Happy New Year 2012 to All my readers !!!
Wants to work with Stephen Hawking? Read this Article
British physicist Stephen Hawking is looking for an assistant to travel the globe with him and help him communicate. In a week or two's time, an official ad will appear inviting applications. In the meantime, there's a heads-up that the post is soon to become available here.
"It is not a PhD or Post-Doc position for academics looking to study physics, but a purely technical post to allow Prof. Hawking to function within the physics community and as a public speaker," the page explains.
The job will start in February, it says, and will involve around three months' travel a year. Indeed, organizing that travel for Hawking and his care team is a large part of the job.
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| Stephen hawking |
Other responsibilities involve the maintenance of Hawking's wheelchairs and accessible van. There's even a bit of public relations work thrown in.
The job will pay £25,000 a year, funded by the University of Cambridge
The money may be on the low side for a position demanding technical, organisational and communication skills, but we suspect there'll be no shortage of applicants.
WARNING: Cleverest scam hits Facebook and you may give your details !!!
Are you getting some email about Violating the facebook rules and regulation or saying that you are annoying other facebook users with warning to delete your account. If it is so please becareful and don’t give your details. A new Internet scam, dubbed the cleverest yet, is designed to steal Facebook users’ passwords and financial details by accusing them of violating the social network’s policy and threatening to delete their account. According to experts, the latest Facebook scam is among the most sophisticated yet because it mimics the security procedures that sites use to defend against Internet trolls and other bad behaviour online. The scam comes in an email accusing the user of insulting or annoying another Facebook user and saying their account will be deleted in 24 hours, News.com.au reports.
The email links to a fake account disabled page that asks for personal details, including credit card information.
The access to login details helps the scam travel farther and faster by sending it to new users from trusted friends, the report said.
Long Mystery about Yeti’s solved :'Yeti finger' turns out to be human
Scottish scientists have analyzed the DNA of a mummified finger claimed to belong to a yeti.
The finger's about three and a half inches long and blackened, with a long nail, It was recently rediscovered at the Royal College of Surgeons in London
It was brought back from Nepal
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| An artist's impression of what the mythical Yeti would look like |
The walls are lined with traditional Nepalese paintings depicting the treacherous tracks to the monastery.
And among them are pictures of the legendary ape-like creature we refer to as the Yeti.
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| The Yeti' finger, pictured that was displayed at London's Royal College of Surgeons |
Fossil remains found there from the Pleistocene age (2,500,000 to 11,700 years ago) reveal skeletons of a creature called the Gigantopithecus, or great ape, which became extinct 300,000 years ago.
These towering primates reached about 10ft in height and weighed half a ton.
It is possible they lived alongside our human ancestors in what are now China , India and Vietnam
Tales of the Meh-te, or ‘man bear’ as Yetis are known in Nepal, gained popular currency in the West only in the 1830s when the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal published British orientalist B.H. Hodgson’s account of a tall, two-legged creature covered with dark hair that he claimed to have seen while trekking in Nepal.
However, the finger's now been analyzed by scientists at Edinburgh
"We had to stitch it together. We had several fragments that we put into one big sequence and then we matched that against the database and we found human DNA," Dr Rob Ogden, of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland told the BBC, which has made a documentary about the tests.
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| Actor Jimmy Stewart |
The team says it's very similar to known human DNA sequences from that region of Asia , and could have belonged to a long-ago monk. The Royal College of Surgeons says it's happy to return the finger to the monastery.
Device mimicking retinal circuits could help blind see
Can You Challenge the nature? The answer will be no but there are chances for the blind people to see. A novel device that mimics the action of retinal circuits could, within a decade, help the blind see.
Sheila Nirenberg, professor of neuroscience at Cornell University , US , told a San Diego
"I study how the brain uses patterns of electrical activity to see, to hear, to reach for an object. I've been starting to use what we've learned about these patterns of electricity to develop prosthetic devices," Nirenberg added.
She explained that if a person has a retinal disease, there's very little that can be done for them, with drug treatments only effective on a small number of sufferers.
