Category: Tech

High-Energy electrons from planet Earth might be forming water on its satellite Moon, according to a study based on data collected by the successful Chandrayaan-3’s predecessor Chandrayaan-1 published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

The team led by researchers from the University of Hawai’i (UH) at Manoa in the US discovered that these electrons in Earth’s plasma sheet are contributing to weathering processes — breaking down or dissolving of rocks and minerals — on the Moon’s surface.

Knowing the concentrations and distributions of water on the Moon is critical to understanding its formation and evolution, and to providing water resources for future human exploration, the researchers said.

The new finding may also help explain the origin of the water ice previously discovered in the permanently shaded regions of the Moon, they said.

Chandrayaan-1 played a crucial role in the discovery of water molecules on the Moon. The mission was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in October 2008, and operated until August 2009. The mission included an orbiter and an impactor.

The scientists analysed the remote sensing data that were collected by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument, an imaging spectrometer, onboard India’s Chandrayaan 1 mission between 2008 and 2009.

Gas Recovery and Recycle Limited (GR2L), a small cleantech firm in south-east England, has secured a GBP 4 million order to supply its technology to a projected 2-gigawatt solar facility in Mundra, Gujarat.

An micro small and medium enterprise (MSME) business in Surrey, GR2L claims to have developed, patented and exported cutting-edge technology to reduce the energy consumption, carbon footprint and cost of manufacturing solar panels. The MSME was backed by UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK government’s export credit agency, with a GBP 4,75,000 guarantee issued under its Bond Support Scheme that helped secure the Indian order.

Solar panel manufacturers use argon gas to purify silicon crystals, which are then used in solar cells. This process requires vast amounts of argon, with some producers needing to ship in multiple tankers of the gas each day.

GR2L’s Argon machinery claims to be a world first which allows solar cell production and other advanced manufacturing activities such as microelectronics production, 3D metals printing and aerospace heat treatments instead to recycle up to 95% of argon used.

GR2L had an opportunity to supply its argon recycling technology to Mundra Solar Technology Ltd. to support a solar facility being built in the town.

A team of students from Swiss universities has set a new record for the fastest acceleration from 0 to 100 kmph in an electric vehicle (EV), with Mythen. The fully hand-built electric race car – named Mythen after a mountain in the Schwyzer Alps of Central Switzerland – achieved the feat in just 0.956 seconds, beating the previous record by over one-third.

A team of students from the Academic Motorsports Club Zürich, Swiss universities ETH Zürich, and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, has made this record. Their EV has beaten the previous record, set by the German Greenteam, comprising 20 German students, of 1.461 seconds.

Mythen has four hub-mounted electric motors, churning out 326 horsepower. The one-of-a-kind racecar weighs just 140 kilograms. The remarkable milestone of accelerating from a complete standstill to 100 kmph in only 0.956 seconds was accomplished on an airbase strip in Dubendorf, Switzerland. The vehicle covered the 0-100 kmph sprint in just 12.3 meters.

The record has been officially affiliated by the Guinness World Records. A behind-the-scenes video of this mind-bending record was shared on YouTube by ETH Zurich. 

The recently launched iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models will support India’s indigenous navigation system, NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation), Apple has said in a statement. It is the first time the US tech giant has introduced NavIC support to any of its iPhone models.

However, the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus variants do not support NavIC, according to the official tech specifications. Apple has not confirmed which specific features will be included in this integration.

Developed by ISRO, NavIC – an alternative to the Global Positioning System (GPS) – became operational in India in 2018. The standalone navigation satellite system provides accurate position and timing information over India and surrounding regions.

NavIC is designed with a constellation of 7 satellites and a network of ground stations. Its applications include transportation (terrestrial, aerial and marine), location-based services, personal mobility, resource monitoring, surveying and geodesy, scientific research, time dissemination and synchronisation and safety-of-life alert dissemination.

India aims to expand NavIC coverage globally and it wants tech companies to make their devices compatible with the new standard before then.

Apple unveiled its iPhone 15 series globally on September 12 at its “Wonderlust” launch event.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 18 announced that its solar exploration mission, Aditya-L1 has commenced collecting scientific data.

The sensors of the Supra Thermal and Energetic Particle Spectrometer (STEPS) instrument, a part of the Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) payload, instrument have begun measuring supra-thermal and energetic ions and electrons at distances greater than 50,000 km from Earth, the Indian space agency wrote on X.

The data collected helps scientists analyse the behaviour of particles surrounding Earth. The figure displays variations in the energetic particle environment, collected by one of the units, it added.

The activation of STEPS took place on September 10, at a distance greater than 50,000 km from Earth, equivalent to over eight times the Earth’s radius. After undergoing essential instrument health checks, data collection continued until the spacecraft moved beyond the 50,000 km mark from Earth.

Each unit of STEPS is functioning within normal parameters, and the provided figure displays measurements illustrating variations in the energetic particle environment within Earth’s magnetosphere, captured by one of the units, the statement read.

These measurements will persist throughout the Aditya-L1 mission’s cruise phase, as it progresses towards the Sun-Earth L1 point, providing crucial insights into the origin, acceleration, and anisotropy of solar wind and space weather phenomena.

