OnePlus 5 launched priced at $479 in the US, to come with Snapdragon 835, 8 GB RAM and dual cameras

The OnePlus 5 has finally been launched, in a short and crisp event. Unlike previous launches, this was not a VR launch. Fans will be able to pick up the device in “pop up” events around the world instead of a VR store. The OnePlus 5 will retail for $479 in the US and €499 in Europe. These are the starting prices of the device, as there are RAM and storage variations. The specifications were in line with the number of leaks so far.

OnePlus 5 launch highlights: The flagship will retail for $479 in the US and €499 in Europe

The Global Launch of the OnePlus 5 is scheduled for 20 June, 2017. The livestream for the event has been put up by the official OnePlus YouTube channel. Interested users can set an alert when the Live video begins. Indian viewers can start viewing the launch proceedings from 9:30 PM, Indian Standard Time.

The India launch will take place two days later, on 22 June. The device is expected to be powered by the top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 platform. The screen is set to be a 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 2560×1440, protected by Gorilla Glass 5. There are two variants, the OnePlus 5 with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage is expected to be priced at Rs 32,999, while the OnePlus 5 with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage is expected to be priced at Rs 37,999.

Apple could include drag and drop on the iPhone very soon

Apple announced their drag-and-drop functionality in iOS 11 at the WWDC keynote last Monday. The disappointment to many was that the feature was limited to apps on the iPad, however, The Verge reported today that ‘drag and drop’ is available on the iPhone as well, only that it is disabled by Apple.
The system setting which let users enable the feature on the iPhone is hidden from the user. For the uninitiated, Apple’s new drag and drop feature in iOS 11 allows users to drag items such as pictures and links from one app to the other seamlessly, breathing new life in terms of functionality to the iPad lineup.

It took developer Steve Troughton-Smith only about a week to find the feature hidden in the iOS 11’s beta for developers. Smith was quick to point its shortcomings as well, like on the iPhone, the drag and drops are constrained to moving objects around within an app. This could turn out to be a major omission from Apple as a new feature that is yet to see its limits pushed, restraining its development, at least for now.
In a video posted by the developer he does mention that if the next iPhone has a software home button, it might make drag and drop possible. The company could change its decision though by the time a stable build of iOS 11 is released. This would be September, where Apple holds an event to launch its new iPhone range every year.

MINIMALLY INVASIVE SPINAL SURGERY IN ISRAEL

Minimally invasive spine surgery is a unique type of operation which uses endoscopic equipment. This surgery considers to have favorable results, and causes minimal trauma to the patient.

In this type of surgery, the surgeon accesses the spine through few small skin incisions (up to 2-3 cm). After preforming these strategically placed incisions, he places a miniature digital video camera and special surgical instruments through those cuts.

The camera magnifies the surgical site and allows him to get a better visual of the complex structure and delicate nerves that are being handled in this surgery. The camera acts as a "better set of eyes" and guides the surgeon in the field of operation. The surgical tools being used in the surgery are a part of a new modern technology, which gives the surgeon a better control of every move he makes, and considers to be a state of the art machinery for this kind of procedures.

At the end of the surgery, the endoscopic equipment is removed, the small incisions are sutured and bandaged.

Minimally invasive spine surgery is an attractive option for patients who wish for a faster recovery, smaller skin incisions and scars and a significantly reduced risk.

Is my medical problem suitable for this surgery?

This new technology is generally used by neurosurgeons to treat patient who suffer from: degenerative-dystrophic changes in the spine, spinal column deformities (scoliosis, kyphosis), tumors, vertebral fractures and herniated disks.

Here in HMC, our experts recommend this surgery for the following cases:

Fixation of the spine: for the degenerative changes in the structure of the intervertebral discs.
Correction of deformities: scoliosis, kyphosis.
Microsurgical removal of herniated discs: relieving pressure and pain, making the recovery process faster and easier than the traditional open surgery.
Decompression of the spinal cord: caused by spinal tumors, metastasis.
Correction and stabilization of vertebral compression fractures
Why minimally invasive surgery is so good for me?

Minimally invasive surgery is one of many new developments that have been made in the last decade in the field of surgery. It is a modern new technology that minimizes the post-operative complications when compared to open surgery.