There are prosthetic devices, but they only allow patients to see simple images, mainly just outlines. Nirenberg describes her device as something "that could make a difference".
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| Eye |
So far, the device has only been tested on mice, but when asked if it could be adapted for humans in 10 years, she replied: "I'm hoping less."
"I study how the brain uses patterns of electrical activity to see, to hear, to reach for an object. I've been starting to use what we've learned about these patterns of electricity to develop prosthetic devices," Nirenberg added.
She explained that if a person has a retinal disease, there's very little that can be done for them, with drug treatments only effective on a small number of sufferers.
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| Structure Of Eye |
There are prosthetic devices, but they only allow patients to see simple images, mainly just outlines. Nirenberg describes her device as something "that could make a difference".
Scientists can now read our minds!!!
Do you believe that some one can read what are you thinking about? If not Reading University of California -Los Angeles
The researchers compare the results to Google's predictive search capability, when the website guesses what search terms users are typing before they finish.
The study, led by author Ariana Anderson, a post-doctoral fellow in the Integrative Neuroimaging Technology lab at the university, was performed on smokers experiencing nicotine cravings.
Durin the study, MRI brain wave data was analysed to determine which regions of the brain and which neural networks are responsible for resisting nicotine addiction.
China unveils new super-speed train that can hit 300mph (... 100mph quicker than its bullet trains)
According to Dailymail.co.uk , China has produced a super-rapid test train capable of traveling at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour - 100mph faster than the current record-holder.
The train, made from plastic materials reinforced with carbon fibre, is designed to resemble an ancient Chinese sword and 'will provide useful reference for current high-speed railway operations', according to train expert Shen Zhiyun.
Earlier this year, the Communist regime unveiled its fastest operational locomotive which was able to cover the 824-mile trip between Beijing and Shanghai
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| though not yet operational, the new bullet train has achieved speeds of 300mph |
The latest test model has a maximum tractive power of 22,800 kilowatts, compared with 9,600 kilowatts for the Beijing-Shanghai CRH380 trains.
But future Chinese trains will not necessarily run at such high speeds. CSR chairman Zhao Xiaogang said: 'We aim to ensure the safety of trains operation.'
In February, the railways minister, Liu Zhijun, a key figure behind the boom in the sector, was dismissed over corruption charges that have not yet been tried in court.
And the multi-billion-pound plan has provoked complaints that it is too expensive for a country where millions of people still live in poverty. The government announced in April the top speed of the fastest lines would be reduced and ticket prices would be cut.
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| Current fastest train having speed of 200 Mph |
Critics also claim that railway officials have diverted too much money to high-speed rail and should be expanding lower-cost traditional rail.
The Ministry of Railways claims it has made extensive preparations for safety and security on the trains.
They include plans for daily inspections of tracks and other facilities and an earthquake monitoring system.
Artificial intestines come closer to reality
A new artificial intestine developed in a laboratory using collagen and stem cells, is expected to soon help treat people suffering from acute bowel disorders.
A team of researchers has created a tiny artificial intestine in the lab and they aim at scaling the tube up within three years so that it can be tested in human trials.
“We’re going to be taking these and inserting them into animals to see if it actually works,” Discovery News quoted John March, an assistant professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University who developed the artificial intestine structure as saying.
March is developing the artificial intestine with David Hackam, a pediatric surgeon and scientist at Children’sHospital of Pittsburgh
“We’re going to be taking these and inserting them into animals to see if it actually works,” Discovery News quoted John March, an assistant professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University who developed the artificial intestine structure as saying.
March is developing the artificial intestine with David Hackam, a pediatric surgeon and scientist at Children’s
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| Large Intestine |
The artificial intestines could be used to help treat patients suffering from bowel disorders including approximately 25,000 children worldwide born with a condition called short bowel syndrome who are missing a piece of intestine.
These patients need feeding tubes, and the rate of rejection for an intestinal transplant from another human is nearly 40 percent after one year, according to Dr. Hackam.
“Death from rejection as well as overwhelming infection remain unacceptably high,” he said.
