Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh has said that before the actual Gaganyaan mission, the country will send a non-human mission to space. India also plans to send a female robot in the first and second missions, respectively, preceding the Gaganyaan human space-flight programme by the end of 2023 or in 2024. “It is important to go and come back safely. It will land in water. It will ensure the security of the person,” he said. The union minister unveiled the country’s ambitious space project’s timeline during a media interaction. He said that for the first time, an I
In a breakthrough, Stanford University scientists have successfully tested a soft, flexible patch of electronic skin as thick as a piece of paper, offering hope to amputees and those with skin damage. The scientists led by Zhenan Bao, who published their study in the journal Science, have tested the e-skin on a rat. The e-skin is a device that works by mimicking human skin. It is made of a thin and stretchy rubbery material with electronic circuits and sensors that measure pressure and temperature. Soft and flexible, it can be wrapped around a human finger. The team of researchers behind t
Croatian car maker Rimac has made the world’s most powerful and fastest electric hypercar, Nevera. The company took the electric vehicle (EV) to the Automotive Testing Papenburg (ATP) facility in Germany and ended up setting a total of 23 different world records in a single day. The all-electric Nevera achieved the 0-100kph speed in just 1.81 seconds, which is 0.05sec quicker than the faster car named Pininfarina Battista, which held the title for sprinting at the same speed in 1.86 seconds. It also set another record by sprinting 0-400kph in just 29.93 seconds. It then went ahead to bre
SpaceX launched four astronauts into space on May 21 from Cape Canaveral. The Falcon-9 rocket with the Dragon spacecraft lifted off from Nasa’s Launch Complex 39A for the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft separated from the rocket nearly 12 minutes after the launch. The Dragon spacecraft named Freedom carried the first Saudi woman into space, Rayyanah Barnawi, sponsored by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia along with Saudi’s Ali Alqarni, American Commander Peggy Whitson, and Pilot John Shoffner. Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, is the first Arab woman to go to space. The
A full-sized autonomous bus service was opened to the general public in Scotland, United Kingdom, on May 15. The AB1 service runs on a 22.5-kilometre route with five buses operating a scheduled passenger service throughout the week. The vehicles will travel in mixed traffic up to over 80 kilometers per hour. AB1 is believed to be the first registered bus service in the world to use full-sized autonomous buses. The trial, which will now run until 2025, aims to demonstrate autonomous technology in a real-world environment transporting up to 10,000 passengers per week. During this time, the t
Singapore ranks first globally in fixed broadband speed with a median download speed of 242.01 Mbps, says Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index for April. The index also found Qatar to be first globally in mobile internet speed with a median download speed of 189.98 Mbps. The Asian city-state is followed by Chile, the UAE, China, Hong Kong (SAR), Thailand, the US, Denmark, Spain and Romania in fixed broadband speed. Meanwhile, the Gulf country is followed by the UAE, Macau (SAR), Kuwait, Norway, Denmark, Bahrain, South Korea, China and the Netherlands in mobile internet speed. In the April i
Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on May 19 announced the successful operation of the first domestic flight by AIX Connect – formerly known as AirAsia India – using India-produced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The Delhi-bound flight i5-767 took off from Pune and was received at the airport by the minister. On the success, Puri said, “Today, I received crew and passengers who took the first commercial passenger flight from Pune to Delhi powered by indigenously produced sustainable aviation fuel. We have started with 1% ble
The World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned while using artificial intelligence (AI) generated large language model tools (LLMs) to protect and promote human well-being, human safety, and autonomy, and preserve public health. LLMs include some of the most rapidly expanding platforms such as ChatGPT, Bard, Bert and many others that reproduce understanding, processing, and producing human communication. Their sudden popularity among people and rising experimental use for health-related purposes is generating significant excitement around the potential to support people’s health needs
The Indian Navy successfully test fired a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on May 14 using its frontline guided missile destroyer INS Mormugao. The ship and the weapon are both indigenous. The INS Mormugao hit a bull’s eye with the maiden BrahMos supersonic cruise missile firing. It is the latest guided-missile destroyer to be used by the Indian Navy. “The ship and her potent weapon, both indigenous, mark another shining symbol of Atma Nirbharta and Indian Navy’s firepower at sea," said a senior Indian Navy official in a statement after the test. BrahMos Aerospace Priva
The United Kingdom's fertility regulator on May 10 confirmed the births of the country's first babies created using an experimental technique combining DNA from three people, an effort to prevent the children from inheriting rare genetic diseases. The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority said fewer than five babies have been born this way in the UK. Most of their DNA comes from their two parents and around 0.1% from a third, donor woman. The pioneering technique is an attempt to prevent children being born with devastating mitochondrial diseases. These diseases are incurable and ca