Here are some of the reasons you should consider this procedure:

Since the surgeon does not need to explore the surgical site, there is very little damage to the muscle surrounding the surgical area.
The anesthesia required for the surgery is minimal; therefore the post-operative recovery period is usually much shorter.
Scars are small and inconspicuous.
Hospitalization after surgery takes only a few days. (in comparison, after open spine surgery, hospitalization duration is about one week)
Pain in minimally invasive surgery is assessed as moderate.
Post-operative rehabilitation takes several months. (in comparison, after open spine surgery, rehabilitation takes at least one year time)
Minimally invasive surgery is a low risk procedure, accompanied by less blood loss, lower risk for infection, lower possibility for CSF (cerebral-spinal-fluid) leakage, and generally fewer complications.
Contact us to learn more about minimally invasive spine surgery.

Why choose HMC for minimally invasive spine surgery?

The success of minimally invasive interventions depends largely on the skill of the operating surgeon. Herzliya Medical Center cooperates with leading experts in the field of neurosurgery in Israel. These neurosurgeons have extensive practical experience in performing complex operations on the spine and spinal cord. Therefore, by choosing HMC, you can be sure you will only get the most highly trained, skilled and professional doctors, and the best treatment for your condition.

HMC staff for minimally invasive spine surgery:

Leading the endoscopic head and spine surgeries in HMC is Dr. Shlomo Davidovich, a highly acclaimed neurosurgeon. Dr. Davidovich is practicing endoscopic procedure

LG has launched two new variants of LG G6 in the South Korean market

LG has launched two variants of LG G6 in the South Korean market on June 19. The two variants include LG G6 Plus 128 GB and LG G6 32 GB. According to GIZMOCHINA, the phones were expected to be launched on 27 June but were launched on 19 June.
The website also reported that Samsung is selling the same phone with different specifications in varied markets. In some markets, the LG G6 is available with wireless charging whereas in some markets it’s available without wireless charging options. The LG G6 is enabled with wireless charging in the US market but in the South Korean market wireless charging is absent from the phone. The South Korean phone comes with Quad DAC feature but it’s absent in the US version.
The original version of LG G6 comes with 64 GB of internal storage but the new variant of the phone comes with 32 GB of internal storage, whereas the LG G6 Plus comes with 128 GB of internal storage and is exclusively available in the South Korean market. The LG G6 Plus also seems to be the edition of  LG G6 with the best specifications.
The new variants LG G6 and LG G6 Plus are also exclusive and different from the native LG G6 in terms of the color variants. The LG G6 Plus will be available in Optical Astro Black, Optical Terra Gold, and Optical Marine Blue color variants whereas the LG G6 32 GB is available in non-optical Terra Gold and non-optical Marine Blue color options. All these color options are absent in LG G6.
No confirmation has been made by the company about the availability of the phone outside the South Korean market.

Hike Messenger updates application with support for UPI payments and paying phone bills

Home-grown messaging platform Hike Messenger on Tuesday updated its app to Hike 5.0 that comes with a wallet, supporting fund transfers through Unified Payments Interface (UPI). With Hike Wallet users can also recharge their phones and pay postpaid bills right from inside the app. “Hike 5.0 is the biggest update we have released in the history of Hike. We have worked closely with over 100 of our top hikers to build 5.0,” Kavin Bharti Mittal, CEO Hike Messenger, told reporters in New Delhi.

The messaging app has also introduced “Blue Packets” which is an envelope that users can insert money into and send to their friends.  A “Blue Packet” can be sent to an individual or even a group of friends and users can select how many people in the group should get it. It works on a first come first serve basis and when sent, expires within 24 hours.

The new update features multiple themes, a “Magic Selfie” feature that uses machine learning techniques and has brought back “Timeline” in its original form, reducing the app size to 25MB. Bringing back the timeline feature has long been a demand of Hike users. Hike messenger claims that the roll out of UPI support makes Hike the largest UPI platform in India.

Google updates Search and Maps, art related searches will now deliver more interactive results

In a bid to inspire art enthusiasts to brush up their knowledge, Google on Tuesday announced the latest updates in its Search and Maps to enhance the art search experience. All art-related search queries would now deliver more relevant results and an interactive knowledge panel will allow users to dive deeper into their topics of interest. Google has also added a new feature enabling a panoramic view that gives key insights about the art-works on virtual museum visits, the company said.

