Mobile phones, tablets and smartwatches will be largely banned from classrooms in the Netherlands from January 1, 2024, the Dutch government has said, in a bid to limit distractions during lessons. Devices will only be allowed if they are specifically needed, for example during lessons on digital skills, for medical reasons or for people with disabilities, said the country’s education minister in a statement. The ban is the result of an agreement between the ministry, schools and related organisations. Schools can find their own way to organise the ban, Robbert Dijkgraaf said, but leg
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Communications, Electronics and IT, has said the India Mobile Congress (IMC) will have five partner countries, which IMC will decide in consultation with the External Affairs Ministry. The theme of the IMC this year will be Global Digital Innovation. The union minister expects many industries to be associated with the event and emerge as India’s premier technology event. Organised by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), IMC will be held from October 27 to 29 at the Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
India is poised to become the world’s largest market for wearables in 2023, according to market research firm IDC. Out of the 504.1 million units of wearables expected to be shipped globally this year, India is expected to account for 130-135 million units, accounting for 26 percent of the total units shipped around the world. Last year, the Indian market shipped 100 million units out of a total of 492 million units, second only to China and North America. Another research firm, Counterpoint in a report in May said that the Indian wearables market registered a growth of 121 percent ye
The United States has destroyed the last of its declared chemical weapons stockpile, a White House statement said on July 7. The US had a September 30 deadline to eliminate its remaining chemical weapons under the international Chemical Weapons Convention. These weapons were first used in modern warfare in World War I, when they were estimated to have killed at least 100,000 people, by Iraq during its conflict with Iran in the 1980s, and in the Syrian war. US workers at the Army Pueblo Chemical Depot in southern Colorado began destroying chemical weapons in 2016, and on June 22, complet
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s second attempt at a soft landing on the Moon, Chandrayaan-3, is set to launch at 2.30 pm IST on July 14. The Chandrayaan-3 mission will be launched into space by the Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-III), earlier known as the GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) Mark-III. This will be the fourth operational mission for the launch vehicle. It is powered by two S2000 solid rocket boosters that will provide the thrust required for takeoff. Once the solid boosters separate from the launch vehicle, it will be powered by the L110 liquid stage. Aft
University of Washington Professor Shwetak Patel and other researchers have built an app that turns smartphones into thermometers without adding new hardware. The app, FeverPhone uses the phone’s touchscreen, battery temperature sensors and a machine-learning model to estimate people’s core body temperatures. When the researchers tested FeverPhone on 37 patients in an emergency department, the app estimated core body temperatures with accuracy comparable to some consumer thermometers. The study, however, did not include people with severe fevers above 101.5°F. The researchers used
A team of researchers at the University of Tokyo are developing interchangeable robot arms that can be worn like a backpack. The team lead and a professor at the university, Masahiko Inami, in an interview said that the device was inspired by traditional Japanese puppetry and a short story by novelist Yasunari Kawabata. In the story, a man borrows a young woman’s arm and proceeds to spend the night with it. The arms are also inspired by the idea of jizai, a Japanese term that roughly defines autonomy and the freedom to do as one pleases. The Jizai Arms system consists of a backpack-li
A new real-life transformer developed at Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST) can reconfigure its body to achieve eight distinct types of motion and assess the environment to pick the most effective combination of motions to manoeuvre. The new robot called M4 – short for Multi-Modal Mobility Morphobot – can roll on four wheels, turn its wheels into rotors and fly, stand on two wheels like a meerkat to peer over obstacles, walk by using its wheels like feet, use two rotors to help it roll up steep slopes on two wheels, tumble, and do much more. With such
The indigenously-developed Tactical Aerial Platform for Advanced Surveillance (TAPAS) 201 Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is now ready for user evaluation trials, said the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). Hailed as the Indian version of the US’ Predator drones, TAPAS 201 can carry different combinations of payloads such as Medium Range Electro Optic, Long Range Electro Optic, Synthetic Aperture Radar, Electronic Intelligence, Communication Intelligence and Situational Awareness Payloads to perform missions during day and night. The
A flying car developed by Alef Aeronautics has got a legal approval from the US government. The company has received a Special Airworthiness Certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In a statement, the company said that the FAA is working on its policies for electrical vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, as well as governing interactions between eVTOLs and ground infrastructure. Alef's Special Airworthiness Certificate, thus, limits the locations and purpose for which Alef is permitted to fly. The flying car is 100% electric, can be driven on roads