News

Advanced Software Tool Uncovers New Cancer-Driving GenesWashington, 27 Sep (ONA) --- An advanced software tool for analyzing DNA sequences from tumor samples has uncovered likely new cancer-driving genes, in a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.In the study, published in Nature Communications, the researchers designed the software, known as CSVDriver, to map and analyze the locations of large mutations, known as structural variants (SVs), in tumor DNA datasets. They then applied the tool to a dataset of 2,382 genomes from 32 different cancer types, analyzing the cancer ...

Nasa Spacecraft Lining up to Smash into an Asteroid Florida, 26 Sep (ONA) --- In the coming hours, the American space agency will crash a probe into an asteroid. Nasa's Dart mission wants to see how difficult it would be to stop a sizeable space rock from hitting Earth. The demonstration is taking place some 11 million km away (7 million miles) on a target called Dimorphos, BBC news reported. The agency said the rock is not currently on a path to hit the Earth, nor will the test accidentally send it in our direction. The impact is timed for 23:14 GMT, Monday (00:14 BST, ...

Storm Ian Delays Launch of Nasa's Moon Rocket Florida, 25 Sep (ONA) --- The launch of Nasa's most-powerful ever rocket has been delayed due to a tropical storm which could become a hurricane. Artemis I Moon rocket was expected to launch from the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, this Tuesday. But the US state faces a hurricane threat as tropical storm Ian has strengthened and could approach Florida early next week as a major hurricane. The launch of the rocket had already been postponed twice, BBC news reported. The Space Launch System (SLS) vehicle is designed to ...

Scientists Find New Evidence of Forming Planet Massachusetts, 15 Sep (ONA) --- Astronomers at the Centre for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian have developed a new way to detect elusive newborn planets—and with it new evidence was found of a small Neptune or Saturn-like planet lurking in a disk. Astronomers agree that planets are born in protoplanetary disks—rings of dust and gas that surround young, newborn stars. While hundreds of these disks have been spotted throughout the universe, observations of actual planetary birth and formation have proved difficult within ...

Individuals Show Less Trust in Preventive Care Interventions Suggested by AISingapore, 6 Sep (ONA) --- Researchers led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have found that individuals show less trust in preventive care interventions suggested by artificial intelligence (AI) than when the same interventions are prompted by human health experts.Preventive care interventions are activities aimed at reducing risks to health, such as undertaking a health screening, increasing physical activity, and receiving a vaccination.Studying 15,000 users of a health mobile ...

Korea to Have More EV Charging, Self-Driving Robots at ParksSejong, 5 Sep (ONA) - - - More and more gas stations are expected to operate charging ports for electric vehicles (EV) under Korea's measures to promote supply of eco-friendly vehicles by easing regulations, The Korea Herald News reported.In addition, businesses will be allowed to operate autonomous mobile robots at parks, while the current rules restrict the range of serving robots to indoor restaurants, government officials said.With the overhaul of the rules, gas stations will be allowed to set up EV ports as long as the ...

Australian Study Explains Secrets of Native Rodents' Rat Race to New Lands Canberra, 4 Sep (ONA) --- Mountain formation in New Guinea five million years ago triggered the spread of diverse rodents across Oceania, Australian research has found. In a study published in Current Biology recently, researchers from the Australian National University mapped the DNA of more than 150 rodent species from across Australia, New Guinea and Melanesian islands to discover how they are related and how they spread across the Pacific. The research found the formation of mountains approximately ...

Work from Home Hinders Creativity, Innovation, Claims Study Washington, 4 Sep (ONA) --- A new study suggests that a remote working environment has a negative impact on our work relationship, which impairs innovation and creativity in our job. The study tries to scientifically address the question of what got lost when Covid-19 forced us to work in a virtual setup, replacing a physical workplace. Researchers have examined the impact of remote work on job efficiency after physical working got disrupted because of Covid-19. The study says that email communications between ...

Africa's Oldest Dinosaur Found in ZimbabweHarare, Zimbabwe, 1 Sep (ONA) —- Scientists have unearthed Africa's oldest dinosaur, which is more than 230 million years old, in Zimbabwe.The Mbiresaurus raathi stood at one metre tall, ran on two legs and had a long neck and jagged teeth.Scientists said it was a species of sauropodomorph, a relative of the sauropod, the long-necked dinosaur that walked on four legs, BBC news reported.The skeleton was discovered during two expeditions, in 2017 and 2019, to Mbire in the Zambezi Valley.The find is expected to shed more light on evolution and ...

NASA Fuels Moon Rocket for Liftoff on 1st Test Flight Florida, 29 Aug (ONA) --- NASA began fueling its new moon rocket early today for liftoff on a test flight to put a crew capsule into lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years. Thunderstorms delayed the fueling operation by an hour. The threat of lightning diminished enough to allow the launch team to proceed with loading the rocket’s tanks. But it was uncertain how much the stalled work might shorten the two-hour launch window. No one was inside the Orion capsule atop the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket at ...

