Science & Technology in 2009

Chandrayaan-1 and water on Moon Announced on August 15, 2003, Chandrayaan-1, India`s first lunar spacecraft was successfully launched on October 22, 2008 from Satish Dhawan centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. It not only helped India become a member of the elite space club, but, this year, it became the first lunar mission to find evidence of large quantities of water on Moon, challenging the long-held view that the Earth’s natural satellite is bone dry. On September 24, 2009, Chandrayaan-1 also found indications that water is being produced in the lunar soil through interactions with charged particles streaming out from the Sun. This major discovery was a justification of the Chandryaan-1 mission, which encountered many problems and finally ended abruptly. On September 8, 2009, the spacecraft developed some technical snag, as star sensors of the craft went out of order, due to which the photographs sent by Chandrayaan were not as clear as they should have been. Longest solar eclipse The world witnessed a rare celestial phenomenon, a total solar eclipse, on July 22 this year. Although it was best visible in China, it enveloped parts of Asia in darkness and was a total and the longest eclipse of 21st century. The eclipse was visible in the cities of Surat, Varanasi, Patna, Thimphu, Chengdu, Chongqing, Whuan, Hangzhou, and Shanghai. A partial eclipse was visible in South East Asia and north-eastern Oceania. It is believed that the next solar eclipse of this magnitude will be witnessed on June 13, 2132, and it will last about 6 minutes and 39 seconds. US Space Shuttles Space Shuttle Discovery Space Shuttle Discovery is amongst one of the three currently operational orbiters in NASA’s Space Shuttle fleet. Lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with seven astronauts on August 24, the main mission of the scheduled 13-day flight was to carry a set of solar wing panels to the International Space Station. The installation will boost the station’s electricity generating capability to about 120 kilowatts, enough to power about 42 2,800-square-foot homes. Finally, the space shuttle landed safely in California on September 11 after bad weather forced a switch of its touchdown site at the end of a two-week mission to the ISS. Besides this, the US space shuttle Atlantis was also launched on November 16, from Kennedy Space Center on an 11-day mission. With six-man crew, the key aim of the flight was to carry spare parts to keep the ISS flying after which the shuttle will retire in 2010. Atlantis returned back safely on Earth on November 27. From the Florida launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Shuttle Endeavour also soared into space on July 15 with seven astronauts aboard. The aim of this 16-day flight was to install a Japanese-built porch for experiments on the ISS, besides including five spacewalks, each lasting about 6 1/2 hours. It landed back safely on Earth on July 31. Space Tourism So far it was fantasized about, but space tourism became a reality when a Russian Soyuz space capsule carrying US billionaire Charles Simonyi and a Russian-American crew touched down safely in Kazakhstan on March 26 after successfully venturing into Space for fun. This space voyage lured others too and then came Virgin Galactic which is now the world’s first commercial spaceship to be carried aloft by an exotic jet, before firing its rocket engine to climb beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. It is a commercial space liner offering tourists a cheaper chance to experience the thrill of weightlessness and view the splendor of the Earth from space. It is unveiled by the British billionaire Richard Branson. Branson hopes to offer tickets aboard his spacecraft at a cost of 200,000 dollars each, giving adventurous travellers a chance to experience space at a fraction of the cost of a seat on a NASA shuttle or Russian spaceship. 400 years of Galileo’s telescope This was a scientific anniversary that crept up relatively quietly, marking an event which debatably changed human thought and the way we see ourselves even more irrevocably. Exactly 400 years ago on August 25, 1609 the Italian astronomer and philosopher Galilei Galileo showed Venetian merchants his new creation, a telescope. It brought about to a series of groundbreaking conclusions like the Moon’s surface was not completely smooth and Jupiter had moons. Besides, Venus showed a range of moon-like phases, something which could not happen if both it and the sun orbited the Earth. Galileo spent the final decade of his life under house arrest as his discoveries were not best welcomed by the Catholic Church. However, in the 1990s, Pope John Paul II had apologized to the scientist on behalf of the Catholic Church for condemning him when he was alive. The Roman Catholic Church has since exonerated him. In the context of history this is Galileo’s redemption. Astronomy year To portray astronomy as a peaceful global scientific endeavor that unites amateur and professional astronomers in an international and multicultural family that works together to find answers to some of the most fundamental questions that humankind has ever asked, this year has been celebrated as the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009). Planets discovered Adding to the count of the massive haul of new worlds, around 32 new planets outside our solar system have been discovered this year. These planets have been discovered using high-precision instrument installed at a Chilean telescope. However in search for Earth-like planets, astronomers discovered Gliese 581 d, the most Earth-like planet yet found. 581 d, an extrasolar planet orbiting the star Gliese 581, is approximately 20 light-years away in the constellation of Libra. The planet, believed to have liquid oceans, was discovered by the team of Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland using the HARPS instrument. Other discoveries

A new computer model, in its finding, has suggested that the outer crusts of so-called neutron stars are ten billion times stronger than steel, and the strongest known material in the universe.

