Category: Tech

As Nasa releases new sounds emerging from the cosmic object, the black hole-the dark cauldron from which nothing emerges-has become more ghostly and ominous. A black hole at the center of the Perseus galaxy cluster was detected by the American space agency.

Black holes are formed when a star dies with such a high gravitational field that matter gets squeezed into a small space underneath it, trapping its light. There is so much gravity because the matter is compressed into such a small space. Because black holes cannot let light out, they are invisible to the naked eye. It is impossible to see them.

Despite the fact that sound cannot travel in a vacuum, there was so much gas in this galaxy cluster that Chandra actually picked up sound, which was then amplified and combined with other measurements to confirm the black hole was present.

In a galaxy cluster, hundreds or even thousands of galaxies are surrounded by copious amounts of gas, providing a medium for the sound waves to travel. In 2003, sound data was captured and extracted in order to make it audible.

In the cluster’s hot gas, pressure waves caused ripples that were translated into a note by the black hole. NASA said, “It was not intentionally made ominous, but the sound you hear is amplified a lot, and other sounds are interpreted from light data. One of the motivations to create such data sonification is the desire to share the science with more people.”

NASA is rolling out the Artemis 1 spacecraft to the Launchpad at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ahead of its launch. It was on 10 PM on August 16 (7.30 AM IST on August 17) that the “crawler-transporter” started the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft’s nearly six and a half kilometers journey to the launch pad.

It is not before August 29 that the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft are scheduled to launch from the complex. Five-segment boosters and four RS-25 engines will power the SLS rocket that will produce over 3.9 million kilograms of thrust. The spacecraft will deploy solar arrays after it orbits the earth. Thereafter, the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage will demand the exit of Orion from the Earth’s orbit and travel toward the moon. Then, Orion will move away from the ICPS within about two hours from the time of the launch. The ICPS will then position small satellites, called CubeSats, including the BioSentinel, which will carry a yeast cargo into deep space. The CubeSats will conduct several experiments and technology demonstrations.

The spacecraft will stay in that orbit for approximately six days and accumulate data, and the mission team will assess its performance. After this, Orion will once again near the moon and speed up back towards Earth.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday delivered to the Army extensive indigenous military equipment, including unmanned aerial systems and quick response fighting vehicles, to increase its combat potential in eastern Ladakh, given the continuous border disputes with China.

The army received other vital equipment such as surveillance hardware, a new anti-personnel mine ‘Nipun’ patrolling boats, ‘Future Infantry Soldier as a System’, infantry-protected mobility vehicles, an upgraded sights system for tanks, a rugged and automatic communication system, and advanced thermal imagers.

The new boats — Landing Craft Assault (LCA)—that possess advanced surveillance gadgets and other equipment are being positioned to keep a strict watch over the 134-km-long Pangong Tso Lake in eastern Ladakh.

The lake that is at an altitude of 13,900 feet is considered strategically important. Around two-thirds of the lake is controlled by China. Last year, 12 LCA boats were ordered by the army to intensify its existing fleets of vessels.

“The LCA is much more versatile and has overcome the limitations of launch, speed, and capacity. It has enhanced the capability to operate across the water obstacles in eastern Ladakh,” the defense ministry said. According to the Ministry, these vehicles will offer mobility and more protection to a huge number of infantry soldiers posted at the Northern borders.

On Thursday, Adani Enterprises, the business incubation arm of the Adani Group, announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) for collaboration in technological innovation.

Adani arms will have access to innovative technology solutions created by Israeli start-ups through the creation of a ‘new innovation platform’ that will support selected innovation projects. It is a government-funded agency that oversees Israel’s innovation policy. To maintain technological and economic leadership and to improve productivity and competitiveness in the international arena, the IIA provides conditional grants to support disruptive technological innovations. It will also create the groundwork and infrastructure to prepare for the future.

From climate change to agriculture to cyber, the Internet of Things, 5G, and more, this alliance includes almost all core businesses of the Adani Group. As a result of the partnership, Adani Group expects to enhance its capabilities, technology leadership, resources, and worldwide presence.

A press release said, “The Adani Group will screen and select Israeli start-ups and other innovative companies developing new and exciting solutions in the tech space. Approved projects will then be assisted by the Adani Group and supported by the Israel Innovation Authority.”

India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant was handed over to the Navy by The Cochin Shipyard on Thursday The aircraft, named after India’s first aircraft carrier, the Indian Naval Ship (INS) Vikrant, which played a significant role in the 1971 war, is 262-metre-long with a displacement of close to 45,000 tonnes. Vikrant is powered by four gas turbines and was built on a cost of close to Rs 20,000 crore.

“Indian Navy has created maritime history today by taking delivery of the prestigious Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (AC) ‘Vikrant from her builder Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi. Designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built by CSL, a Public Sector Shipyard under the Ministry of Shipping (MoS), the carrier is christened after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first Aircraft Carrier which played a vital role in the 1971 war. Coinciding with the celebrations to commemorate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the reincarnation of Vikrant is a true testimony to the country’s zeal and fervour in pursuing capability build up towards enhanced maritime security,” said the Indian Navy.