Special moulds were used to cautiously produce the tube structure, including the tiny fingerlike projections found in real intestine lining called “villi.”
The scientists plan to grow stem cells removed from a gut and seed them onto the tube. Eventually they envisage using human cells so that a patient’s cells would fill the open spaces in the “gut tube reactor,” which should help avert rejection.
“Basically the whole thing is built out of the patient’s own body,” March said.
“We’re just giving it a place to grow.”
“These finger-like projections are really quite tall and have a high aspect ratio meaning that they have a curve, and then they’re much higher than they are wide,” March added.
Do You Believe?: Male spiders sacrifice their lives for kids' health
What can you do for your offspring? Buy some expensive gift? Put them in good school? But Can you let your life go for your off spring? I guess no but Research has revealed that Male spiders sacrifice their lives for the health of their offspring, by letting their mates eat them after sex, a new study has revealed. Sexual cannibalism is the act of one partner eating the other after sex. In the orb-web spider Argiope bruennichi, the female tries to grab and wrap up the male at the onset of mating so she can snack on him during sex.
In the lab, only about 30 percent of the males survive their first mating, but by letting the female gnaw on them, the males prolong the sex act, making it more likely they will inseminate their partner.
Of these survivors, half go on to find a second mate, while the others try again for the same female. Due to the male's anatomy, two copulations is the limit.
The males might be offering themselves up "to gain access to mating opportunities and to prolong their mating duration."
Or, Welke said that it could be a "paternal investment into their own offspring, and they provide females with nutrients."
In the case of the orb-web spider, males tend to be much smaller than their mates; in this species, they are only one-tenth as heavy, and researchers were not sure how much nutritional benefit the females can gain from such pipsqueak partners.
The researchers thought that perhaps the nutritional bonus from multiple mates and meals would have an impact on females. But it did not.
"We were surprised, because we had expected that any effect of male consumption would increase with every additional male consumed," Welke said.
"Our findings suggest a paternal investment of males into their offspring.
"Sexual cannibalism may increase male reproductive success and may be very beneficial in a species with a high paternity insurance and a low rate of polyandry as found in Argiope bruennichi," Welke added.
The study has been published in journal Animal Behaviour
In the lab, only about 30 percent of the males survive their first mating, but by letting the female gnaw on them, the males prolong the sex act, making it more likely they will inseminate their partner.
Of these survivors, half go on to find a second mate, while the others try again for the same female. Due to the male's anatomy, two copulations is the limit.
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| Spider mating "Two main hypotheses explain the evolution of sexual cannibalism," study researcher Klaas Welke, of the |
Or, Welke said that it could be a "paternal investment into their own offspring, and they provide females with nutrients."
In the case of the orb-web spider, males tend to be much smaller than their mates; in this species, they are only one-tenth as heavy, and researchers were not sure how much nutritional benefit the females can gain from such pipsqueak partners.
The researchers thought that perhaps the nutritional bonus from multiple mates and meals would have an impact on females. But it did not.
"We were surprised, because we had expected that any effect of male consumption would increase with every additional male consumed," Welke said.
"Our findings suggest a paternal investment of males into their offspring.
"Sexual cannibalism may increase male reproductive success and may be very beneficial in a species with a high paternity insurance and a low rate of polyandry as found in Argiope bruennichi," Welke added.
The study has been published in journal Animal Behaviour
Great space ball mystery SOLVED: Metal sphere that crashed to Earth in Namibian desert is a fuel tank from an unmanned rocket
Fewdays back it was a mystery for everyone but now it is solved as the mysterious metal sphere fell to the ground in a remote area of northern Namibia has now been identified as a hydrazine tank from an unknown rocket, commonly used in satellite launches.
When the 13lbs, 14 inch ball smashed to earth in mid- November it sparked a national security issue with the Namibian authorities asking NASA for help in identifying it.
Adrian Chen of Gawker reported that it was most likely a fuel tank for storing hydrazine on unmanned rockets. He said this after a commentator wrote on his blog: 'For anyone wondering what it actually is, it's likely a 39-litre hydrazine bladder tank.