An interesting space discovery of the year is that Jupiter’s moon Europa may harbor fish-sized life in its oceans. A research suggested that the amount of oxygen in the ocean is enough to support more than just microscopic life-forms, with at least three million tons of fishlike creatures theoretically living and breathing on Europa.

The oldest subatomic particles called neutrinos also contribute to the list of space discoveries for the year 2009. It is believed that neutrinos might each encompass a space larger than thousands of galaxies.

Another top space discovery is that of the high-resolution pictures of a Martian valley revealed three-billion-year-old shorelines along what was once a body of water about the size of Lake Champlain, which is the first proof of ancient Mars lakeshores.

The last but certainly not the least is the discovery of a green ‘two-tailed’ comet that buzzed by Earth on a one-time visit in late February.

Further, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) revealed sub-surface water ice that may be 99% pure, halfway between the North Pole and the equator on the Red Planet.

NASA in November released the latest raw images of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, from the Cassini spacecraft’s extended mission to Saturn and its satellites. The data received will help scientists create a detailed mosaic image of the southern part of the Moon’s Saturn-facing hemisphere, and a thermal map. Flop-enhagen Summit Delegations from 193 countries had gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark from December 7-18 for the United Nations Climate Change Conference to discuss the issue of climate change and find long-term solutions to fight its consequences. However, the 12-day long talks concluded with a bare-minimum agreement, with delegates only ‘taking note’ of a deal reached between the United States and BSAIC group of countries, which includes Brazil, South Africa, India and China. The accord however fell far short of the conference`s original goals, with poor nations severely criticising the deal. The accord was weaker than a legally binding treaty and weaker even than the `political` deal many had foreseen prior to the start of the conference. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon however expressed some sort of satisfaction at the deal reached after much wrangling, and said: "Finally we sealed a deal. The `Copenhagen Accord` may not be everything everyone had hoped for, but this ... is an important beginning." The accord set a target of limiting global warming to a maximum 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times – seen as a threshold for dangerous changes such as more floods, droughts, mudslides, sandstorms and rising seas. But the agreement failed to state how the signatories would achieve this. The accord also held out the prospect of USD 100 billion in annual aid from 2020 for developing nations but failed to specify precisely where this money would come from. The agreement also pushed crucial decisions on core issues like emissions cuts into the future. "This basically is a letter of intent ... the ingredients of an architecture that can respond to the long-term challenge of climate change, but not in precise legal terms. That means we have a lot of work to do on the long road to Mexico," head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, Yvo de Boer said. The next round of climate talks is scheduled for November 2010 in Mexico. Negotiators hope they would be able to nail down then what they failed to achieve in Copenhagen – a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. However, still there are no guarantees. Melting Ice Water is essential to human survival and ice sheets and glaciers are the main source of water on Planet Earth. However, disturbing as the trend may be all of world’s glaciers and ice sheets are melting – some at a more rapid rate than others – caused mainly by the global warming or climate change, as believed by a majority of scientists. As the year 2009 draws to a close, two reports particularly raised alarm in India. Data collected by the Indian Space Research Organisation showed the Gangotri Glacier, which feeds India’s biggest and most sacred river Ganga, has receded by 1.5 kilometres in the past 30 years. ISRO`s satellite imagery documents also highlighted that Alpine vegetation was now growing at a much higher altitude than it used to several years back. Another report quoting scientists came out with an alarming picture in which melting Himalayan glaciers could affect as many as 1.3 billion people, who live downstream in countries like India, Pakistan, China, Nepal and Bhutan. People in these countries depend on Himalayan glaciers for water. Melting glaciers threaten to bring drought to large swathes of the Asian continent. Research shows temperatures in the region have risen between 0.15 and 0.6 degrees Celsius (0.27 and 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit) each decade for the last 30 years. Even the Fourth Assessment Report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that the Himalayan glaciers were receding faster than in any part of the world and if the present rate continues, there is a likelihood of their disappearing by 2035. Far away from the Himalayas and human habitation, Antarctica too has been feeling the heat. Research has shown the East Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass for the past three years – 57 billion tonnes (Gt) per year. The finding has "surprised" scientists as they used to believe the giant East Antarctic sheet, unlike the west, was stable. The conclusive data came from NASA`s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace) mission, which has in the past shown that the smaller West Antarctic (132Gt) and Greenland ice (273Gt) sheets too were losing mass. If these two ice bodies melt completely, sea levels around the world would rise by about six to seven metres. But the East Antarctic sheet alone would raise sea levels by around 50-60 metres if it vanishes. Ironically, the IPCC – whose 2007 report formed the scientific benchmark for the UN December 7-18 Copenhagen climate summit – had not even factored melting ice sheets into its forecasts for rising seas. In the Arctic, research showed this year that the mercury here was going up twice as fast than anywhere else on Earth. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has described the frightening situation as "a canary in a coalmine". Data released this year showed the melting Arctic ice cap shrank to a record low of 4.1 million square kilometres (1.58 million square miles) in September 2007. It is likely to disappear completely in the summer months by the end of this century, experts believe. In another disturbing find, US scientists came out with a report earlier this year stating that groundwater levels in north Indian cities, including Delhi, had been declining as much as one foot per year over the last 10 years. Scientists blamed "human activity" for the rapid loss and sounded a warning that in the absence of corrective measures, agriculture output could collapse in the region and potable water could become scarce. Human Evolution’s `Missing Link` In 2009, scientists announced that they had found the "missing link" between human beings’ evolutionary branch of life and the rest of the animal world, with the help of an exquisitely preserved ancient primate fossil which – named Ida – is 47 million-year-old. Ida was originally discovered at Messel pit, a famous fossil site near Darmstadt in Germany, by an amateur fossil hunter in 1983. He kept the discovery a secret for more than 20 years before deciding to sell it via a German fossil dealer called Thomas Perner. Through Perner the fossil reached Dr Jorn Hurum, the palaeontologist from Oslo University`s Natural History Museum, who put together a top-level international scientific team to study the fossil. The research team then studied Ida for the past two years and concluded she was the most complete and best preserved primate fossil ever discovered. Her skeleton is 95% complete and one can even see individual hairs covering her body. Scientists even made out what Ida ate last – a vegetarian snack. The fossil has been formally named Darwinius masillae in honour of Darwin`s 200th birthday year. Researchers feel Ida belongs to the time when the primate lineage, which diversified into monkeys, apes and ultimately humans, split from a different group that went on to become lemurs and other less well known species. The team published the skeleton’s description in the journal PLoS ONE, which reveals Ida was 53cm long and a juvenile around six to nine months old. The scientists concluded that Ida was a female because she is without a penis bone. Meanwhile, another discovery published this year pushed back the existence of humankind by million years. “Ardi” is a hominid who used to walk 4.4 million years ago in what is today’s Ethiopia. The 110-pound, 4-foot female lived a million years before the famous Lucy, which was long regarded as the earliest skeleton of a human ancestor. The skeleton’s discovery also changed the way scientists used to look at human evolution. The previous belief that humans evolved from an ancient chimp-like creature gave way to wisdom that chimps and humans evolved from some long-ago common ancestor; however each then evolved and changed separately over time. The first bones of Ardi were discovered in 1994 and the skeleton was assembled from a total of 125 pieces. Meanwhile, a study published late 2009 revealed that Indians were the ancestors of Chinese and many of those in other East Asian countries. The study, ‘Mapping Human Genetic History in Asia’, was a joint effort of a team of nearly 100 scientists from 10 Asian countries, and stated that the humans, who originally evolved in Africa, came to India nearly a hundred thousand years ago from where they went to China and other Asian countries. The research nullified earlier theories that a wave of human population directly went to the East Asian countries. The study focussed on Southeast Asian and East Asian populations of 1,928 unrelated individuals representing 73 populations from 10 countries, including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. Shifting the focus from humans to animals, scientists this year announced the discovery of the fossilized remains of a monster snake in Colombia, which used to roam around 58 million years ago. Scientists believe the 42-foot behemoth weighing over a ton was the largest snake ever on Earth. Named titanoboa (titanic boa), its length "greatly exceeds the largest verifiable body lengths" of the largest-known python (29.53 feet) or Eunectes, a species of which the anaconda is a member (22.97 feet). It would be an unusual year if it passes without the discovery of any dinosaur related find. This year, geologists in southern India discovered hundreds of fossilised dinosaur egg clusters believed to be some 65 million years old. The eggs were discovered at an ancient riverbed in the state of Tamil Nadu. Each egg was