After several weather-related delays, Japan’s moon lander mission, called SLIM, finally took off on the morning of September 7. Its successful landing would make Japan only the fifth country in the world to touch down safely on the lunar surface, and the first to do it with unusual precision.

The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (Slim) got its nickname, Sniper, from its ability to land within 100 metres of a specific target on the surface. The distance is much less than the usual range of several kilometres.

The H-IIA rocket carrying Slim lifted off from the southern island of Tanegashima carrying the lander; it is expected to touch down on the lunar surface in early 2024. The Slim probe and the XRISM space research satellite developed with the US and European space agencies both separated soon after the launch.

Only the United States, Russia, China and India have successfully landed a probe on the moon. There have been two failed Japanese missions – one public and one private. With the success of the Slim lander, humans will make a qualitative shift towards being able to land on the moon where they want and not just where it is easy to land, said the Japanese space agency, Jaxa. With the precision landing, it will become possible to land on planets even more resource-scarce than the moon, it added.

Simar Khurana, at 6 years and 335 days of age, has become the world’s youngest video game developer by creating an entertaining and educational game specifically designed for children. The young girl from Beamsville, Ontario, Canada has been featured in the Guinness World Records (GWR) for accomplishing the feat.

Simar started learning coding less than a year ago, taking three classes a week. She learnt math on her own by watching YouTube videos, and was able to do Grade 3 maths in kindergarten. She could also make crafts and games with whatever she had. Her father made her learn coding as she had an ideal combination of skills.

After a few months of classes, she decided she wanted to create a video game for children her age. The game, named Healthy Food Challenge, in a unique way, tells children to learn what is considered as healthy and unhealthy food, the impact of junk food on our health, and how important it is to have a balanced diet from a young age.

Simar has also launched her own YouTube channel, Simar’s World, to connect with fellow children and share her ideas for more innovative games.

The Stuttgart, Germany-based developer of hydrogen fuel and sustainable technologies for aviation, H2FLY has successfully completed the world’s first piloted flight of a liquid hydrogen-powered electric aircraft. The company conducted a series of test campaign flights to achieve the feat.

The flights were performed by H2FLY’s HY4 demonstrator aircraft, a piloted plane equipped with a hydrogen-electric fuel cell propulsion system.

Calling the successful flight a watershed moment, the company said it lays the foundation for long-range sustainable flights powered by liquid hydrogen. H2FLY has completed four test flights with the HY4 near Maribor, Slovenia, with one reportedly lasting longer than three hours. Following the test flight campaign, the team found that the usage of liquid hydrogen instead of gaseous hydrogen doubled the maximum range of the HY4 to approximately 932 miles (1,500 km) from approximately 435 miles (700 km). The feat marks a critical step towards emissions-free, medium to long-haul commercial flights, said the company.

The flight test campaign was the culmination of Project HEAVEN, a consortium assembled to demonstrate the feasibility of using liquid cryogenic hydrogen (LH2) to power aircraft. LH2 allows for lower tank weights and volume at a significant level in comparison to pressurised gaseous hydrogen (GH2), leading to an extended range for aircraft and a useful payload.

Google Cloud, in partnership with Google DeepMind and Google Research, has launched a new tool, SynthID to help identify artificial intelligence (AI)-generated images. SynthID puts a special code called a watermark into these images, but it is hidden so well that humans cannot see it. However, computers can detect this watermark, making it easier to spot these images.

Traditionally, watermarks were used to mark images, but they were easy to remove or change. SynthID’s watermark is different because it does not hurt the image’s quality. Even if the image’s colours or size is changed, the watermark stays hidden, and computers can still find it. SynthID uses two smart systems to do its job: one for adding the watermark and one for finding it.

The new technology is being made available to some special customers who use Vertex AI and a model called Imagen, a smart system that turns text into life-like pictures.

The AI-generated images that are becoming more and more realistic are created by computers and can sometimes be mistaken for real ones. The technology behind these AI-generated images, Generative AI is advancing quickly. While AI can be used for creative purposes, it can also be used to create fake images that spread false information.

Terrorist organisations are using technology for radicalisation and capitalising on emerging digital avenues such as the dark net, metaverse and cryptocurrency platforms, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 3, while seeking global cooperation to deal with cybercrimes.

In an interview, the PM said that the World Bank has estimated that cyber attacks could have caused losses of around $5.2 trillion to the world during 2019-2023, but their impact goes beyond just financial aspects into activities that can have social and geopolitical implications. He added cyberspace has introduced an entirely new dimension to the battle against illicit financial activities and terrorism.

“Terrorist organisations are using technology for radicalisation, moving money from money laundering and drugs into terror funding, and capitalising on emerging digital avenues such as the dark net, metaverse, and cryptocurrency platforms to fulfil their nefarious aims,” the Prime Minister said.

In case of news, PM Modi said that the spread of ‘deep fakes’ can cause chaos and loss of credibility of news sources. He said fake news and ‘deep fakes’ can be used to fuel social unrest.

The Prime Minister noted that India hosted a G20 Conference on Crime and Security in the Age of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), Artificial Intelligence and Metaverse in July in Gurugram. During this conference, concern was expressed over malicious cyber activities contrary to established norms, principles and rules of cyberspace and international law.