China Launches New Satellite into SpaceTaiyuan, 24 Aug (ONA) --- China today launched a Long March-2D rocket placing a satellite into space, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Codenamed Beijing-3B, the satellite was lifted from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China’s northern province of Shanxi and successfully entered into its preset orbit. It will mainly be used to provide remote sensing services in the fields of land resources management, agricultural resources survey and environment monitoring.This was the 434th flight mission of the Long March rocket series, the launch ...

New Space Telescope Shows Jupiter’s Auroras, Tiny Moons Florida, 22 Aug (ONA) --- The world’s newest and biggest space telescope is showing Jupiter as never before, auroras and all. Scientists today released the shots of the solar system’s biggest planet. The James Webb Space Telescope took the photos in July, capturing unprecedented views of Jupiter’s northern and southern lights, and swirling polar haze. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a storm big enough to swallow Earth, stands out brightly alongside countless smaller storms. One wide-field picture is particularly ...

Intelligent Technology Expo Kicks Off in China Chongqing, 22 Aug (ONA) --- The Smart China Expo 2022 opened today in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, attracting over 500 exhibitors from China and abroad to showcase the latest intelligent technology achievements, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Themed "Smart Technology: Empowering Economy, Enriching Life," the three-day expo will hold a series of activities, including 20 forums, over 120 release activities on new products and technologies, and ten competitions. A total of 130 online exhibition booths and six ...

World’s Largest Ice Sheet Crumbling Faster than Expected: Data Indicates Los Angeles, 11 Aug (ONA) --- Antarctica's coastal glaciers are shedding icebergs more rapidly than nature can replenish the crumbling ice, doubling previous estimates of losses from the world's largest ice sheet over the past 25 years, a satellite analysis showed. The first-of-its-kind study, led by researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Los Angeles and published in the journal Nature, raises new concern about how fast climate change is weakening Antarctica's floating ice shelves and ...

Landfills Emit High Levels of Methane: Study Bengaluru, India, 11 Aug (ONA) --- Landfills are releasing a significant amount of planet-warming methane into the atmosphere from the decomposition of waste, a study suggests. Scientists used satellite data from four major cities worldwide — Delhi and Mumbai in India, Lahore in Pakistan and Buenos Aires in Argentina — and found that city-level emissions in 2018 and 2019 were 1.4 to 2.6 times higher than earlier estimates. The study, published in Science Advances, aimed to help local governments carry out targeted efforts to ...

China Launches 16 New Satellites to Space Taiyuan, 10 Aug (ONA) - - - China today sent 16 new satellites into space from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the northern province of Shanxi, the Xinhua News Agency reported. The satellites, including a Jilin-1 Gaofen 03D09 satellite and Yunyao-1 04-08 satellites, were launched by a Long March-6 carrier rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully. The new batch of satellites is mainly used in the field of commercial remote sensing and atmospheric imaging. This launch marked the 432nd mission for the Long March ...

 Wildlife Under Stress as Dry Spell Shrinks Rivers in England London, 10 Aug (ONA) --- Environmental groups say the prolonged dry spell is having a "serious" impact on wildlife in rivers. With rivers already under pressure from pollution and use for drinking water, they say the looming drought is adding to the strain. Chalk streams, which support iconic species such as the salmon, kingfisher and otter, are of particular concern, according to the Rivers Trust. Only 200 exist globally, 85% of which are in southern and eastern England, BBC news reported. Chalk ...

South Korea to Unveil Lunar Lander, Rover Development Plans Seoul, 7 Aug (ONA) --- The Korean government plans to unveil a "space economy roadmap" within 2022, including the development of a lunar lander and a lunar rover, the presidential science secretary said today. "In order to leap forward as a space power, we will draw up space development strategies and put them into action immediately," Cho Seong-kyung, presidential secretary in charge of science and technology affairs, told reporters. The "future space economy roadmap" includes development of a next-generation ...

Korea to Launch its First Lunar Probe on 5 August 2022 Seoul, 4 Aug (ONA) --- South Korea’s first lunar mission Danuri is all set to be launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon rocket on Friday morning, the Ministry of Science and ICT said today, The Korea Herald news reported. According to the ministry, the SpaceX Falcon rocket has been readied at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Danuri, formally known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, will blast off at tomorrow (Friday). The ministry had previously announced that the lunar mission’s launch was ...

Seismic Missions to Space Could Reveal Mysteries: Study   Washington, 28 Jul (ONA) --- The astronaut of Apollo 11 in July 1969 Buzz Aldrin radioed a message back to Earth: “Houston, the passive seismometer has been deployed manually.” and despite this initial and a few subsequent attempts, interplanetary seismology remained on the sidelines of space exploration for the rest of the 20th century.   Now things are changing, NASA sent a few years ago a mission which carried a seismometer to Mars. New seismometers are currently being developed for deployment ...