of the size of a football and was lying buried in sandy nests. Far away in New Mexico, in the US, scientists claimed to have discovered the little cousin of T.rex. The fossil, which looks like a mini T.rex, has been named `Tawa hallae` after the native American god of the sun. Scientists believe the discovery would help them understand better how dinosaurs evolved in North and South America, and then spread around the world. The dinosaur is two-meter-long, has sharp ridged teeth like a steak knife, and would have lived in the late Triassic period 213 million years ago. Scientists in South Africa also discovered this year a dinosaur species that roamed the Earth about 200 million years ago. The Aardonyx celestae, which dates back to the early Jurassic period, was a seven-meter-long small-headed herbivore with a huge barrel of a chest. It walked on its hind legs but also could drop to all fours. Scientists believe the find might help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land. Scientists also unearthed in the Sahara desert this year fossils of five exotic crocodiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs some 100 million years ago. Scientists believe the newly-discovered species help build an understanding of how crocodiles were and remain such a successful life form. Vanishing Tigers Humans’ disregard for nature and its constituents again came out to the fore this year when the state government of Madhya Pradesh admitted in July that the Panna Tiger Reserve had lost all its big cats. The shocking discovery was made by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in a survey. Illegal hunting was believed to be the chief reason behind the vanishing tiger population in Panna. The irony is that the national park was part of the country`s efforts to save the famous Royal Bengal Tiger from extinction. While announcing the Panna Tiger Reserve had lost its most treasured species, the state government also informed that it had begun the process for re-establishing tigers in the reserve by trans-locating two tigresses. Panna is the second tiger reserve in India, after Sariska in Rajasthan, where the big cats have vanished. There are also concerns that the Sanjay National Park, also in Madhya Pradesh, also has no tigers left. India currently has over 1,400 tigers while a century ago the number stood at 40,000. The numbers dwindled fast because of hunting and poaching. Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh too has admitted that tigers are in a "very, very precarious" state in 17 of the 38 government-monitored tiger reserves and could disappear altogether in nearly half of the reserves. Wildlife experts believe tigers could be extinct in 20 years. Government data shows as many as 59 tigers died in the country in 2009, of which 15 were killed by poachers. Since 2006, 139 tigers have been killed in India`s forests. New Species The diversity of our planet Earth can be gauged by the fact that humans, who have been living on Earth for several million years, still manage to discover new species! In 2009 also, many new species of birds and animals were discovered. In one such find, environmentalists announced the discovery of over 350 new species including the world`s smallest deer, a flying frog and catfish that stick to rocks. These species were discovered over the past 10 years in the Himalayas, making it one of the world`s most biologically rich regions. Among the discoveries included plants, amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds, mammals and at least 60 new invertebrates. Meanwhile, scientists stumbled upon 12 new species of frogs in the forests of Western Ghats, India. The revision of the Philautus genus helped in identifying the previously unknown 12 species. The discovery is a result of 10-year-long field study in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and parts of Gujarat, in the Western Ghats. Among the finds were a `lost species`, the Travancore bushfrog (Philautus travancoricus); the famed "purple frog" (Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis) belonging to a new family of frog, Nasikabatrachidae; the dimmunitive Nyctibatrachus minimus, the smallest herp in India; and the first Indian canopy frog, Philautus nerostagona, among others. Scientists also discovered a lost world consisting of fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures in a remote volcanic crater on the Pacific island of Papua New Guinea. Among the 40 new species identified were 16 never-seen-before frogs, three new fish, a new bat and a giant rat, which scientists believe is the world’s largest. In deep sea finds, a 10-year census of marine life came up with the latest list of new species which included tentacled transparent sea cucumbers, primitive "dumbos" that flap ear-like fins, and tubeworms that feed on oil deposits. The species were discovered in the mid-Atlantic at a depth of more than 656 feet, the point where sunlight ceases. While the discovery of new species brought joy to the scientific community, there was grim news as well. A report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) highlighted that about 17,000 plant and animal species were facing the threat of extinction, while more than 800 have already gone extinct over the past 500 years. The report also listed 290 "Critically Endangered" species as "Possibly Extinct". Among the species facing extinction include 21% of all known mammals, 30% of amphibians, 70% of plants and 35% of invertebrates. