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Infotech News
New Delhi September 3:
Rajendra Kumar Pachauri has been elected chairman of the UN body Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for a second term.
The election was by "acclamation" at the IPCC plenary session in Geneva Tuesday night, a spokesperson of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) said here Wednesday. TERI is the New Delhi-based think tank that Pachauri also heads.
Pachauri's election to the head of the body that shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore was a foregone conclusion, as there was no other candidate in the fray since he agreed a few months back to stand for a second term. Pachauri has been the chairman of IPCC since 2002. His second term is for five years.
The IPCC - an amalgamation of over 2,500 scientists from all over the world - has been providing the scientific information and analysis of climate change. Its seminal fourth report that was published in 2007 brought the danger of climate change to the global public consciousness more urgently than had happened before.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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East Lansing September 3:
Who says science doesn't turn people on? Kate McAlpine is a rising star on a video-sharing website for her rap performance — about high-energy particle physics.
Her performance has drawn a half-million views so far on YouTube. The 23-year-old Michigan State University graduate and science writer raps about the Large Hadron Collider, the groundbreaking particle accelerator that has been built in a 17-mile circular tunnel at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland.
McAlpine raps that when the collider goes into operation on September 10, "the things that it discovers will rock you in the head". The $3.8 billion machine will collide two beams of protons moving at close to the speed of light so scientists can see what particles appear in the resulting debris.
"Rap and physics are culturally miles apart," McAlpine, a science writer at CERN, wrote to the Lansing State Journal last week, "and I find it amusing to try and throw them together”. Others, including physicists, also find it amusing. McAlpine received permission to film herself and friends dancing in the caverns and tunnels where the experiments will take place.
McAlpine honed her physics rapping skills at Michigan State's National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, where she was part of a student research program two years ago.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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London September 3:
Microsoft has agreed to buy Greenfield Online, owner of popular European price comparison website ciao.com, for about $486 million to boost its Internet search and e-commerce business in Europe.
Microsoft, whose $47.5 billion bid to buy Yahoo earlier this year failed after a long battle, said on Friday the acquisition -- the latest in a series -- should help it build a more consumer-friendly, results-oriented search engine.
"We call it 'instant answers'," said John Mangelaars, head of Microsoft's consumer and online business in Europe. "I hope it's getting very clear that we've very serious about EMEA," he added, speaking to Reuters by telephone. Internet search is dominated by Google, which has 62 percent of the global search market and 79 percent in Europe, according to Web usage tracker ComScore.
Microsoft has a 2 percent market share in Europe and 9 percent worldwide, behind both Google and Yahoo. In Europe, Microsoft is also outranked by online auction site eBay and Russia's Yandex. But Mangelaars said buying ciao.com was an important step in Microsoft's attempt to distinguish itself by providing search results more useful to consumers, particularly shoppers, than those thrown up by a Google search.
For example, results of a Microsoft search for a particular camera model could include which prices were available from which retailers, and maps of where those retailers were, rather than just links to the manufacturer's and retailers' websites. The acquisition follows those of Norwegian enterprise search company Fast for about $1.2 billion early this year and shopping-and-auction site jellyfish.com for an undisclosed sum last year.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Ludhiana September 3:
To overcome the increase in petrol and diesel prices, travellers in Punjab are taking to bikes powered by electricity, which reduce pollution and also reduce the commutation costs.
In Punjab, the low-cost, easy to maintain and "cool" e-bikes are all set to replace motorcycles and scooters. E-bike manufacturers in Punjab are gearing up to meet the demand for 'plug in'' and 'ply'' bikes. These electric motorized bicycles or E-bikes are safe, convenient as well as economical. And, they are now catching the fancy of the common man in Punjab.
E-bikes, meanwhile, have grabbed the attention of two-wheeler manufacturers too. Among the 80 manufacturers of e-bikes in India, 10 to 12 are big players. The world''s largest bicycle-maker Hero, in a joint venture with UK-based Ultra Motors Company, is manufacturing E-bikes branded as 'Hero Electric'', with the 'ultra-powered'' technology tag.
Gaurav Munjal, Deputy Chief Executive, Hero Cycles Ltd., says, “I think there is a huge potential for e-bikes because of it is economical. Their running cost is only 10 paise per kilometer while the scooter or motorbike costs around one rupee per kilometer. It is value for money.”
Munjal added, “They are safe. You can travel at 25 km per hour. You do not require license, registration and do not have to pay road tax. But, we recommend a helmet for safety.” Taking China as its role model, the Ludhiana-based e-bike manufacturer is out to tap the unexploited Indian market.
Available in several variants, e-bikes come with a price tag of 400 (rupees 17,520.39) to 700 U.S. dollars (rupees 30,607.05). The annual demand is growing from 500,000 e-bikes at present.
Propelled by a perfect tailwind of technology, high oil prices and the trend for all things green, global sales of bikes driven by battery-powered electric motors have climbed nearly 20 per cent since 2005, a trend projected to accelerate especially in developing countries, where the middle class is rising. Already a hit in China, Japan, Australia and United States, E-bikes are now catching the fancy of the Indians.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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New York September 2:
Google Inc, creator of the world's most popular internet search engine, has developed its own web browser in a challenge to Microsoft Corp's dominant Internet Explorer.