The carrier will soon be commissioned into the Navy as the INS Vikrant, which will help strengthen the country’s position in the Indian ocean region.

In a strategic partnership model with Indian MDL and L&T defense majors, Daewoo and Navantia have proven air-independent propulsion technologies that can be applied to long-endurance submarines.

Navantia, a company that has proven AIP technology, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering of South Korea have shown an interest in building the submarines under Project 75 (I) India of the Indian Navy.

It is unclear whether Daewoo and Navantia will be interested in building long-endurance diesel submarines in India under the strategic partnership model, despite the Defence Ministry again extending the deadline for submission of the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the advanced submarine project until November 30. Originally issued in July 2021, the RFP was extended until November 30, 2022, from the June 30, 2022, deadline.

As part of the RFP document, certain clauses concerning “joint and several penalties” need to be amended. Shortly, the Defence Acquisition Committee (DAC) will take up the amended clauses for approval. The Indian government has selected Mazagoan Docks Limited (MDL) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) to build six air-independent propulsion (AIP) diesel attack submarines for the Indian Navy at a cost of over Rupees 40,000 crores under the strategic partnership model.

A new eye drop has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for age-related near-sightedness. According to the researchers, these eye drop solutions will have better vision throughout the day and might rule out the erst to require reading glasses.

The formulation of Vuity contains a drug known as pilocarpine. In order to facilitate rapid adaptation to tear film pH, researchers developed technology to allow eye drops to rapidly rebalance. By taking advantage of our eyes’ ability to shrink pupil size, we are able to improve near and intermediate vision while retaining distance vision.

750 subjects with presbyopia, aged 40 to 55, participated in two randomized clinical trials where the new eye drops were given to half of the participants. Meanwhile, the other half received placebo eye drops.

In neither of the clinical studies, there were any serious side effects reported apart from minor side effects like mild headaches and eye redness. Using eye drops may also cause the user to have temporary problems adjusting their focus.

These drops can be most effective for people who have trouble seeing clearly when doing daily tasks, such as reading on their phones and computers.

The newly started space tech company, Agnikul Cosmos, today inaugurated India’s first-ever 3D-printed rocket engine factory in Chennai.

The facility, named Rocket Factory 1, was unveiled by the chairman of Tata Sons and Isro, N Chandrasekaran and S Somanath respectively, in the presence of Pawan Goenka, the chairman of IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre). The factory, located at IIT-Madras Research Park, is 10,000-square-foot and will have a 400mm x 400mm x 400mm metal 3D printer from EOS that will make it possible to manufacture a complete rocket engine under one roof.

Agnikul was founded by Srinath Ravichandran, Moin SPM, and SR Chakravarthy (professor of IIT-Madras) in 2017. Its co-founder Srinath Ravichandran said that the factory could make two rocket engines every week and one launch vehicle every month.

“This is a milestone for us as we go from the R&D phase into core manufacturing with the opening of this facility, and begin productionizing the launch vehicle engine making. We have a lot of inbound interest [for launches] from global quarters going up to 2024,” Ravichandran said.

The facility will have 30-35 people working on different processes and machinery, the unit is already staffed with over 90% staff.

NASA’s new space telescope James Webb has produced the deepest and sharpest infrared view of the distant universe ever captured. Known as Webb’s First Deep Field, this image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 is brimming with detail.

For the first time, our view of the universe expanded. The first cosmic image from the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope is the farthest in terms of time and distance that humankind has ever witnessed. On Tuesday, July 12, the telescope will release four more images of the beautiful galaxy.

Webb’s first cosmic image has thousands of galaxies, including the tiniest and faintest objects with diffused features, ever seen in the infrared. This portion of the gigantic universe covers a patch of sky roundabout the size of a sand grain at arm’s length by someone on the ground.

This deep field, captured by Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), is an amalgamation made from images at different wavelengths, adding up to 12.5 hours. Researchers will soon know the galaxies’ masses, ages, histories, and compositions.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s leading space science observatory. Webb will provide solutions to questions related to the solar system and delve further into faraway worlds around other stars.

On Monday, Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh launched the 75th newly developed Artificial Intelligence technologies in the first-ever ‘Al in Defense’. The AiDef symposium and exhibition were a part ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebration which was organized by the Ministery of Defense in New Delhi.

According to the government release, the celebration falls under multiple domains including Ai Platform Automation; Autonomous/Unmanned/Robotics system; Command; Block Chain-based Automation; Control, Communication, Computer & Intelligence, Cyber Security, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; Human Behavioural Analysis; Lethal Autonomous Weapon System; Intelligence Monitoring Systems; Logistics and Supply Chain Management; Manufacturing and Maintenance; Operational Data Analytics; speech/voice analysis using Natural Language Processing.

As part of Raksha Mantri’s release of the book containing details of the 75 products, the Physical as well as the E-version shows the collective efforts put by the Services, Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs), and the private sector in the area of AI over the past four years. Rajnath Singh recognized that AI represents a radical step forward in human development; a sign that we are the most advanced creatures in the universe.

Singh also appreciated that the Ministry of Defence, Armed Forces, the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), and the Defense Public Sector Undertakings are developing innovative and indigenous AI solutions.