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009 listed the Kihansi Spray Toad, which was found only in Tanzania, has gone from critically endangered to extinct in the wild. Also, the Rabb’s Fringe-limbed Treefrog has been added to the list as critically endangered. Among the invertebrates, the Giant Jewel, found in southeast Nigeria and southwest Cameroon, is facing threat from forest destruction. All seven freshwater snails from Lake Dianchi in China’s Yunnan Province have also been added to the Red List. The Brown Mudfish, found only in New Zealand, has been moved from near threatened to vulnerable. Global outbreak of swine flu The global outbreak of the Influenza A (H1N1) or swine flu virus claimed thousands of lives around the world in 2009. As per Indian health authorities, the country’s latest death toll stands above 700 and over 22,000 have been affected by disease. Swine flu is a respiratory disease with symptoms of fever, cough, soar throat, body-ache, vomiting, diahorrea and fatigue. It was first detected in April 2009 and believed to contain genes from humans, birds and swine influenza viruses. Although the strain may have originated in pigs, it is not spread by eating pork products. It is transmitted by airborne droplets from an infected person through cough, sneeze or from germ-laden surfaces. The outbreak first occurred in Mexico and it spread to the rest of the world; since then the WHO has declared it a global pandemic. As per the WHO, the worldwide confirmed death toll is currently above 10,000 and rising. To protect against the H1N1 virus, scientists developed preventive vaccines that contain inactivated (killed) influenza virus or weakened live virus that cannot cause influenza. While the live vaccine is given as nasal spray, killed vaccine is given through injection. It seems to be effective showing a strong immunity against infection. Renowned Indian spiritual leader Baba Ramdev has meanwhile advised people to take up yoga as a preventive cure for swine flu. Thai HIV vaccine trial This year’s HIV vaccine trial in Thailand was significant. The trials were carried out by US Army and the Thai government over seven years with more than 16,000 HIV negative volunteers in parts of the Southeast Asian country. Half of the people received placebo and the rest were given a combination of six vaccines over six months and they were studied for 3 years. Researchers found this year that those who received a series of inoculations of prime vaccine and booster vaccine were 31% less likely to contract HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS. Considered a major step in HIV research, it provides the first evidence that the development of a safe and preventive vaccine is possible. These findings were lauded by the WHO and the UN programme on HIV/AIDS, saying it has instilled a new hope in the HIV vaccine research field. Indian scientists map human genome Scientists at the Indian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research made a breakthrough in decoding the genome sequencing of an Indian citizen. It is the first time that human genome has been mapped in India. The breakthrough paves the way for India’s entry into the elite club, which includes the likes of the US, UK, Canada, China and South Korea, making healthcare low cost and affordable for the people in future. The director of the IGIB (Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology) stated that the Indian genome sequence accomplished in about nine weeks is among the 14 persons whose genome has been mapped worldwide. India’s first GM food – Bt brinjal With India’s first genetically modified Bt brinjal (‘Bt brinjal’ is a transgenic vegetable carrying a gene called `Bt` from a bacterium which releases toxin to kill fruit and shoot borer insects) getting a clearance from the country’s biotechnology regulator GEAC, there has been a mixed response from various organizations. While a distinguished professor from Punjab Agriculture University is of the view that it is a safe technology and said vegetables grown in this manner will require lesser insecticides, the Kerala Bio-diversity Board opposes the Centre saying it would cause health hazards and destroy eco-system. Some senior scientists have also cautioned the Centre saying one needs to take all crucial factors into account before one jumps onto the GM bandwagon because it has inherent risks to bio-diversity and human health. ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital The ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital landed in Jaipur in September with a global team of eye care specialists to train doctors for treating diseases like blindness, cataract, glaucoma, and other disorders, especially in children. It is a DC-10 aircraft fitted with all the facilities to run a miniature eye hospital. It was invited by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. According to the medical director of ORBIS, Dr Hunter Cherwek, India accounts for nearly 20% of all blind children worldwide. He added that with the sponsorship of Alcon, the flying hospital complements Childhood Blindness Initiative in India, a programme to develop pediatric ophthalmology centers across India by 2015. Artificial sperm cells from stem cells There has been a major breakthrough in making sperm-like cells from human embryonic stem cells. A scientist from Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK, Karim Nayernia says these cells can swim like sperm do. His team used the same technique to create sperm-like cells from embryonic stem cells that they used in 2006 to produce