A test version of new software, named Google Chrome, is to be available for download Tuesday in more than 100 countries, Google announced Monday on its corporate blog. The company said its aim was to deliver a faster, more user-friendly and safer browser.
Web browsers are programmes that allow computer users to navigate the internet. If Chrome is well-received, Google - which is already the top earner from online advertising and also offers programmes and services from e-mail to office software to virtually the entire globe - would further solidify its position in the industry.
At the same time, its browser was sure to be closely examined by privacy advocates because the Mountain View, California-based company has been accused of collecting too much data on its customers. Competition in the browser sector has increased substantially. The top player remains Microsoft's Internet Explorer, but its market share has dropped from more than 90 percent a few years ago to today's nearly 75 percent, market researchers said.
In second place is the open-source programme Firefox with a share of nearly 20 percent. Another strong competitor is Apple Inc's Safari. Like Firefox, Chrome is to be released as open-source software, Google said. Such software can be further developed and improved by independent programmers.
Google touted Chrome as being more stable and better at running complex web applications. For instance, it said, Chrome isolates web pages with errors so users can close only the flawed pages without having to shut down the entire application while also receiving better protection from rogue web sites. The company said Chrome also includes a more powerful JavaScript engine, called V8, to run the next generation of web applications.
Google's release of the browser harkens back to the browser war of the mid-1990s. At that time, Microsoft beat back the dominant browser, Netscape Navigator, to insignificance, largely because it offered its Explorer for free with its Windows operating system. Microsoft introduced the second test version of its Internet Explorer 8 a few days ago. Experts said the latest version of its browser can keep up with the current versions of Firefox and Safari.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
September
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Chandigarh August 31:
Thanks to an expanding affluent middle-class, India is today the world's fastest growing cellular phone market. Having registered success in the lower segment, the transnational mobile phone makers are now targeting the high-end segment.
Punjab is a big market, as the craze for expensive mobiles has always been on the rise. The much-awaited iPhone has already entered the Indian market. From its recent launch in the metros, it is expected to capture states like Punjab.
It is worth mentioning that Punjab today enjoys a tele-density of nearly 40 per cent, which is double the national average of 20 per cent. The impact of this fact is all major companies like Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are presently extensively marketing their latest 3G mobiles in Punjab.
"In today's time the new phones are very advanced and high-tech, and people are looking for that only. They have been waiting anxiously for i-phones, just because it's having a multi-touch interface. People are more aware of technology and they prefer buying latest gazettes," said a youngster.
"All youngsters want to have new technology feature phone. I think that's the main reason. Moreover, they want some stylish phone also. Youngsters are very keen to change the phone quickly. This is the main reason I think. Definitely, the trend will rise in the next 6 to 8 months," said one of the dealers.
The latest figures with mobile and other telecom companies show that in Punjab, which has a populace of over 24 million, there are over 11 million telephone subscriptions. Interestingly, over 55 per cent of the handsets sold in Chandigarh and rest of the Punjab are the high-end ones.
High-end mobile handset sales in metro cities are just 25-35 per cent among all states. Take a look at the cellular phone's demand in Punjab, one finds that the State's mobile related craze has been unending. And, that could be a major captivation for mobile companies to launch their high-end gazette.
"It's a status symbol product and secondly, customer wants such a gazette, which you can use in different ways like mails editing as well as mobile phones. I-phone is basically a touch screen handset and customers are really crazy to buy that with Wi-fi and camera," said one mobile dealer. People of Punjab are known the world over for their dynamism and practical approach, and for their charm to embrace latest technology for a better efficiency and profitability.
And, it's the right time for cellular phone companies to invest in the state-of-the-art technologies and make the mobile experience of customers an enjoyable one.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 31,
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Washington August 28:
NASA’s Mars Exploration rover Opportunity is heading back out to the Red Planet’s surrounding plains nearly a year after descending into a large Martian crater to examine exposed ancient rock layers.
Opportunity entered Victoria Crater on September 11, 2007, after a year of scouting from the rim. Once a drivable inner slope was identified, the rover used contact instruments on its robotic arm to inspect the composition and textures of accessible layers. The rover then drove close to the base of a cliff called “Cape Verde,” part of the crater rim, to capture detailed images of a stack of layers 20 feet tall.
The information Opportunity has returned about the layers in Victoria suggests that the sediments were deposited by wind and then altered by groundwater. “The patterns broadly resemble what we saw at the smaller craters Opportunity explored earlier,” said Scott McLennan of the State University of New York, Stony Brook. “By looking deeper into the layering, we are looking farther back in time,” he added.
The crater stretches approximately a half mile in diameter and is deeper than any other seen by Opportunity. Engineers are programming Opportunity to climb out of the crater at the same place it entered. “If Opportunity were driving with only five wheels, like Spirit, it probably would never get out of Victoria Crater,” said JPL’s Bill Nelson, a rover mission manager.
“We also know from experience with Spirit that if Opportunity were to lose the use of a wheel after it is out on the level ground, mobility should not be a problem,” he added. Having completed its job in the crater, Opportunity is now preparing to inspect loose cobbles on the plains. Some of these rocks, approximately fist-size and larger, were thrown long distances when objects hitting Mars blasted craters deeper than Victoria into the Red Planet.
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Source :
Punjab Mail Online
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News Date :
August 28,
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