Science & technology

The two-man crew of a Soyuz rocket made a successful emergency landing on Thursday after an engine problem on lift-off to the International Space Station, in a major setback for the beleaguered Russian space industry. U.S. astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin were rescued without injuries in Kazakhstan. …

A probe by The Hindu and The Bureau of Investigative Journalism finds a veterinary drug producer promoting their misuse in poultry farming The world’s biggest animal drugs company has been accused of double standards and of exposing consumers in India to “higher levels of risk” by selling antibiotics for purposes …

Organic Sikkim on shortlist for FAO prize Sikkim’s achievement in becoming the world’s first totally organic agriculture State in India has won it a place on the shortlist of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Future Policy Award. The FAO said that the award would celebrate policies that create …

A whale calf has been freed after it got tangled in a shark net off the Australian east coast. Authorities worked for almost two hours on Tuesday morning to free the calf. “The calf had some superficial wounds, but nothing life threatening, and swam away with its mother when released,” …

Scientists say they have developed the first bioelectronic medicine — an implantable, biodegradable wireless device that speeds nerve regeneration and improves the healing of a damaged nerve. Researchers at the Washington University in the U.S. developed a device that delivers regular pulses of electricity to damaged peripheral nerves in rats …

Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa says he has received “safety guarantees” from Musk Billionaire Japanese tycoon and future space tourist Yusaku Maezawa’s training to go the moon should not be too tricky, he joked on Tuesday, adding that he planned to use free time from his six-hour work day to squeeze it …

Scientists have often framed climate change in terms of the future; but for many people, that watery future is already here, reports Orb Media In the morning, before she left for work, Ambika Thankappan called her son Arun to tell him their world was about to drown. “It’s already flooded …

It learns signatures from MRI, genetics and clinical data Scientists — including one of Indian origin — have created an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that can accurately predict whether a person’s cognitive decline will lead to Alzheimer’s disease in the next five years. Researchers from the University of Toronto in …

RMIT varsity developed Sans Forgetica Researchers have created a new type font, called Sans Forgetica, to help people remember more of what they read. Sans Forgetica is believed to be the world’s first typeface specifically designed to help people retain more information and remember more of typed notes, said researchers …

Next influenza outbreak ‘could kill up to 150 million people’ It was the disease to end all others, infecting a third of humanity, killing tens of millions in their beds and prompting panicked talk of the end of days across continents still reeling from war. One hundred years on from …

The Hubble space telescope, which has been in orbit since 1990, is currently out of action because of a gyroscope failure, the U.S. space agency said on Monday. NASA said Hubble went into “safe mode” on Friday because of the failure of another of the six gyroscopes used to orient …

After munching on berries that fermented due to an early frost, they get ‘typsy’ and fly into windows They fall out of trees. They fly into windows. They stumble along branches and wobble their small feathered bodies as if they’ve had one marg too many. Have the drunk birds come …

‘Rafale aircraft, S-400 missile systems will further enhance our capabilities’ The Indian Air Force is “ever prepared” to meet any contingencies and the recent largest-ever pan-India exercise Gagan Shakti 2018 showcased the “operational capability and readiness of the IAF,” said Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa on Monday. “During the exercise, …

The attacks on girls and women every day are symptomatic of a deep malaise Where curriculum designers fear to tread, film directors take relaxed, bold strides. Few will consider ghosts and witchcraft as suitable topics for a textbook. Killing of women on the suspicion that they are practising witchcraft occasionally …

Neanderthals passed on viral defences to humans Modern humans inherited genetic defences against viral diseases like hepatitis from Neanderthals, when the two species interbred 50,000 years ago, a study has found. Many modern Europeans and Asians harbour about 2% of Neanderthal DNA in their genomes.PTI Source :  https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-life/modern-humans-inherited-viral-defences-from-neanderthals/article25152190.ece

NASA’s Voyager 2 probe is approaching interstellar space and has detected an increase in cosmic rays that originate outside our solar system, the U.S. space agency said. Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 is a little less than 17.7 billion km away from the earth.PTI Source :  https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-life/nasa-probe-nearing-interstellar-space/article25152188.ece

Scientists have developed a new test that can reveal the amount of DNA people shed, a tool that could be used by forensic experts to nab criminals using genetic clues left at crime scenes. A single tap of a finger on items like door handles, glass or even shaking hands …

The devices will be ‘biodegradable’ Scientists have developed a thin, flexible semiconductor, partly using organic materials, that can efficiently convert electricity into light and could help make bendable smartphones. The invention, by researchers at the Australian National University (ANU), also opens the door to a new generation of high-performance electronic …

They can catch and destroy BPA, a synthetic chemical commonly used to coat the insides of food cans Scientists have created tiny spheres that can catch and destroy bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic chemical used to make plastics that often contaminates water. BPA is commonly used to coat the insides …

In simulations, robots move around by exploring, observing and drawing from previous experiences As robots may struggle with navigational concepts, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have devised a new way to help them navigate environments more as humans do. The novel motion-planning model lets …