sperm from mouse embryonic stem cells. While the work has been lauded by other scientists, there’s an obstacle in carrying out further research in other countries as this may be illegal. Cure for fungal infections An international team of researchers led by Toronto University professor Leah Cowen has found a way to make drugs more effective in clearing all fungal infections. Fungal infections can be deadly, as fungus germs have developed resistance to drugs. As per the researchers, fungal germ called `Candida albicans` resists drug treatment because of an associated protein called heat shock protein 90 or Hsp90. They said treating patients with a drug that inhibits Hsp90 with Echinocandis (fungal fighting drugs) will have major benefits for people with life threatening fungal disease and was found effective in both lab experiments and mouse models. Cancer a) Device to diagnose cervical cancer British scientists have invented a device to diagnose the ailment in just a couple of minutes instead of the several weeks’ time it used to take earlier. The new device called `APX` is believed to ease the trauma of smear testing for thousands of women. The procedure is painless and it works by passing a mild electric current into the cervix and monitoring its movement through the cells. The APX identifies the presence of abnormal cells and within a couple of minutes the information is converted into computerized image that shows cancerous hot spots. b) Breast cancer drugs British scientists have made a major breakthrough in fighting life threatening disease breast cancer. The new study found a key molecule that cancer manipulates to spread throughout the body. The scientists discovered how breast cancer cells switch off these vital molecules called microRNAs that allow malignant cells to develop in other parts of the body. The scientists are working to stop this process and it may take two years to complete. 3) Skin implant treatment for cancer Researchers from the Harvard University have made a breakthrough in skin implant cancer treatment technique. The implant that contains tumor-specific antigens enters the skin to prune cells that attack and purge cancer cells. It was tested in a lab mouse and it killed the melanoma tumors. This is being viewed as the most significant development in the world of cancer treatment, though it will take time before the study’s benefits can be passed on to humans. 40 Glorious Years of the Internet The year 2009 marked the 40th anniversary of the invention of Internet, a technology which changed our lives and the way we communicate today. The journey of Internet, which was initially named ARPANET, began on October 29, 1969 when the first two nodes were interconnected between UCLA’s (University of California, Los Angeles) School of Engineering and Applied Science and SRI International (SRI) in Menlo Park, California. The concept of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet protocol) was published in 1973, and by 1986, it was available on workstations and PCs. By the beginning of the ‘90s ‘www’ (World Wide Web) had been introduced and this also marked the debut of the Web as a publicly available service on the Internet. In 1993, Mosaic web browser was introduced, which enabled the use of graphics and since then there has been no looking back. The increasing familiarity with two-way communication over the "Web" led to the possibility of direct Web-based commerce (e-commerce) and instantaneous group communications across the globe. The estimated population of Internet users on June 30, 2009 was 1.67 billion. Meanwhile, the international organization that oversees Internet addresses approved the use of domain names in Hindi, Mandarin, Hebrew, Korean and 12 other languages whose scripts are not based on the Roman/Latin alphabet. FACEBOOK LITE Facebook Lite was launched in August 2009. It is a more simplified and faster version of popular social networking website Facebook, designed for users with varying broadband speed. The new version offers only basic functions in order to speed up the load time. Facebook Lite is the best alternative for those who don`t like a ton of features. The latest version doesn`t have an Add Links option. The big list on the right side of the Facebook page that includes highlights, requests and suggestions are also missing from Lite. Friends list, photos & videos, change your info options etc have been placed on the left, just right under the profile pic to slim down the look of page, thus helping in easier access. YOUTUBE FEATHER On the lines of Facebook Lite, YouTube is also testing a lighter version called `Feather` on TestTube. The new experiment makes the YouTube interface much lighter by focusing on videos and severely limiting other features available to the viewer. Search suggestions, posting comments, viewing all the comments, rating videos, customizing the embedded player are missing from the new version. Feather also uses advanced Web techniques for reducing the total amount of bytes downloaded by the browser. In November 2009, YouTube introduced 1080p HD support. While the move will make it easier to use high definition home videos, it will also improve YouTube`s ability to offer its viewers television shows and movies. BING Unveiled on May 28, 2009 by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, `BING`, the current Web search engine from Microsoft, was fully online from June 3, 2009. Major changes in the search engine include listing of search suggestions in real time as queries are entered and a list of related