Yamuna ebbs further, still flowing above danger level

NEW DELHI - A swollen Yamuna continued to recede in the capital Thursday but was still flowing nearly two metres above the danger level of 204.83 metres, said an official of the Department of Irrigation and Flood Control here.

Text me UR … equations? SAfrican social networking site offers math tutoring via cellphone

SAfrican students study math via cellphone

ISRO to replace two ageing satellites in December

CHENNAI - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to replace two of its ageing satellites with new ones by December, an official said Thursday.

Pleasant Thursday in Delhi, rains expected

NEW DELHI - It was a pleasant and cloudy Thursday for Delhiites as the maximum temperature plummeted five notches below average at 28.7 degrees Celsius. The weatherman has predicted rains Friday.

Water in Himachal’s Pong dam rises, no threat downstream

SHIMLA - The water level in Himachal Pradesh’s Pong dam Thursday rose again marginally due to discharge of excess water from another dam upstream but the excess water would not be released further, an official said.

India launches integrated weather forecasting system

NEW DELHI - India Thursday launched an integrated forecasting and communication system for making accurate meteorological predictions that will place the country at par with the best technologies available anywhere in the world.

Emirati island aims to be among new wonders of nature

Abu Dhabi, Sep 23 (IANS/WAM) Bu Tinah island in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is aiming to be among the world’s new seven wonders of nature.

80 tourists still stranded in Himachal district

SHIMLA - At least 80 tourists, including 16 foreigners, who were stranded in Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district for the past few days, could not be airlifted Thursday owing to bad weather, an official said.

MI6 spies planned to use semen as invisible ink

LONDON - British intelligence planned to use semen as an invisible ink to write top-secret letters, says a new history of secret intelligence service MI6.

Man, flapping wings, makes 20-sec flying history

TORONTO - A man-powered aircraft with flapping wings made aviation history by becoming the first of its kind to fly continuously for almost 20 seconds.

200 million Facebook users play games every month

LONDON - More than 200 million people play games on Facebook every month, according to the social networking site’s founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Mercury found to have comet-like appearance

WASHINGTON - Scientists say that NASA satellites designed to view the escaping atmosphere of the Sun have also recorded evidence of escaping gas from the planet Mercury.

eBay charity auction lets you buy celeb Twitter pals

NEW YORK - Want to have celebs as your friends on Twitter? Well, here’s your chance.

EBay Inc. is hosting a charity auction called TwitChange, through which people will be allowed to bid to have celebrities follow them, retweet their posts or tweet their username on Twitter for three months.

Oz fossil discovery offers clues on human evolution

SYDNEY - Aussie scientists have unveiled a cast of the nearly complete skeleton of Australopithecus sediba- a first time discovery that could be called as one of the most important in the field of human evolution.

Some Himachal places may get heavy rains again

SHIMLA - Heavy rainfall is expected again at some places in the hilly Himachal Pradesh though there was some respite from the continuous downpour across the state.

Atom smasher on verge of breakthrough

LONDON - The $10 billion atom smasher underground on the Swiss-French border seems to have recreated a bit of the matter that existed in the initial moments of the universe and it might be on the threshold of its first big break, say scientists.

Bhakra spillways opened, 12,000 cusecs water released

CHANDIGARH - The Bhakra and Beas Management Board (BBMB) Thursday released over 12,000 cusecs of water from the spillways of the Bhakra Dam, constructed over the Satluj river.

Leaving your religion deemed unhealthy

WASHINGTON - A Penn State researcher has revealed that people who leave strict religious groups are more likely to say their health is worse than members who remain in the group.

Chromium picolinate may reduce inflammation in diabetic nephropathy

WASHINGTON - A new research has concluded that taking chromium picolinate may help lessen inflammation associated with diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease).

Taste genes predict dental caries

WASHINGTON - A new study has hypothesized that genetic variation in taste pathway genes (TAS2R38, TAS1R2, GNAT3) may be associated with dental caries risk and/or protection.

Docs ‘misuse’ antibiotics when treating patients with respiratory infections

WASHINGTON - A recent study has revealed that doctors frequently misuse antibiotics when treating patients hospitalized with respiratory tract infections (RTIs).

