NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), an Earth science satellite being jointly built by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), got a send-off ceremony in California before it shipped out to India. ISRO Chairman S Somanath, JPL Director Laurie Leshin, and dignitaries from NASA headquarters, including Bhavya Lal, NASA's associate administrator for technology, policy, and strategy were present at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for the send-off. Outside the facility, NASA's NISAR Project Manager Phil Barela a
In Dubai, businesses across industries are betting big on robotics and automation (R&A), with billions of dollars being reserved for the implementation of these emerging technologies to boost productivity and efficiency. With the opportunities in the area of robotics and automation expected to grow considerably over the next decade, the emirate is setting its sights on becoming a key global player in the industry. It aims for the sector to contribute 9% to its gross domestic product (GDP) in the next 10 years. Under this vision, Dubai is making a concerted effort to develop
The Economic Survey 2023, presented on Tuesday ahead of the Union Budget, said that India clocked 200% increase in rural internet subscriptions in six years, compared to the 158 per cent growth clocked by urban areas in the same period. It also said that Unified Payments Interface (UPI) accounted for 52 per cent of the total 8,840 crore financial digital transactions in financial year 2022. The survey stated that UPI-based transactions in value and volume terms were 121 per cent and 114 per cent, respectively. In December 2022, it was at its highest with 782 crore transactions worth Rs 12.
Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya and Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh launched iNCOVACC, world’s first made-in-India intranasal vaccine on Thursday, as the country marked its 74th Republic Day. The vaccine has been made by Bharat Biotech. Its chairman and managing director Krishna Ella confirmed this while participating in the ‘Face-to-Face with New Frontiers in Science’ segment of the IISF, organised at the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology on Saturday. In December, Bharat Biotech had announced that it would sell the intranasal vaccine fo
Using the data from the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near Pune, astronomers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and McGill University, Canada, have detected a radio signal emitted by atomic hydrogen in an extremely distant galaxy. The signal has crossed an astronomical distance that is the largest so far by a fair margin. The findings were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Atomic hydrogen is the basic fuel required for star formation. It emits radio waves with a wavelength of 21 cm, which can be detected using low-frequency radio
A 5G and 4G telecom technology stack developed in India will be rolled out in the country this year and the platform will be offered to the world from next year, Union Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday. Speaking at The Business 20 (B20), the official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Vaishnaw said that only five countries in the world have end-to-end 4G-5G telecom technology stack, but now with the public-private partnership, India has developed its own technology, which has been tested to handle 10 million simultaneous calls.
Switzerland-based start-up Climeworks has claimed that it has captured carbon dioxide from the open air. The venture used direct-air capture technology and stored it underground in the first of its kind industry discovery. Climeworks AG has sold carbon credits to companies, including Microsoft and Shopify, in order to offset their emissions. The start-up has commercial carbon capture facilities in Switzerland and Iceland. It announced that it has sequestered carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using its facility in Iceland and stored the substance underground. The action was independently v
European officials and Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf inaugurated the European Union’s first mainland orbital launch complex in Arctic Sweden on Friday. The members of the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's executive arm, were a visit to Sweden. The new facility at Esrange Space Center near the city of Kiruna should complement the EU’s current launching capabilities in French Guiana. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said small satellites are crucial to tracking natural disasters in real time and help guarantee global security, especially post Russia’s war in Uk
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have developed a new process to convert two common types of plastic waste into biochar that can potentially be used as a soil additive. The process promises a solution to the problem of the massive plastic waste causing pollution of our streams, rivers and oceans, and affecting marine life severely. The method converts two common forms of plastic – polystyrene, which is used in styrofoam packing and PET, which is commonly used to make water bottles – into a highly porous form of charcoal, or char. The highly-porous biochar formed f
India successfully carried out a test launch of tactical ballistic missile Prithvi-II from a test range off the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur off the coast of Odisha on Tuesday. The Prithvi-II Short Range Ballistic Missile (SRBM) missile, with a range of around 350 kilometres, struck its target with “high accuracy,” said the Defence Ministry in a statement. It said the “user training launch” successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile. A well-established system, the SRBM has been an integral part of India’s nuclear deterrence. The training