Why didn't the cryogenic engine ignite?

The non-ignition of the cryogenic engine on board the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) led to the failure of the mission on Thursday (April 15), the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has more or less concluded. “The cryogenic engine has not ignited, that is for sure. Why it has not ignited, the reasons have to be found out,” said S. Satish, ISRO spokesman, on Friday.

All the telemetry data had come in by 1 p.m. on Friday and the ISRO top-brass was studying them line by line. The GSLV-D3 is a three-stage rocket and it was flying with an indigenous cryogenic engine for the first time.

A cryogenic engine uses liquid hydrogen at minus 253 degrees Celsius as fuel and liquid oxygen at minus 183 degrees as oxidiser. The vehicle lifted off as planned at 4.27 p.m. and its performance was normal up to the end of its second stage till 293 seconds from the lift-off. But the vehicle developed problems when the cryogenic upper stage should have ignited 304 seconds after the lift-off, and it fell into the sea. 

Source : http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article399411.ece

India to launch satellite using own cryogenic engine

India will soon launch an advanced communications satellite, put into orbit for the first time by a cryogenic engine developed by its own scientists.

Cryogenic engines are rocket motors designed for fuels that have to be held at very low temperatures to be liquid. They would otherwise be gas.

Officials say that only five countries in the world have this technology.

BBC science reporter Jonathan Amos says a successful launch would be another milestone for India's space programme.

Our correspondent says handling supercold (croygenic) propellants is not easy and the announcement of next week's launch is a significant development for India as an emerging space power. 

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8607939.stm

India launches Brahmos cruise missile

India on Sunday became the first country to have a manoeuvrable supersonic cruise missile in its inventory, when it successfully test fired the vertical-launch version of Brahmos supersonic cruise missile, jointly developed with Russia.

Launched from a state of the art vertical launcher, fitted in a moving warship INS Ranvir off the Orissa coast, the missile hit the target ship in the Bay of Bengal.

The missile, which has a range of 290 km and flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach, can take on a target lying anywhere in the 360-degree range of the ship. It is capable of carrying conventional warheads up to 200 -300 kg.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/India-launches-Brahmos-cruise-missile/articleshow/5710243.cms

Olive Ridleys lay eggs on the Rushikulya beach

Despite a delayed start, mass nesting of Olive Ridley sea turtles has begun near Rushikulya river mouth in Ganjam district, the second biggest nesting site in the state for the endangered species.

Since yesterday, about 6000 female Olive Ridleys crawled out of the sea to the five-km long beach between Gokharakuda to Kantiagada near the mouth of the river, about 45 km from here and scooped out holes to lay eggs, Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer A K Jena said.

The turtles then covered the holes with sand before disappearing into the waves. 

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/the-good-earth/Olive-Ridleys-lay-eggs-on-the-Rushikulya-beach/articleshow/5691294.cms

Genesis and Science

Genesis, in the first chapter of the Old Testament, is the Biblical story of the creation of earth and life and tells the story in the form of a 7-day period. This essay is not about the seven days, (here we will assume 7 days is allegorical), this is about what Genesis says happened on each of those 7 days of creation.

The following explores the possibility of reconciling what's in each of the seven days of creation in Genesis with the prevailing information of contemporary science. I think you may find the results are quite astounding.

This is not the first time this has been attempted, but this is a shorter and more readable version.

It has been reviewed by a prominent Rabbi and a prominent Professor of biological, geological, and earth sciences.

Historians say the Old Testament of the Bible, including Genesis, is an anthology of literature taken from poems, songs, oral stories and ancient scrolls. It was written mostly in Hebrew over many centuries by many people including Hebrew scholars, various scribes, and others. The religious interpretation, according to the Bible, says Genesis was written by Moses as directed by God. Either way, it was written over 4000 years ago.

Source : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-wolper/genesis-and-science_b_500201.html

Scottish Power wins carbon capture technology funding

Scottish Power has won "tens of millions of pounds" in government funding to develop new technology to tackle climate change.

The company's scientists are among the leaders in an international race to find ways of reducing carbon emissions from power stations.

CCS technology (carbon capture and storage) would remove carbon dioxide produced by the coal-fired station.

This would then be turned into liquid using chemicals and stored underground.

See how carbon capture technology works

Officials said emissions could be cut by as much as 50%.

A trial CCS unit has already been built at Longannet and scientists said it has been "performing well".

Environmental campaigners believe the technology is vital and believe Longannet is leading the way.