Hyundai Motor to Join Moon Surface Exploration Seoul, 27 Jul (ONA) --- Hyundai Motor and its sister company Kia signed a joint research agreement today with six government-funded research institutes that encompass aeronautics and space capabilities to develop mobility for moon surface exploration, the companies said today. Through this joint research, they will not only develop technologies needed to make mobility for moon surface exploration but also come up with specific strategies and methods to operate such mobility on the harsh environmental and geographical conditions ...

Tech Companies Racing to Prevent Young Children Being Left in Hot Vehicles Kitakyushu, 25 Jul (ONA) --- Electronics developers and other technology companies in Japan are working to quickly roll out systems that can contribute to ending a recent spate of summertime incidents involving children being left behind in dangerously hot vehicles, the Japan Today News reported. Cybernetech, an electronics developer based in Nogata, Fukuoka Prefecture, is in the process of designing a system that can detect when a child has been left behind, as was the case last summer in the nearby ...

Japan's Space Agency Tests Future Supersonic Scramjet Engine Specimen Tokyo, 24 Jul (ONA) - - - Japan's space agency announced that it has successfully test-launched a small research rocket, which conducted tests for a future supersonic scramjet engine. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, is researching the engine. The engine uses atmospheric oxygen to burn engine fuel with the airflow through it remaining supersonic or faster. As it does not need loaded oxygen on board, the scramjet will allow a heavier payload to be carried. JAXA launched an S-520-RD rocket ...

World's First Sand Battery, Could it Work in Australia? Canberra, 19 Jul (ONA) --- The world's first commercial (sand battery) stores heat at 500 degrees celsius for months at a time. It can be used to heat homes and offices and provide high-temperature heat for industrial processes. Thermal storage could displace gas in industry and remove up to 16 per cent of Australia's emissions, experts say. Drop a load of cheap builder's sand in an insulated silo, heat the sand with renewable electricity, and then tap the stored thermal energy for months on end. In an age ...

Climate Change Costs Germany Some €6.6 Billion Per Year, Study Finds Berlin, 18 Jul (ONA) ---- Climate change has cost Germany an average of €6.6 billion ($6.7 billion)per year since 2000, according to a study commissioned by the Economy Ministry. The total cost since that time has been €145 billion, according to the study, which was released by the ministry today to coincide with the Petersburg Climate Dialogue taking place in Berlin. The event is central to paving the way for a successful 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly referred to as COP27, ...

NASA Satellite Breaks from Orbit around Earth, Heads to Moon Wellington, New Zealand, 4 Jul (ONA) --- A satellite the size of a microwave oven today successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again. It’s been an unusual journey already for the Capstone satellite. It was launched six days ago from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula by the company Rocket Lab in one of their small Electron rockets. It will take another four months for the satellite to reach the moon, as ...

Washington, 28 Jun (ONA) ---- US space agency NASA today took a small step toward its goal of establishing an orbiting lunar space station this decade with its launch of a moon-bound mini-satellite. The satellite, which is about the size of a microwave oven, is called CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment). It blasted off aboard an Electron rocket from a spaceport in New Zealand, NASA said. CAPSTONEis due to arrive at the moon after four months and then begin a "significantly elongated" orbit that should last six ...

S. Korea Runs 1st Successful Homegrown Space Rocket Launch Seoul, 21 Jun (ONA) --- South Korea today successfully launched its first homegrown space rocket, local officials said, a triumph that boosted the country’s growing space ambitions but also proved it has key technologies to build a space-based surveillance system and bigger missiles. The three-stage Nuri rocket succeeded in releasing and placing its functioning “performance verification” satellite at a target altitude of 700 kilometers (435 miles) from South Korea’s space launch center on a southern island, the ...

NASA Fuels Moon Rocket for 1st Time in Countdown Rehearsal Florida, 21 Jun (ONA) --- NASA fueled its huge moon rocket for the first time and went ahead with a critical countdown test despite a fuel line leak. This was NASA’s fourth crack at the all-important dress rehearsal, the last major milestone before the moon rocket’s long-awaited launch debut. The previous attempts in April were thwarted by a fuel leak, as well as stuck valves and other technical issues. Another leak — this time in an external fuel line — almost curtailed Monday’s test at Kennedy Space ...

Berlin, 8 Jun (ONA) --- Scientists have made the most precise map yet of the mountains, canyons and plains that make up the floor of Antarctica's encircling Southern Ocean. Covering 48 million sq km, this chart for the first time details a new deepest point - a depression lying 7,432m down called the Factorian Deep. Knowledge of the shape of the ocean's bottom is essential to safe navigation, marine conservation, and understanding Earth's climate and geological history. Vast tracts of terrain have never been properly surveyed. The International Bathymetric Chart of the ...