Page 5 - Science & Technology

Iowa's largest city cancels classes due to cyber attack

Iowa's largest school district cancelled classes for Tuesday after determining there was a cyber attack on its technology network. Des Moines Public Schools announced Monday that classes would be cancelled for its 33,000 students after being alerted to a cyber security incident on its technology network." The district said in a news release that it took its internet and network services offline while it assessed the situation. It didn't describe the nature of the attack or say whether sensitive information might have been stolen, and it didn't immediately respond to a request for further information. Because many technology tools that support both classroom learning as well as the management and operation of the school district are not available at this time, the prudent decision is to close the district for the day," the district said. Sports and other activities were allowed to continue as planned.

Age of celebration of tech for tech's sake is over, says MS CEO Nadella

Suggesting that the age of celebration of technology for technology's sake is over, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella on Thursday said it is now about technology and its use for everyone in the world, where India can contribute immensely. Speaking at the 'Microsoft Future Ready Technology Summit' here, he also highlighted the "magic" of government programmes and India Stack "co-evolving" in the country. "I had a chance to have a brief conversation with the Prime Minister yesterday, his vision and all the programmes, the yojanas and the India Stack. In fact the thing I'm realising is the magic of India Stack, because everything needs feedback. The yojanas or the policy and the technology stack co-evolving, that's just like a virtuous cycle that is unlike anything I have seen and it's just tremendous," Nadella said. He said, "I absolutely think both of these are perhaps the greatest contributions that India can make to the world quite frankly. The idea that there is digital ...

IISC-Bangalore develops 'green' technology to rid air filters of germs

A newly developed air filtering technique that uses ingredients commonly found in green tea can deactivate germs that find refuge inside air filters, the Ministry of Science and Technology said in an official statement. A research team led by Prof Suryasarathi Bose and Prof Kaushik Chatterjee at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, has developed a germ-destroying air filter that can inactivate germs using ingredients like polyphenols and polycationic polymers commonly found in green tea. The 'green' ingredients rupture the microbes through site-specific binding, the statement said. With a prolonged use, air filters become a breeding ground for captured germs. The growth of these germs clog the pores of the filter, reducing their life. Re-suspension of these germs can infect people in the vicinity, the statement said. The novel antimicrobial air filters were tested at an NABL accredited laboratory and were found to be 99.24 per cent effective against SARS-CoV-2 (delta ...

Future of technology going to be driven by India: UAE's AI minister

Though technology is driven from places such as Bengaluru, Al Olama said it is coming from the rest of the world as well

Amagi's valuation crosses $1.4 bn amid funding woes, raises $100 mn

The media technology provider has raised over $100 mn in investment, inclusive of $80 million in primary capital, from global growth equity firm General Atlantic

'It is teamwork', says VSSC director after Mark 3 satellite launch

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) team that worked behind Mark 3 mission has reached Thiruvananthapuram where their colleagues offered them a warm reception at the airport.Unnikrishnan Nair, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram said that the Mark 3 launch was done after a gap of two and a half to three years and was a success because of the teamwork."It is a teamwork of all centres like VSSC, LPSC, IPRC, IISER and IISU. It is teamwork and we are ready to take up more work. In future, more and more opportunities will come. Every year we have a plan. We make our launch according to our demand. From internal demand as well as external demand. To meet that manifest we plan and execute the demand," he added."It is a huge success because it is a mission with the precision we wanted. All the satellites are in the right orbit," he said. "It is possible because of the mission planning as well as very accurate sensors. In fact, the inertial sensors were ...

PM Modi to inaugurate Ahmedabad's Centre-State Science Conclave virtually

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Centre- State Science Conclave on Saturday via video conferencing. His office said the programme is in line with the prime minister's relentless efforts to facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship in the country, and the first of its kind conclave will strengthen the Centre-state coordination and collaboration mechanism in the spirit of cooperative federalism to build a robust science, technology and innovation (STI) ecosystem. The two-day conclave is being organised at Science City, Ahmedabad on September 10-11 and will include sessions on different thematic areas including STI vision 2047, future growth pathways and vision for STI in states; health--digital health care for all; doubling private sector investment in R&D by 2030; and agriculture - technological interventions for improving farmers' income. Sessions on water--innovation for producing potable drinking water, energy- clean energy for all including S&T role in ...

The many questions Artemis will answer as humans look to Mars via moon

Parked near the moon, how do they eat, breathe, cope with isolation, radiation?

Adani signs agreement with Israel agency for access to technology

Collaboration will give Indian group access to latest know-how in 5G, cyber, AI

James Webb telescope captures images of universe: How astronomy will change

Unveiled by US president Joe Biden, the stunning image of SMACS 0723, a cluster of thousands of galaxies, was released on July 11

James Webb Space Telescope can help astronomers in search for alien life

Many astronomers believe there's a good chance that life exists on planets orbiting other stars, and it's possible that's where life will first be found

Who is Dr Arati Prabhakar, US Prez Joe Biden's science advisor nominee?

Prabhakar was three when her family immigrated to the United States from Delhi

Stronger regulations for all facets of technology inevitable: Nadella

Given the pervasiveness of digital technology in our lives, it is inevitable to have stronger regulatory regimes around all facets of technology, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said. "I think the responsibility of stakeholders like ourselves or businesses like us is to both anticipate and adapt to regulation versus ignore it or expect not to have regulation," he said here at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. "I think even with internet safety and moderation, I think there's a lot of regulation coming out of the European Union which I think are going to set standards," he added. Nadella said another thing about regulation is that you have to ensure that you have the design process. It's not about just how do you meet the regulatory standard. It is also about how do you ensure that the entire organisation's process of building technology ensures the regulatory framework around privacy, ethics and internet safety. These are all things that you take into account starting at the

Pichai strengthens tech breakthroughs to countries that need it the most

Addressing the company's flagship Google I/O 2020 conference, Pichai said that Google's flood forecasting technology sent flood alerts to 23 million people in India and Bangladesh last year

Fortnite developer Epic raises $2 billion to build for metaverse

The funds will be used to boost Epic's dream to build the metaverse.

Agritech venture capital firm Omnivore to set up Rs 1,000 crore fund

The new fund will continue to invest in early-stage startups developing breakthrough technologies for agriculture, food, climate, and the rural economy

India-Sri Lanka extend science and technology cooperation for 3 more years

India and Sri Lanka have extended their science and technology cooperation for three more years, with focus on areas like waste-water technologies, sustainable agriculture, aerospace engineering, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence. In a statement, the science and technology ministry said the decision to extend the cooperation was taken at the India-Sri Lanka 5th Joint Committee on S&T Cooperation' held on Thursday. India and Sri Lanka have a great legacy of intellectual, cultural, and religious interaction and relationship of more than 2,500 years old, Advisor, and Head, International Cooperation, Department of Science and Technology (DST) SK Varshney said. Trade and investment and cooperation in education and other sectors have gone up in recent times, and in this line, cooperation in S&T (science and technology) becomes very critical, said Varshney, who led the delegation from India and was the Indian co-chair. This platform will provide an opportunity for ...

Like in the movie: 'Don't Look Up' shows how myths fuel science's rejection

'Don't Look Up' explores how individuals, scientists, the media and politicians respond when faced with scientific facts that are uncomfortable, threatening and inconvenient

Why social scientists must include technological change in their analyses

The consequences of the failure to explicitly account for technological change for social and economic policy are there for all to see. Everyone gets mostly everything wrong most of the time.

Samsung India announces key organisational changes to bolster growth

The South Korean major appointed CH Choi as the new division leader for the Consumer Electronics business, while Jinsock Lee will be the division leader for the Network business