Technology Sector

NASA’s Spirit faces computer glitches on Mars

Shuttle Discovery returns safely to EarthWashington, April 14 : The team operating NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has determined that barring computer reboots, the vehicle is doing fine.

The researchers are studying are diagnosing why the rover apparently rebooted its computer at least twice over the April 11-12 weekend.

Middle age chatters driving Twitter's trend

TwitterLondon, Apr 13: Twitter is not longer the domain of younger generation, for a majority of people who use the chatting site are over
35, according to a new survey.

The research conducted by web monitoring company comScore showed that those aged 45 to 54 are 36 per cent more likely than average to visit the site.

And only 10.6 per cent of American Twitter users were aged 18 to 24.

The study also found that middle aged ''Tweeters'' spend much longer on the site than their offspring.

Public-private company to build Australian broadband network

Public-private company to build Australian broadband network Sydney - The Australian government on Tuesday scrapped a tender process and announced it would form a new company to build a national high-speed fibre-optic broadband network.

The company would be a public-private partnership with Canberra selling its majority stake when the 43-billion-Australian-dollar (30-billion-US-dollar) project is completed.

"It's the most ambitious, far-reaching and long-term nation-building infrastructure project ever undertaken by an Australian government," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.

Now, car doors that get jammed when near danger

Now, car doors that get jammed when near dangerLondon, Apr 4: Considering that the opening of car doors into the path of oncoming vehicles has been a major cause of road accidents, scientists have now developed a new technology to avoid such mishaps—doors that sense potential impacts and get jammed.

Named the “haptic"—the technology provides tactile feedback to the users, and can thus help reduce both road injuries and repair bills

Invented by Michael Graf at BMW and Michael Strolz''s team at the Technical University of Munich, the current prototype looks like a normal car door.

Use the net to go ‘around the world in 80 telescopes’

Use the net to go ‘around the world in 80 telescopes’London, April 3: In a live 24-hour webcast today, anyone on the Internet will get a unique opportunity to explore some of the most advanced astronomical observatories both on and off the planet, as part of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) initiative ‘Around the World in 80 Telescopes’.

Now, flat, flexible speakers to revolutionise loudspeakers in public spaces

Now, flat, flexible speakers to revolutionise loudspeakers in public spacesWashington, Apr 2: Public announcements in passenger terminals could now be clearer, crisper, and easier to hear—thanks to a new ''Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker'' (FFL) developed by University of Warwick engineers.

Pioneered by University of Warwick spinout company Warwick Audio Technologies, the groundbreaking new loud speakers are less than 0.25mm thick, and could even be hung on a wall like a picture.

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