Science & technology

In an effort to encourage investors to set up units to produce ethanol for blending with petrol, the State government on Saturday said investors could obtain almost all the requisite standard clearances within 30 days. The Tamil Nadu Ethanol Blending Policy (EBP) 2023, released on Saturday by the Industries Department, …

The influence of James Cameron, the Canadian-American filmmaker, whose cinema has frequently explored the mysteries of the deep ocean, looms large on scientists at the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) in Chennai. Ananda Ramadass asks this correspondent. The documentary charts Mr. Cameron’s solitary, 10,000-metre journey down the Marianna Trench …

The US military said its MQ-9 Reaper drone crashed into the Black Sea after a Russian Su-27 fighter jet damaged its propeller. It is a remotely piloted drone. It can reach up to 50,000 feet for more than 27 hours, gathering intelligence with cameras, sensors and radars. It can also carry precision strikes. Black Sea ·        The Black Sea is a mediterranean …

Researchers have created a design for a ‘glowscope’, a device that could democratise access to fluorescence microscopy. An optical microscope views an object by studying how it absorbs, reflects or scatters visible light. A fluorescence microscope views an object by studying how it re-emits light that it has absorbed, i.e. how it fluoresces. The process: The object is illuminated with light …

Stepping up from its ongoing initiative of providing potable water on six islands of Lakshadweep using low temperature thermal desalination (LTTD) technology, the Chennai-based National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) is working at making this process free of emissions. Key details: Currently, the desalination plants are powered by diesel generator sets — …

Minister for State  for Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences informed Lok Sabha that Deep Ocean Mission would not result in any over exploitation of the marine resources by the corporate houses and will not affect the life and livelihoods of fishers in the country. The mission is …

For well over a century, the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory (KoSO) has been observing the Sun, capturing images of sunspots, and recording changes in its behaviour. KoSO is owned and operated by Indian Institute of Astrophysics. It is one of the world’s oldest observatories studying the Sun. The idea was first proposed by the astronomer Norman Pogson, …

AI is the digital distillation of a technological revolution that is facilitating the long-overdue evolution of the human mind. AI, as fear-inducing as anything disruptive and new is, can trigger new avenues of intelligence in human minds. These new avenues enable us to understand and attack society’s greatest challenges today. …

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has received the NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) satellite from the U.S. space agency. NISAR is a Low Earth Orbit observatory jointly developed by NASA and ISRO. According to ISRO, NISAR will map the entire globe in 12 days and provide spatially and temporally consistent data …

The theme for International Women’s Day 2023 is ‘DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality.’ The transformational and all-encompassing role of digital technology is growing even faster in the post-pandemic world. But sadly, the digital revolution also poses the challenge of perpetuating gender inequality, which is increasingly noticeable in the …

That OpenAI’s ChatGPT has received a lot of attention is well known by now. Recently, two journalists from the United States polling company, FiveThirtyEight, asked the artificial intelligence chatbot to create an 800-word piece regarding public perception of AI chatbots. “A 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center,” the chatbot …

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) recently outlined a plan for a potentially revolutionary new area of research called organoid intelligence, which aims to create “bio-computers”. Organoid intelligence is an emerging interdisciplinary scientific field aiming to establish a new type of biological computing system. These next-generation biocomputers will harness the computational power of the …

The Indian Railways is harnessing the power of data analytics for integrated transportation. It has commenced a project which will now enable real time tracking of train movements with the assistance of satellite imagery under the Real Time Train Information System (RTIS) project. K. Singh, Managing Director, Centre for Railway …

They are women from rural India who have adopted clean energy-based livelihood technologies to catalyse their businesses. From solar refrigerators to silk-reeling machines and biomass-based cold storage to bulk milk chillers, distributed renewable energy (DRE) is transforming women’s livelihoods at the grassroots. A recent Council on Energy, Environment and Water …

Indian Navy today received a fully indigenised fuze YDB-60 for underwater Rocket RGB 60 manufactured for the first time by a private Indian industry. In order to provide major boost to AatmaNirbharta in Armament and Ammunition, Indian Navy received for the first time a fully indigenised fuze YDB-60 for underwater Anti Submarine Warfare …

CENTRE FOR POLICY RESEARCH The Government of India suspended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR). The CPR was established in 1973 as a think tank. Mission: To contribute to a more robust public discourse about the issues that impact life in India. It is India’s premier public policy …

eSanjeevani app, a free telemedicine service run by the Centre, a ‘lifesaving app’ for the common man. In his monthly radio broadcast ‘Mann Ki Baat’, the PM said more than 10 crore people have availed tele-consultation through the app till date. ESanjeevani is becoming a lifesaving app for the commonman …

It is the fifth of a series of 12 post-budget webinars organized by the government to seek ideas and suggestions for the effective implementation of the initiatives announced in the Union Budget 2023. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that India of the 21st century is constantly empowering its …

Last year, the U.S. government passed the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act 2.0. The move is expected to boost the research and development of ‘organ chips’ — small devices containing human cells that are used to mimic the environment in human organs, including blood flow and breathing movements, serving …

A man became the third person to have been “cured of HIV” after a bone marrow transplant carrying a specific HIV-resistant mutation. The CCR5-delta 32 mutation prevents the receptors used by the HIV virus from forming on the surface, effectively denying the virus its doorway to the body. It is …