Why cavemen were better parents than us

LONDON - The early man and woman were a lot more skilled at parenting than some of today’s couples, a psychologist claims.

How diarrohea-causing bug fosters self-growth in human gut

LONDON - UC Davis researchers have discovered how the bacteria Salmonella enterica - a common cause of food poisoning - fosters its own growth inside the human intestine.

Coming soon: New inspection method to identify liquid explosives

WASHINGTON - Researchers are currently testing new equipment that could help detect liquid explosives at airport security checkpoints.

Lightning on Venus ’similar to Earth’s’

WASHINGTON - Scientists have discovered that lightning mechanisms on Earth are very similar to those on Venus.

Soap ingredient could treat parasitic disease that affects 2 billion

WASHINGTON - Soap, toothpaste, odour-fighting socks, and even computer keyboards contain an anti bacterial ingredient that could treat a parasitic disease that affects almost two billion people, reports a new study.

Portable laser devices to ensure better, painless disease diagnosis

WASHINGTON - A visit to the dentist could now be a painless affair, with the development of new portable laser devices to probe bones, teeth, and other parts of the body for early signs of diseases like osteoporosis and tooth decay.

Fruit flies’ ’sniffing techniques’ pave way for new insect repellents

WASHINGTON - Scientists are studying fruit flies in order to better understand how they differentiate between smells, paving the way for better insect repellents, according to a new study.

Titanium foam implants to revolutionize bone injury treatments

WASHINGTON - A new kind of implant, Titanium foam, could revolutionize how bone injury treatments are carried out, according to a new study.

Here’s how the brain learns to recognize objects

WASHINGTON - Years of experience in the natural world is what makes the brain learn how to recognizes objects, revealed a new study by MIT neuroscientists

Fresh breach in Yamuna poses flood threat to Haryana

CHANDIGARH - Flood threat loomed large over several low-lying villages in Yamunanagar district of Haryana as a fresh breach of nearly 300 feet emerged on the embankment of the Yamuna river, an official said Thursday.

Cuckoo egg mystery resolved

WASHINGTON - Researchers at the University of Sheffield have become the first to unravel the mystery as to how a cuckoo chick is able to hatch in advance of a host�s eggs and brutally evict them.

Selfish behavior comes from your mum

WASHINGTON - Acting selfish? Well, blame your mother, says a new study.

Francisco Ubeda, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, along with fellow evolutionary biologist Andy Gardner from Oxford University, examined the impact that genomic imprinting has on the carrier’s selfish or altruistic behavior.

Talking while walking harder for Parkinson’s patients

WASHINGTON - People with Parkinson’s disease are at increased risk for falls with injury because they have more trouble walking and talking, according to a new Florida State University study.

Practice doesn’t really make you perfect

WASHINGTON - If you thought practice could only make you perfect in language comprehension and reading, then a new study might just change your opinion-researchers have suggested a new way of training that could reduce by at least half the effort previously thought necessary to make learning gains.

Ocean cooling ‘contributed to global warming hiatus during mid-20th century ‘

LONDON - A new study has indicated that the ocean cooling in North Atlantic around 1970 contributed to the hiatus of global warming in the Northern Hemisphere during the mid-20th century, and not tropospheric pollution.

Humanized mice paves way for better typhoid fever treatment

WASHINGTON - New experiments in mice might reveal valuable clues for better treatment of typhoid fever in humans, says a new study.

Scientists discover bizzare horned dinos on ‘lost continent’ in Utah

WASHINGTON - Scientists have unearthed two new species of horned dinosaursin Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah.

Soon, nose drops to treat brain cancer

WASHINGTON - Scientists have reported the development and testing of a drug that could treat brain cancer, and can be given as nose drops rather than an injection.

Soon, swipe cell phone to pay for shopaholics’ purchases!

LONDON - A mobile phone that can be swiped at the till to make instant purchases may soon end the need to carry cash - or even a wallet.

IVF kids score better on academic tests

WASHINGTON - Children conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) actually perform better than age-and gender-matched peers on academic tests, a new study found.

Siberians discovered America, claims Russian scientist

SAKHALIN - The earliest settlers of America came from Siberia through the current Far East region, according to some Russian scientists.

Harvest Moon Brings A Rare Treat