searches (called "Explorer pane" on the left side of search results) based on semantic technology from Powerset. Bing also includes the option of Save & Share search histories via Windows Live SkyDrive, Facebook and email. Microsoft also revamped Bing Maps with street views and other features, which boasts a gallery for applications like live traffic data feeds or input from travel webcams or Twitter Maps. It also includes letting users zoom in or out of immersive imagery stitched together for 360-degree viewing. New Yahoo homepage Yahoo Inc launched its new home page on July 21 with some social and personalization features to spice things up a little bit. The revamped home page, aimed at recapturing some of the buzz that Yahoo has lost to increasingly popular online hangouts like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, has the most significant change in the right-hand column, which has been renamed My Favorites. It spent around USD 100 mn to promote the new homepage. On July 29, 2009, Microsoft and Yahoo! announced a 10-year deal in which Yahoo! Search will maintain its own user interface, but will eventually feature "Powered by Bing" branding. The deal is aimed at creating more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company. GOOGLE ADDS REAL TIME UPDATES Understanding the importance of social networking, Google has begun adding real time results to its Internet search engine, channeling feeds from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other fresh content into responses to queries. Through the initiative, Google will provide a platform to allow bloggers, social networks and other producers of real time online content to instantly route updates to the search engine. Users will get results on results page as they are being produced. Twitter feeds are already available on Google real-time results. Facebook and MySpace updates will be integrated by next year. Google Chrome OS Google is all set to take on rival and operating software giant Microsoft with its new operating system `Google Chrome OS`. Designed exclusively for Internet savvy users, Google Chrome OS is set to have a publicly available stable release by the second half of 2010. Google`s digitalization of books A controversial Google plan to digitise millions of out-of-print books has been approved by British publishing groups and authors to create the world`s biggest online library. The landmark deal between Google and authors` associations in America will enable tens of thousands of British writers to profit, as readers can search millions of works, read extracts online and buy full copies. Indian student`s doodle on Google On Children’s Day (November 14), a 10-year-old Indian student Puru Pratap Singh`s colourful doodle, which is based on the theme `My India - Full of Life`, featured on Google. This is the first time that a `made in India` doodle was featured on the popular search engine. According to Singh, the G in his doodle stands for the national bird peacock, O stands for wisdom, another O for India`s scientific achievement, the next G for Kashmir being India`s crown, L for the country`s brave Defence personnel and E for Mahatma Gandhi`s values. Windows 7 Microsoft Corp launched its latest operating system `Windows 7` for personal computers on October 22, 2009. Windows 7 is designed to be more reliable and responsive for consumers than its predecessor, Vista. It also incorporates touch screen technology and several new features. Windows 7`s server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, was released at the same time. Over 90% of testers from around the world have rated Windows 7 as "good" or "extremely good" and consider it to be responsive, simple to use and stable." Windows 7 is available in six different editions -- Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate, which are widely available at retail. Also available in the line-up are Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Basic and Windows 7 Enterprise. The FPP pricing for Windows 7 has been reduced in the range of 25-35 percent over Windows Vista for most SKUs. Electronic discoveries of 2009 Electric eye Watching somebody who is blind always makes us wonder as to how the person is able to cope up with the perpetual darkness. Eyes are the one of most beautiful gifts of nature, and now good news awaits those who couldn’t witness the marvels of this beautiful world. MIT researchers are developing a microchip that could help blind people regain partial eyesight. Though it won’t completely restore normal vision, it will enable a blind person to recognize faces and navigate a room without assistance. The chip, which is encased in titanium to prevent water damage, will be implanted into a patient’s eyeball. The patient will then wear a pair of eyeglasses equipped with a tiny camera that transmits images directly to the chip, which in turn sends them to the brain. Microbe Bacteria have always gotten a bad rap. But we should be thankful for one especially talented microbe, Geobacter, which has tiny hairlike extensions called pili that it uses to generate electricity from mud and wastewater. Professor Derek Lovley and his team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have engineered a strain of Geobacter that’s eight times as efficient as other strains at producing power. The next step: creating Geobacter-based fuel cells that can generate cheap, clean electricity. Fan Ever since Schuyler Skaats Wheeler introduced the electric fan 127 years ago, there hasn’t been much innovation in the