The power station is responsible for a third of Scotland's emissions so it is essential that we decarbonise it

Longannet will now compete with E.ON's plant at Kingsnorth in Kent for £1bn of government funding to build a massive new carbon capture and storage facility.

Tony Corless, Scottish Power's carbon capture technical storage manager, said: "What we have is a small carbon capture plant at Longannet and within that plant we have a special chemical, which attacks and attracts the carbon dioxide within the power station.

"It is then compressed and put down pipelines or into ships and sent to the North Sea to gas reserves where we can store the carbon dioxide deep underground." 

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8564788.stm

India looking for gain vs Spain

 Their bubble having been burst by Australia, India face a must-win situation for Thursday’s meeting against Spain in the hockey World Cup.

The 2-5 loss to the superbly fit and speedy Australians at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium has jeopardised India’s chances for a last-four berth as they now find themselves reduced to fourth in Pool B, behind group leaders England (six points), Australia and Spain (three each). India, too, have three points from their spectacular win against Pakistan but are behind on goal difference.

Despite the setback, chief coach Jose Brasa, who is Spanish himself, remains hopeful about grabbing three points on Thursday. “We are not too bothered about Spain. Let them think about us.” he said.

Spain are the Beijing Olympics silver medallists and strong pre-tournament contenders for a berth in the last-four but their defeat against Pakistan has given hope to the Indians. So much so that veteran midfielder Prabhjot Singh believes India have the strength to get the better of the Spaniards.

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100304/jsp/sports/story_12173527.jsp

Researchers Identify Fossil of Dinosaur-Eating Snake

The discovery of a snake near an egg is by no means unusual, but in this case, the snake was 67 million years old — providing scientists with new information about how snakes in the dinosaur era lived, and what they ate.

The fossilized scene is a striking one and the first of its kind: the 11.5-foot-long snake is coiled around a cracked egg and surrounded by several more eggs. Nearby is a dinosaur hatchling, newly emerged from the cracked egg.

The researchers believe that the snake was eyeing the dinosaur baby as a meal. Their findings appear in Tuesday’s issue of the PLoS Biology journal.

“It’s a chance to understand the biology and early anatomy,” said Jeffrey A. Wilson, the paper’s lead author and a paleontologist at the University of Michigan. “The really important thing is that it’s actually caught in the fossil record showing what it’s doing.”

The remains were found in India, in what is now the state of Gujarat, but Dr. Wilson said the species was most likely found throughout the Indian subcontinent. 

Source : http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/science/snakes.html

Chandrayaan finds ice on moon

First water, then vapour, now ice. India's Chandrayaan-1, in its most recent lunar mark, has discovered ice in the Moon's craters -- a finding that indicates the presence of as much as 600 million metric tonnes of water ice on the Moon's north pole.

The announcement on the breakthrough, with far-reaching consequences for space travel, was made late Monday at the 41st Lunar and Planetary Science Congress organized by the Houston-based Lunar and Planetary Institute.

The discovery was made by a Nasa payload on board Chandrayaan-1 called Mini-Sar (miniature synthetic aperture radar), a lightweight instrument that weighs 10 kg. It found more than 40 craters with water ice, the size of the craters ranging between two and 15 kilometres in diameter. 

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chandrayaan-finds-ice-on-moon/articleshow/5635005.cms

UK science 'must meet challenge' of emerging nations

The Council of Science and Technology published a report on Monday that sets out a vision to protect and enhance research excellence in the UK.

The panel said it was vital the competition from emerging powers, such as China and India, was met head on.

But it warned current investment had to be sustained to make this possible.

The UK's public research budget has doubled since 1997 under a 10-year framework (begun in 2004) that should see total science spending top £6bn for 2010/11.

This upward path needed to be continued into the future, said Professor Dame Janet Finch, the council's co-chair.

"Irrespective of whatever government we have in power, we need to ensure there is stability not only of research funding but also stability of purpose, direction and vision," she told BBC News.

"It is essential to do this," council member Professor Alan Hughes added. "Most of our international rivals have invested extremely heavily in boosting their investment in this area."

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8543513.stm

Violent winter storm whips eastern Europe, killing over 50

The violent winter storm, dubbed as "Xynthia," has lashed most eastern European countries as of Sunday with heavy rain and strong gust, leaving over 50 deaths and massive devastation on its routes.

Developed in the Atlantic off the Portuguese island Madeira, storm Xynthia landed on France's western coast late Saturday after causing three deaths in Spain, and went on to Germany via Belgium on Sunday afternoon.