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| 39 Litre Hydrazine propellant tank for spacecraft, looks identical to the one found in the desert |
When the ball fell it caused a crater 12 inches deep and 13ft wide, although it was found some 60ft away.
Locals claimed to have heard several explosions in the days before it was discovered by a farmer on his land.
Some claimed that it could be an escaped particle from the Large Hadron Collider, reindeer droppings or a Quaffle from the Harry Potter films.
Police forensics director Paul Ludik said that the ball was discovered a month ago but was only made public this week. Whilst it was made of a ‘sophisticated material’, it was something that was known to mankind.
He explained that the explosion heard by locals could have been the sonic boom when it broke the sound barrier coming down to Earth, or by the impact on the ground.
The compound appeared to be a ‘metallic compound normally used in space vehicles,’ although he would not be surprised it it was actually from a normal aircraft.
Police deputy inspector general Vilho Hifindaka added that the sphere, which landed 480 miles from the Namibian capital Windhoek
He said: ‘It is not an explosive device, but rather hollow, but we had to investigate all this first’.
The find sparked speculation on the internet that it could finally be proof of extra terrestrial life, even though it bore a passing resemblance to the head of a character from the children’s series Teletubbies.
Earlier this year
Huge chunks of titanium up to 350lbs from car-sized Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite tore through the atmosphere at 1,800mph but the best NASA could guess was that they landed somewhere south of Inverness on the equator.
To try and reassure the public it also revealed that the odds of being hit were miniscule.
Weeks later Germany
Google planning to launch 'wearable computer'?
Google is reportedly developing computer glasses with a “heads up display” that would allow people to use the Internet out in the real world.
According to a New York Times report, the “Google Goggles” are designed as augmented reality devices that send information back to an Android smartphone attached the users’ clothing or body.
9to5Google’s specialist Seth Weintrub said that the latest prototype looks similar to thick-rimmed glasses but provides “a display with a heads up computer interface”.
“There are a few buttons on the arms of the glasses, but otherwise, they could be mistaken for normal glasses,” News.com.au quoted Weintrub, as saying.
If the rumours of these computer glasses turns out to be true, the technology could be the first step towards doing away with touchscreen technology altogether.
9to5Google’s specialist Seth Weintrub said that the latest prototype looks similar to thick-rimmed glasses but provides “a display with a heads up computer interface”.
“There are a few buttons on the arms of the glasses, but otherwise, they could be mistaken for normal glasses,” News.com.au quoted Weintrub, as saying.
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| Wearable computer |
According to the report, the device that is said to operate via Wi-Fi Internet connection or Bluetooth, has been developed in the search giants secret “Google X” laboratory.
If the rumours of these computer glasses turns out to be true, the technology could be the first step towards doing away with touchscreen technology altogether.
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| Google logo |
Prince Philip taken to hospital with chest pains and treated for a blocked coronary artery
The Duke of Edinburgh popularly know as Prince Philip and husband of Queen Elizabeth was last night under surveillance in the world-famous Papworth Hospital after emergency surgery for a blocked coronary artery.
The 90-year-old royal was flown to the specialist cardiothoracic unit, near Cambridge , in a RAF search and rescue helicopter after being taken ill at Sandringham with serious chest pains.
After ‘precautionary’ tests, Philip underwent what was described as a ‘minimally invasive procedure’ known as coronary stenting.
This involves placing a tube in the coronary arteries that supply the heart, to keep them open in the treatment of heart disease. Stents reduce chest pain and have been shown to improve survival rates in the event of an acute heart problem.
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| Duke of Edinburg |
Dr Simon Davies, a cardiologist at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London
‘That meant that the blood was not passing through that artery so the muscle was starving of oxygen and in danger of dying, in other words a heart attack, or was on the verge of one.’
In view of his age, the Queen’s husband, who still conducts more than 350 engagements each year, will remain in hospital for a day or so for further monitoring.
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| Sandringham House where Royal family had gathered to celebrate x-mas |
Sources said it was unlikely that members of the Royal Family would be visiting him in the coming hours but confirmed that his wife and children were being kept updated on his condition back at the Queen’s private Norfolk
Although it may be viewed by some as uncaring, this is normal procedure within the Royal Family – and the Duke would have it no other way.