field. But, the new non-buffeting Air Multiplier is a wonderful invention in its own way. Air is pulled in through vents in the base and then pushed out by a hidden impeller over a circular airfoil-shaped ramp that runs inside the rim of the halo, creating an uninterrupted stream of cool air. Because it’s bladeless, the Air Multiplier is safer than conventional fans, and it retains normal functions like tilt, oscillation and speed control and yes it looks cooler too. Beetle Armed with funding from the Pentagon’s research wing, an engineering team at the University of California, Berkeley, has devised a method of remotely controlling the flight of beetles. By attaching radio antennas and embedding electrodes in the insects’ optic lobes, flight muscles and brains, professors Michel Maharbiz and Hirotaka Sato can manipulate their subjects into taking off, hovering in midair and turning on command. The trick? Wirelessly delivering jolts to a microbattery fastened to a circuit board atop the hapless insects, whose agility and capacity to tote valuable payloads could make the tiny creatures the ultimate fly on the wall. Modern friendly cars Fully electric Nissan leaf It’s not the world’s first electric car, but the Nissan Leaf, launched in August, is the first fully electric vehicle built for mass production for the global market. To help drivers shift their thinking from gas to green, Japan’s third largest automaker has about 30 partnerships worldwide focused on developing an infrastructure of battery-recharging stations to keep electric vehicles on the roads. The car’s top speed is more than 90 M.P.H. (145 km/h), and its range is 100 miles (160 km) on a full charge. When it moves, it makes a futuristic sound like the flying cars in Blade Runner. Nissan will produce 50,000 Leafs each year at its Oppama plant, southwest of Tokyo, starting in the fall of 2010. Edible car If it’s impossible for a race car to be "good" for the environment, maybe it can at least be a little friendlier. World’s first F3 project, a Formula 3 race car developed at England’s University of Warwick has carrot fibers in its steering wheel, potato starch in its side mirrors and cashew-nut shells in its brake pads. The whole thing runs on a biodiesel mix of chocolate and vegetable oil. In a small effort to make the car even greener than it already is, the designers coated the radiator in a substance that converts ozone emissions into oxygen 3D era This year the maker of the world’s first digital camera, Fujifilm has introduced a 3-D digital camera: the FinePix Real 3D W1. The 10-megapixel FinePix has two lenses, set about as far apart as human eyes, which snap shots of an object from slightly different angles. Those images are then combined into one, creating the illusion of depth. Its 3-D images can be viewed without clumsy 3-D glasses on the camera’s back LCD screen or displayed in a special digital photo frame. Super-suits Arena, an Italian water wear brand, has created the unthinkable: a high-tech swimsuit that outraced Michael Phelps and it doesn’t even have some kind of motor. At the world championships in Rome this summer, German Paul Biedermann, wearing Arena’s Powerskin X-Glide racing suit, handed Phelps his first major individual international defeat in four years, in the 200-m freestyle. The light, polymeric surface of Arena’s full-body supersuit traps air to boost a swimmer’s buoyancy, reducing drag in the water. Biedermann admitted the suit gave him an advantage, and Phelps’ coach threatened to pull the phenomenon future meets if it wasn’t banned. Starting January 1, the X-Glide and other swimsuits made from plastic derivatives are no longer permitted in international events. Swimming’s governing body FINA has banned the use of high-tech ‘super suits.’ The swimsuits were responsible for a spate of world records but have been blamed for ruining the sport. Hadron Collider Restarting the Large Hadron Collider the $10 billion research tool has been "a Herculean effort". The world’s largest particle accelerator resumed operation more than a year after an electrical failure shut it down. Experiments at the LHC may help answer fundamental questions such as why Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity which describes the world on a large scale doesn’t jibe with quantum mechanics, which deals with matter far too small to see. Physicists established a circulating proton beam in the LHC’s 17-mile tunnel, a critical step towards getting results from the accelerator. Located underground on the border of Switzerland and France , the LHC has been inching towards operation since last year. The collider has been dogged by problems since very beginning. It made headlines early this month when a bird apparently dropped a "bit of baguette" into the accelerator, making the machine shut down. The incident was similar in effect to a standard power cut, said spokeswoman Katie Yurkewicz. Had the machine been going, there would have been no damage, but beams would have been stopped until the machine could be cooled back down to operating temperatures, she said. More than 100 Indian scientists have been working since the day the large hadron collider broke down last year. Tapan Nayak, an Indian scientist, smiled when he was asked about the black holes. There is no such threat. “We are trying to unlock the mystery of the Universe, that’s it”. Nayak is joined by a dozen other Indian scientists, engineers and technicians.By Shruti Saxena, Chonmipem Horam, Salome Phelamei, Devika Chhibber, Liji Varghese and Deepak Nagpal