France, the worst hit country, recorded at least 45 victims and several disappearances, mainly in Vandee and Charente-Maritime, the two western coastal departments which registered the biggest toll.

Most victims died from drowning or impacts from falling trees and buildings. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is going to visit the worst hit areas on Monday morning, the presidential office said.

Over 500,000 households remained in the dark and power supply is not expected to resume at least three days later, said the national power company Electricity of France.

Paris was also affected by the storm as the gust speeded up to over 100 km per hour in the day. Air France announced Sunday the cancellation of more than 100 flights at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle international airport as well as some delays and diversions.

Source : http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-03/01/c_13192321.htm

Japan lifts all tsunami warnings after Chile quake

Japan has lifted all tsunami alerts throughout the country, almost two days after a powerful earthquake hit Chile.

A tsunami more than one metre (3 feet) high hit the country's northern Pacific coast on Sunday, although bigger waves were expected.

Other Pacific nations were hit by tsunamis but no major damage or casualties were reported.

In Chile itself, however, areas affected by both the quake and the resulting tsunami saw hundreds dead.

In the fishing village of Concepcion, 350 bodies were found and in the port of Talcahuano more than 20 boats were swept ashore and dumped in the streets by the waves.

Large waves struck Chile's Juan Fernandez island group, reaching halfway into one inhabited area and killing five people. Several more are missing.

Warning systems across the Pacific have improved since the 2004 Indonesia quake sparked a tsunami that killed nearly 250,000 people.

Nations and regions affected by the Pacific "Ring of Fire" all sounded alerts, trying to estimate the anticipated time of arrival of any tsunami following the earthquake, which struck on Saturday at 0634 GMT.

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8540742.stm

Isro rockets into higher orbit with a 35% hike

The Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) on Friday prepared to zoom into higher orbit following a nearly 35% hike in its budget. This, the space agency says, is the highest in recent years.

In 2009, Isro's budgetary allocation was Rs 4,167 crore. This year it has jumped to Rs 5,778 crore. "We've received additional Rs 1,611 crore, which will enable us to implement most of our approved projects without a hitch," said an official to ToI requesting anonymity.

India's human space flight programme and the moon mission have got booster shots. The amount for the manned flight project has increased from Rs 30 crore in 2009 to Rs 150 crore. "This will allow us to initiate some of the additional pre-project activities," the official said. The overall cost of the programme is around Rs 13,000 crore, of which the government has allotted only Rs 95 crore so far. Last February, the Plan panel cleared the programme and estimated that Rs 5,000 crore would be needed for executing the preliminary plans. 

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/union-budget-2010/Isro-rockets-into-higher-orbit-with-a-35-hike/articleshow/5622518.cms

Push to Oversimplify at Climate Panel

In the next few days, the world's leading authority on global warming plans to roll out a strategy to tackle a tough problem: restoring its own bruised reputation.

A months-long crisis at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has upended the world's perception of global warming, after hacked emails and other disclosures revealed deep divisions among scientists working with the United Nation-sponsored group. That has raised questions about the panel's objectivity in assessing one of today's most hotly debated scientific fields.

The problem stems from the IPCC's thorny mission: Take sophisticated and sometimes inconclusive science, and boil it down to usable advice for lawmakers. To meet that goal, scientists working with the IPCC say they sometimes faced institutional bias toward oversimplification, a Wall Street Journal examination shows.

Richard Alley, a geoscientist who helped write the IPCC's latest report, issued in 2007, described a trip that summer to Greenland's ice sheet with senators who urged him to be as specific as possible about the potential for sea-level rise. The point many of them made, he said: Give more explicit advice—because, if the sea rises, "the levee has to be built some height." 

Source : http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704188104575083681319834978.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_World

Mounting threat from e-waste

India, one of the two largest markets for mobile phones in the world along with China, faces a mounting problem — how to get rid of the discarded mobiles.

For, by the year 2020, the size of the discarded mobile mound will grow by 18 times from the 2007 level, says a United Nations Environment Programme study.

Health problems

If no proper e-waste recycling mechanism is put in place, these abandoned phones are going to create environmental damage and health problems, the study warns.

The study, ‘Recycling from e-waste to resources,' was released at a combined meeting of the bodies of UN Conventions on hazardous chemical wastes, organized by the UNEP, at Bali on February 22. It warns developing countries, especially fast growing economies like India, China, Brazil and South Africa, that if efforts are not made to recycle the abandoned electronic equipment, they will be in for big environmental trouble.