When he was in hospital for four days with a chest infection in 2008 he refused to receive any visitors and spent his time catching up on his paperwork.
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| Papworth Hospital |
‘Following tests at Papworth the Duke of Edinburgh was found to have a blocked coronary artery which had caused his chest pains. This was treated successfully by the minimally invasive procedure of coronary stenting. Prince Philip will remain in hospital for observation for a short period.’
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| Prince Philip with Queen |
It is believed the Duke was flown to the hospital, which is around 60 miles away from the Sandringham estate, by a Sea King helicopter from RAF Wattisham, near Stowmarket in Suffolk
'UFO cloud' spotted floating over UK: Dazzling picture of rare formation
Captured on a crisp winter sky these dazzling clouds look nothing like their normal fluffy white counterpart.
Known by experts as the Altocumulus Lenticularis, but dubbed the UFO cloud by many, this formation was spotted above Farsley in West Yorkshire yesterday.
And although incredibly rare in the UK the clouds are a common sighting in the Himalayas, Andes and Rocky Mountains .
Lenticular clouds are said to be the single biggest explanation for UFO sightings across the world.
Bright colors (called Irisation) are sometimes seen along the edge of lenticular clouds.
These clouds have also been known to form in cases where a mountain does not exist, but rather as the result of shear winds created by a front.
The mystery ball from space: Experts baffled by metal sphere that crashed to Earth in remote area of Namibia
According to daily mail.co.uk a mysterious ball that looks like a prop from a science fiction film - and nobody can explain where it came from.
Police have been left baffled after a strange metal sphere fell to the ground in a remote area of northern Namibia , Africa .
It weighs around 13lbs, has a diameter of 14 inches and its rough surface looks like ‘two halves welded together’, said police forensics director Paul Ludik.
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| The baffling metal sphere, pictured made a crater 12 inches deep where it fell |
When the ball came down it caused a crater 12 inches deep and 13ft wide, although it was found some 60ft away.
Locals claimed to have heard several explosions in the days before it was discovered by a farmer on his land.
The find sparked speculation on the internet that it could finally be proof of extra terrestrial life, even though it bore a passing resemblance to the head of a character from the children’s series Teletubbies.
Some claimed that it could be an escaped particle from the Large Hadron Collider, reindeer droppings or a Quaffle from the Harry Potter films.
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| The mysterious metal sphere landed on dry land in an area of northern Namibia, pictured |
Mr Ludik however was quick to point out that more tests need to be done and that NASA and the European Space Agency had been notified.
He said that the ball was discovered a month ago but it has only now been made public. Whilst it was made of a ‘sophisticated material’, it was something that was known to mankind.
He explained that the explosion heard by locals could have been the sonic boom when it broke the sound barrier coming down to Earth, or by the impact on the ground.
The compound appeared to be a ‘metallic compound normally used in space vehicles,’ although he would not be surprised if it was actually from a normal aircraft.
Police deputy inspector general Vilho Hifindaka added that the sphere, which landed 480 miles from the
Namibian capital Windhoek
He said: ‘It is not an explosive device, but rather hollow, but we had to investigate all this first’.
Earlier this year Britain
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| The sphere could be a hydrazine tank used on satellites such as the one pictured |
To try and reassure the public it also revealed that the odds of being hit were one in 3,200 - more likely than getting a hole-in-one in golf.
Weeks later Germany
dengue infection for the second time hits harder and may lead to fatal!!!
Are you once affected by Dengue fever? If yes you need to be cautious as the Dengue fever of second time may be fatal and you may loss your life. An international team of researchers has for the first time pulled apart the mechanism behind changing dengue virus genetics and dynamics of host immunity.
One of the most vexing challenges in the battle against dengue virus, a mosquito-borne virus responsible for 50-100 million infections every year, is that getting infected once can put people at greater risk for a more severe infection down the road.
The virus that causes dengue disease is divided into four closely related serotypes (dengue virus 1, 2, 3 and 4), and those serotypes can be further divided into genetic variants, or subtypes.