With more than 500 million art-related searches on Google, the Google Arts and Culture team worked with Google Search engineers to improve systems understanding in recognition of art-works. Google made use of visual recognition software to scan the walls of participating museums all over the world, identifying and categorising more than 15,000 works. Using machine learning capabilities, Google has also introduced new updates to Maps to enhance your virtual tour experience and make it more informative.
“Now as you walk through the rooms of the museums on Google Maps, you’ll see clear and useful annotations on the wall next to each piece,” the company said. The users will also be able to zoom into high-resolution imagery, getting them closer to iconic works.

"Stack Clash" vulnerability discovered in Unix-based operating systems, allows remote code execution

Security experts have found a flaw on Unix-based operating systems which let attackers take the access of a vulnerable computer. The vulnerability is called “Stack Clash”. According to Qualys, a security firm that discovered the bug, Stack Clash is a vulnerability in the memory management of Unix-based operating systems and can be exploited to corrupt memory and execute arbitrary code.
According to the website Unix-bases systems such as Linux, OpenBSD, NetBSD, FreeBSD, or Solaris, on i386 or amd64 are affected by the vulnerability and other operating systems and architectures may be vulnerable too.
The company has developed seven exploits and seven proofs of concept for this weakness and released patches and recommended immediate patching of these vulnerabilities. The security experts have advised the Unix-based operating systems administrators to install patches or take other protective actions as soon as possible.
The “Stack Clash” was first exploited in 2005 and again in 2010. Linux introduced a protection against the exploits but the new stacks are widespread and exploitable even after the stack guard-protection. The vulnerability is named “Stack Clash” because the first step in exploiting this vulnerability is to collide, or clash, the stack with another memory region and hence its called as “Stack Clash”.
Each program running on a computer uses a memory region known as “Stack” which grows automatically when the program needs more memory or space. If it expands too much and gets closer to another memory region, the program may confuse the stack memory with the other memory region. This confusion can be exploited by an attacker to change the stack memory or overwrite it with the other data.

Cost of data breaches declines globally, India bucks trend with 12.3 percent increase: Report

While the average cost of a data breach in 2017 saw a 10 percent decline globally when compared to 2016, for the Indian enterprises, it grew 12.3 percent from Rs 97.3 million in 2016 to Rs 110 million in 2017, a new study said on Tuesday. According to the IBM study conducted by Ponemon Institute, the European countries saw a 26 percent decrease from 2016 whereas the US registered a five percent increase in the same time.
“The ‘Cost of Data Breach’ study outlines the rapidly changing threat scenario through a significant rise in both number and sophistication of breaches,” said Kartik Shahani, Integrated Security Leader, India/South Asia at IBM, in a statement. “With cloud services being the key for digital enterprise transformation, securing data on cloud is of top priority. Cloud Security and cognitive-driven security services are going to be defining trends in the next years,” he added.
IBM and Ponemon Institute examined Indian companies across 13 industry sectors which experienced the loss or theft of protected personal data and the notification of breach victims as per law. “The per capita cost of data breach increased significantly from Rs 3,704 in 2016 to Rs 4,210 per compromised record. The number of breached records per incident for Indian organisations surveyed in this year’s report ranged from 4,000 to 98,000 compromised records. The average number of breached records was 33,167 as per the study,” the findings showed.
Malicious or criminal attacks were the cause of data breach for 41 percent of companies surveyed. Nearly 33 percent experienced a data breach as a result of system glitches and 26 percent breaches involved employee or contractor negligence. “Enterprises need to ensure that robust security practices are adopted, incident response plans are in place and regular security training given to all stakeholders of the company,” Sahani advised.
The study also found that data breaches caused by malicious or criminal attacks cost companies Rs 5,100 per compromised record. System glitches and negligence (i.e. human error) cost Rs 3,545 and Rs 3,651 per record, respectively. The detection and escalation costs increased from Rs 32.4 million in 2016 to Rs 36.7 million in 2017. “It took companies an average of 170 days to detect that an incident occurred and an average of 72 days to contain it. If the mean time to identify (MTTI) was less than 100 days, the average cost to identify was Rs 85.3 million,” the study said.