Apart from mobile phones, old computers, TVs and refrigerators added to the e-waste mountain in these countries.

For instance, computer e-waste in India will have risen by five times in 2020 from the 2007 level. Discarded refrigerators will double or even triple.

The report estimates that India's current e-waste generation is: 2.75 lakh tonnes from TVs, over one lakh tonnes from refrigerators, 56,300 tonnes from personal computers, 1,700 tonnes from mobiles and 4,700 from printers.

Source : http://www.hindu.com/seta/2010/02/25/stories/2010022551041300.htm

The attack on climate science

In the weeks before and after the Copenhagen climate change conference last December, the science of climate change came under harsh attack by critics who contend that climate scientists have deliberately suppressed evidence and that the science itself is severely flawed. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global group of experts charged with assessing the state of climate science, has been accused of bias.

The global public is disconcerted by these attacks. If experts cannot agree that there is a climate crisis, why should governments spend billions of dollars to address it?

The fact is that the critics -- who are few in number but aggressive in their attacks -- are deploying tactics that they have honed for more than 25 years. During their long campaign, they have greatly exaggerated scientific disagreements in order to stop action on climate change, with special interests like Exxon Mobil footing the bill.

Many books have recently documented the games played by the climate-change deniers. Merchants of Doubt, a new book by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway set for release in mid-2010, will be an authoritative account of their misbehavior. The authors show that the same group of mischief-makers, given a platform by the free-market ideologues of The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, has consistently tried to confuse the public and discredit the scientists whose insights are helping to save the world from unintended environmental harm.

Source : http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=6756

Downside of using in vitro fertilisation

CHILDREN BORN using in vitro fertilisation and other assisted reproductive technologies (Art)generally do well, but researchers are now studying the reasons why a small fraction are more likely to have health problems in later life.

Some are more prone to high blood pressure, type II diabetes and obesity, a scientific meeting has heard.

Reliance on these technologies has also allowed otherwise infertile couples to have children that would have been impossible in the past. This in turn may produce offspring who are themselves infertile, a session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting in San Diego heard. The conference drew to a close yesterday.

Louise Brown, the world’s first baby conceived using assisted reproductive technologies was born on July 25th, 1978.

Researchers have wondered since then whether unforeseen long term health issues might arise. “We are doing a big experiment here,” stated Prof Carmen Sapienza of the Fels Institute for Cancer Research at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Source : http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0223/1224265037271.html

Global warming

The columnist wrote that "scientists around the world have reached the conclusion that the Earth is warming and that humankind is responsible." That sweeping statement contained truth, but there are scientists around the world who have not so concluded or who have doubts.

Is it not the proper role of science to question and not conclude in the absence of absolute proof? Professions of such conclusions smack more of a political agenda than true scientific inquiry.

Source : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/21/AR2010022103135.html

Parents influence kids to take up science

The pathway to careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics or medicine (STEMM) begins at home, says a researcher.

According to Jon Miller, MSU Hannah Professor of Integrative Studies, and colleagues, parental influence and access to mathematics courses are likely to guide students to careers in (STEMM).

The findings were presented at a symposium titled ‘Tomorrow’s Scientists and Engineers’at this year’ meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"Failure to build and maintain a competitive scientific workforce in the decades ahead," Miller said, "will inevitably lead to a decline in the American standard of living."

Miller used data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, which kept track of nearly 6,000 students from middle school through college, attempting to determine what led them to or guided them away from STEMM careers.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/relationships/parenting/Parents-influence-kids-to-take-up-science/articleshow/5599483.cms

Mobile science labs to visit villages soon

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam’s dream project — Mobile Science Laboratory (MSL) — for rural schools in Bihar will be launched by the time the next academic session begins.

Kalam’s ‘Vikshit Bharat Foundation’ will meet its operational cost in the first year. The equipped MSL, which is running successfully in states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, will visit those schools in rural areas which are connected by roads.

Kalam, during his meeting with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar here last week, informed Kumar about his plan to launch MSL in Bihar for students in remote and inaccessible areas. He also wants to provide quality education as well as equal opportunities to learning different sciences.

Kalam has entrusted the task to his former scientist colleague in Bangalore Aeronautical Development Agency’s (ADA) Manas Bihari Verma. Verma is currently engaged in grassroots level work in the remote areas of Darbhanga district. CM Nitish Kumar also directed his secretary Chanchal Kumar to extend all help to Verma for the project.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5578319.cms