The findings have implications for the efforts to combat a disease that has grown dramatically in recent decades, including the development of a first-ever dengue vaccine.
It was already known that upon a person''s first infection with dengue virus, the immune system reacts normally by creating antibodies to fight the viral invaders. The problem is that those antibodies can then be confused if confronted later with one of the other three types of dengue virus, and as this new study revealed, even different subtypes within the same serotype.
School of Public Health
“Instead of neutralizing the viruses, the antibodies bind to them in a way that actually helps them invade the immune system’s other cells and spread,” she explained.
The study authors noted that this Trojan horse effect has been shown before, but the new research provides an analysis of the interplay between viral genetics and immune response with unprecedented detail, going beyond the main serotype.
Their findings have been published in the Dec. 21 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
The virus that causes dengue disease is divided into four closely related serotypes (dengue virus 1, 2, 3 and 4), and those serotypes can be further divided into genetic variants, or subtypes.
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| Aedes aegypti mosquito responsible for Dengue |
The researchers showed that a person’s prior immune response to one serotype of dengue virus could influence the interaction with virus subtypes in a subsequent infection. How that interaction plays out could mean the difference between getting a mild fever and going into a fatal circulatory failure from dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome.
The findings have implications for the efforts to combat a disease that has grown dramatically in recent decades, including the development of a first-ever dengue vaccine.
It was already known that upon a person''s first infection with dengue virus, the immune system reacts normally by creating antibodies to fight the viral invaders. The problem is that those antibodies can then be confused if confronted later with one of the other three types of dengue virus, and as this new study revealed, even different subtypes within the same serotype.
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| Dengue virus |
“With the second infection, the antibodies sort of recognize the new type of viruses, but not well enough to clear them from the system,” said study lead author Molly OhAinle, post-doctoral fellow in infectious diseases at UC Berkeley’s
“Instead of neutralizing the viruses, the antibodies bind to them in a way that actually helps them invade the immune system’s other cells and spread,” she explained.
The study authors noted that this Trojan horse effect has been shown before, but the new research provides an analysis of the interplay between viral genetics and immune response with unprecedented detail, going beyond the main serotype.
Their findings have been published in the Dec. 21 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
IBM predicts 'mind-controlled' PCs within five years
Do you wish something to be done by your gadget? Doest it follow your mind? Not now but Gadget can follow your thoughts and work according to your thoughts. It will be possible as Technology Company IBM predicts that mind-controlled computers will be on the market within five years.
Apple, Google and Microsoft are already investigating voice-controlled gadgets - or gadgets controlled by moving your body in front of a camera. But IBM thinks the tech giants might be a little shortsighted.
"Mind-reading has been wishful thinking for science fiction fans for decades, but their wish may soon come true," Daily Mail reported Wednesday quoting a spokesperson.
The company is investigating smartphone and PC technology where "you would just need to think about calling someone and it happens".
The prediction was part of IBM's annual "Five in Five" report. The company also predicted that by 2016, passwords would have disappeared.
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| IBM logo |
Primitive mind-control is already used in games such as Mattel's Mindflex, where you wear a brainwave-reading headband and concentrate to raise and lower a ball - held mid-air by jets of air that respond to your brainwaves.
Nasa space telescope finds 'twin' of Earth orbiting a distant Sun-like star
A rocky planet the same size as the Earth has been discovered orbiting a star like our sun.
It is the first time a planet of this size has been detected in another solar system. Scientists have hailed the technical achievement of detecting Earth sized ‘exoplanets’ - the technical term for planets outside the solar system - as it increases the chances of finding life-bearing worlds.
Although the planet, Kepler-20f could have a thick water-vapour atmosphere, its surface is believed to be too hot for life.
A second planet in the same system, Kepler-20e, is only slightly smaller than Earth and even hotter.
Both worlds circle their parent star closely with 'years' that last just nine and sixteen days respectively.
Dr Francois Fressin, one of the astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics in Cambridge, US, said: ‘It is the first time humanity has been able to discover an object similar to the Earth around a star, so maybe we will be able to find others.
