongly-worded policy statement. The group, which represents about 67,000 doctors, also recommended that paediatricians advise parents against the use of spanking and said to avoid …

Indian student’s algorithm uses big data analytics to identify parking space An Indian student in the U.S. has created a space-detecting algorithm that can help tackle the problem of finding a parking spot by using big data analytics and save a person’s time and money. Sai Nikhil Reddy Mettupally, a …

Patel may quit if the section is invoked The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has refused to provide any leeway to stressed borrowers or give in to the demand of higher dividend by the government, which issued three letters to the central bank in the last one month for consultation …

China’s first private rocket fails after launch The first attempt by a private Chinese company to send a rocket into space has failed. Beijing-based Landscape said that the first and second stage of its ZQ-1 rocket worked normally. Landscape said that “cowling separation was normal but something abnormal happened after …

Study of a dozen species revealed the presence of pollen grains Moths are widely considered as pests, but a recent study by scientists of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has revealed that these group of insects are pollinators to a number of flowering plants in the Himalayan ecosystem. Under the …

A two-day module is mandatory for surgical trainees in the U.S. and the U.K. With nearly 50,00,000 Indians dying due to medical negligence every year, experts claim that a specialised course for doctors and hospital staff focusing on how a critically ill or injured patient should be handled could bring …

TaxiBots will tow aircraft during taxiing at IGI Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport is set to be the first airport in the country to commence commercial use of TaxiBots — semi-robotic tow trucks — to help airlines reduce use of air turbine fuel during taxiing. SpiceJet and Jet Airways will …

Scientists have developed the world’s smallest optical gyroscope – a device that helps vehicles, drones and handheld electronic devices know their orientation in 3D space. The new gyroscope, described in Nature Photonics, is 500 times smaller than the current best device. Originally, gyroscopes were sets of nested wheels, each spinning …

By studying the movement of virtual animals in computer simulation, a research team led by Srinivasa Chakravarthy, Department of Biotechnology, at IIT Madras has unlocked the navigation behaviour in rats moving in two dimensions and bats (3D). They hope to use these clues in engineering autonomous vehicles and drones. Previous …

The spot-necked day gecko and the Anaimudi day gecko, both very distinctly-patterned lizards found only in the higher reaches of the Agasthyamalai and Anamalai hill ranges in the Western Ghats, are the latest additions to India’s reptile fauna. Researchers including Vivek Philip Cyriac of the Indian Institute of Science Education …

One of the reasons why the efficiency of bone marrow transplantation gets compromised is due to fewer hematopoietic stem cells available for transplantation. Researchers from the Pune-based National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) have addressed this by using a novel way to multiply or expand the number of hematopoietic stem …

Researchers have for the first time used a naturally occurring material — aloe vera gel — which inherently has superior oil repelling (oleophobic) property to separate oil from water. So far researchers have only been mimicking the structure of naturally existing materials such as fish scales to achieve super oleophobicity. …

Most medical textbooks are based on European body type, and places others at risk The size and shape of women’s birth canals vary depending on what part of the world they live in but most medical textbooks are based on a European body type, scientists said on Wednesday, warning of …

MIT scientists make devices that float through the bloodstream MIT scientists have developed a method to mass produce robots no bigger than a cell that could be used to monitor conditions inside an oil or gas pipeline, or to search out disease while floating through the bloodstream. The key to …

Study covers clinics in 8 countries, including India, that offer various ‘dangerous treatments’ Online appeals to help sick people by raising money for unfounded and sometimes dangerous treatments and purported cures bring in millions of dollars each year, researchers have warned. The study in the Journal of the American Medical …

Robot may speak with Naidu in video-con mode today After disappointing many for not being able to make it to the inaugural of the Vizag Fintech Festival, world’s first humanoid robot, Sophia, finally arrived in the city from Hong Kong on Wednesday. “The robot, which has been granted citizenship by …

NASA scientists have devised a new set of 21 modern gamma-ray constellations and named them after fictional characters such as the Hulk and Godzilla. The constellations, constructed through its gamma-ray telescope, were devised to celebrate the completion of 10 years of operations of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Source : …

A new treatment for a deadly drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis can cure more than 90% of sufferers, according to a landmark clinical trial whose results were revealed exclusively to AFP. Doctors in Belarus treated 181 patients with the new drug, bedaquiline, in combination with other antibiotics. Of these, 168 — …