‘This could be an important milestone. I think 10 years or maybe even 100 years from now people will look back and ask when the first Earth-sized planet was found. It is very exciting.’
The parent star, Kepler-20, is not exactly a close neighbour, being 945 light years away.
Neither lie within the ‘habitable zone’ where temperatures are just warm enough to allow liquid surface water, increasing the prospects for life.
Earlier this month the telescope discovered Kepler-22b, a planet 2.4 times the size of the Earth situated in the middle of its habitable zone. But scientists say that Kepler 22-b may not be suitable for life.
‘You could fit 13 Earths inside Kepler-22b,’ said Dr Fressin. ‘The most likely thing is that it's simply a mini-Neptune, not suitable for life. Just because a planet lies within the habitable zone that doesn't mean it is habitable.’
Like Kepler-22b, the two new planets were found by the American space agency Nasa's Kepler space telescope - which scans distant stars for the signs of 'transits', planets passing in front of them.
The findings are reported today in an early online edition of the journal Nature.
Both planets are part of a solar system family already known to contain three larger worlds.
Kepler-20f has a radius just 1.03 times larger than Earth's, while Kepler-20e is 0.87 the size of the Earth.
Kepler-20f has a radius just 1.03 times larger than Earth's, while Kepler-20e is 0.87 the size of the Earth.
The astronomers spent years making sure the signals they detected really were from planets.
‘We simulated all possible alternative configurations and tried to quantify the probability that a false signal could occur,’ said Dr Fressin. ‘We confirmed that the signals were coming from an Earth-size planet. It couldn't be due to anything else.’
Both planets are believed to be rocky, with a composition of iron and silicate, and very hot.
Kepler-20f is a baking 426C and Kepler-20e a scorching 726c.
Kepler-20f is a baking 426C and Kepler-20e a scorching 726c.
The solar system is not hugely like our own, though. In our solar system small, rocky worlds orbit close to the Sun and large, gas giant worlds orbit farther out. In contrast, the planets of Kepler-20 are organized in alternating size: big, little, big, little, big.
'We were surprised to find this system of flip-flopping planets,' said co-author David Charbonneau of the CfA.
The planets of Kepler-20 could not have formed in their current locations. Instead, they must have formed farther from their star and then migrated inward, probably through interactions with the disk of material from which all the planets orbiting the star formed from.
Kepler identifies 'objects of interest' by looking for stars that dim slightly, which can occur when a planet crosses the star's face.
'We were surprised to find this system of flip-flopping planets,' said co-author David Charbonneau of the CfA.
The planets of Kepler-20 could not have formed in their current locations. Instead, they must have formed farther from their star and then migrated inward, probably through interactions with the disk of material from which all the planets orbiting the star formed from.
Kepler identifies 'objects of interest' by looking for stars that dim slightly, which can occur when a planet crosses the star's face.
To confirm a transiting planet, astronomers look for the star to wobble as it is gravitationally tugged by its orbiting companion.
Brazilian baby 'born healthy with two heads... and both are suckling mother's breasts'
A Brazilian woman has given birth to a baby with two heads, it was reported today.
The boy was born by caesarean at a hospital in Anajas, in Brazil's northern Para state, weighing 9.9lbs.
Scans show that while the child has two perfectly-formed heads, he has one heart and all his vital organs function as normal.
According to doctors the newborn is in perfect health and both heads have started nursing normally.
According to dailymail.co.uk the 25-year-old mother, who lives in a rural area of the state, had no ultra-sound scans during her pregnancy and only found out about the abnormality minutes before the baby was born at 1am on Monday morning.
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| baby born with two head in brazil |
Mr Vasconcelos added that at no point did the mother, who has three other children, appear distraught that her son has two heads.
He said: 'On the contrary, the baby was received with much happiness by the family.
'The mother fed both mouths and the baby stayed with her in her room the whole time. Her desire was to take her baby straight home.'
The mother and baby were taken by air ambulance yesterday afternoon to a specialist hospital in the state capital, Belem, to carry out further tests. They are expected to be allowed home later this week.
Remarkably, this is the second time a two-headed baby has been born in Brazil this year. Sueli Ferreira, 27, gave birth to a two-headed baby in Paraiba State, but it died a few hours later because of lack of oxygen to one of the child's heads.
Apple, Google working on wearable devices
You have Iphone Ipad and the entire gadget which are in market. What are you dreaming of now? May be some of you are dreaming about some wearable gadget. If you are expecting for that you don’t have to wait long!!!Apple and Google are working on wearable technology that would send data to their smartphones, US
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| Logo of apple |
Apple is said to be working on a curved-glass, wrist-wearable iPod. Users could communicate with device with Apple's artificial intelligence software Siri and the information could be relayed to iPhone, reported Xinhua.
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| Logo of Google |
The core concept of the plans is to make smartphone become the central hub for mobile communication. Some analysts said the companies still need to ensure consumers to recognize the daily value of these novelty product-like devices.
dustbin-sized camera that captures speed of light is about to be available !!!
A super-fast camera, which is the size of a dustbin, is capable of capturing the speed of light, a new study including Indian origin researcher has revealed.
The camera can show a bullet-shaped pulse of light travelling from one end of a laboratory flask to another in a fraction of a second but Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) said that it would take some time for the camera to be commercially available.
Researchers at MIT’s ‘blue-sky science’ think tank envision that super-fast photography could benefit mankind within 10 years and could even lead to hand-held medical scanners being used in hospitals.
“With our ultra-fast imaging we can actually analyse how the photons are travelling through the world,” the Daily Mail quoted Ramesh Raskar, associate professor of media arts at the MIT Media Lab as telling The Sunday Times.
The camera, which captures images at one trillion exposes per second, can also produce 3D images, as it is competent of ‘seeing’ photons of light even inside objects.
The device was created by adapting a ‘streaker tube’ - used by chemists to scan and capture light. It can record the progress of light pulses through a flask of liquid.
“Watching this it looks like light in slow motion. It is so slow you can see the light itself move across the distance.”
“This is the speed of light captured: there is nothing in the universe that moves faster, so we are at the physical limit of high-speed photography,” Raskar added.
“With our ultra-fast imaging we can actually analyse how the photons are travelling through the world,” the Daily Mail quoted Ramesh Raskar, associate professor of media arts at the MIT Media Lab as telling The Sunday Times.
The camera, which captures images at one trillion exposes per second, can also produce 3D images, as it is competent of ‘seeing’ photons of light even inside objects.
“Watching this it looks like light in slow motion. It is so slow you can see the light itself move across the distance.”
“This is the speed of light captured: there is nothing in the universe that moves faster, so we are at the physical limit of high-speed photography,” Raskar added.
Saudi prince buys chunk of Twitter
Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has taken a $300 million stake in Twitter through his Kingdom Holding Company investment firm.
With Twitter valued at around $8 billion in total, the investment represents a 3.75 percent stake. The prince says tha the deal is the culmination of several months of negotiations.
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| Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal |
"Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact," he says.
Prince Alwaleed is no stranger to tech and media investment. He's the second-largest investor in Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, with a seven percent stake, and also has holdings in Citigroup and Apple.
He's also got a strong presence in the Middle Eastern media and entertainment world, with a 29.9 percent holding in the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG). He's also recently announced plans to launch a privately owned news channel, Alarab.
Last year, News Corporation took an initial 9.09 percent stake in Alwaleed's film, TV and music business, Rotana Media Group, with an option to increase this to 18.18 percent over the course of 18 months.
Saudi Arabia is one of Twitter's fastest-growing markets. According to the UK-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the number of Twitter users in the country grew by 240 during 2010, with the number of tweets rising by 440 percent - four and a half times higher than the international average.
"We believe that social media will fundamentally change the media industry landscape in the coming years.Twitter will capture and monetize this positive trend," says Ahmed Halawani, executive director of private equity and international investments for Kingdom Holding Company.
In August, investment firm DST Global, which also owns stakes in Zynga and Groupon, took a $400 million stake in Twitter.