244 new cyber threats reported every minute in the first quarter of 2017: Report

For each minute in the first quarter this year, researchers reported 244 new cyber threats — a sharp increase of 53 per cent over the final quarter of 2016, a new report said on Tuesday. According to cyber security company McAfee Labs, more than half of 301 publicly disclosed security incidents in the quarter came from the health, public and education sectors. There were 32 million malware samples recorded in the first quarter, and mobile malware doubled in growth in Asia, which contributed to a 57 per cent increase in global infection rates.
The largest contributor to this growth was Android/SMSreg, a potentially unwanted programme detection from India. “The report reminds us that deception has evolved from simple threats on a set of simple systems, to complex threats across a wide variety of systems, to entirely new paradigms such as machine learning,” said Vincent Weafer, Vice President McAfee Labs, in a statement.
Due to “Congur” ransomware attacks on Android OS devices, the number of new ransomware samples rebounded in the first quarter. The number of total ransomware samples grew 59 per cent in the past four quarters to 9.6 million known samples. The report also noted that the total number of Mac OS malware samples grew 53 per cent in the first quarter.

NASA confirms brown dwarf spotted by citizen scientists on the hunt for undiscovered planets

A brown dwarf over 100 light years away from the Sun has been discovered using a new citizen-science tool that helps astronomers pinpoint new worlds lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system. Just six days after the launch of the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 website in February, four different users alerted the science team to the curious object, whose presence has since
been confirmed via an infrared telescope.
“I was so proud of our volunteers as I saw the data on this new cold world coming in,” said Jackie Faherty, a senior scientist at the American Museum of Natural Historyand one of Backyard World’s researchers. “It was a feel-good moment for science,” said Faherty. The Backyard Worlds project lets anyone with a computer and an internet connection flip through images taken by NASA’s Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft.
If an object is close enough to Earth, it will appear to “jump” when multiple images taken of the same spot in the sky a few years apart are compared. The goal for Backyard Worlds volunteers – of which there are more than 37,000 – is to flag the moving objects they see in these digital flipbooks for further investigation by the science team. So far, volunteers have classified more than 4
million flipbooks.
Days after the Backyard Worlds website debuted on February 15, Bob Fletcher, a science teacher in Australia, identified a very faint object moving across the WISE images. It was soon also flagged by three other citizen scientists from Russia, Serbia and the US. After some initial investigation by the research team, which originally called the object “Bob’s dwarf,” Faherty was awarded time on NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii, where she confirmed that it was a previously unknown brown dwarf just a few hundred degrees warmer than Jupiter.
The authors of the research published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters said that sky surveys had missed this object because it is too faint. Brown dwarfs, sometimes called “failed stars,” are spread throughout the Milky Way. They lack enough mass to sustain nuclear fusion but they are hot enough to glow in the infrared range of the light spectrum. “Brown dwarfs are strikingly similar to Jupiter so we study their atmospheres in order to look at what weather on other worlds might look like,” said Jonathan Gagne, a Backyard Worlds team member from the Carnegie Institution for Science.
Although the Backyard Worlds research team hopes to find the infamous Planet 9 hiding in our own solar system, these brown dwarfs are also exciting discoveries. “It is possible that there is a cold world closer than what we believe to be the closest star to the Sun. Given enough time, I think our volunteers are going help to complete the map of our solar neighborhood,” Faherty said.

Microsoft launches Cognitive toolkit to accelerate the process of deep learning

On June 1, 2017 Microsoft launched the second version of what is now called the Microsoft Cognitive toolkit, to accelerate the process of deep learning.
The Open source kit which was earlier known as CNTK, is new range of competition against TensorFlow, Caffe and Torch by Microsoft. The earlier version being more speed-centric, this time Microsoft has put efforts into usability, future extensibility, while still maintaining and improving its speed.
The toolkit originally launched into beta in October 2016 and the team has tested it ever since. Now, the company deems it to be ready for production use. The new toolkit includes hundreds of new features to streamline the process of deep learning and to ensure the toolkit’s seamless integration throughout the wider AI ecosystem.
The Cognitive Toolkit will continue to push forward capabilities by adding support of the latest NVIDIA Deep Learning SDK and advanced GPU such as NVIDIA Volta. In addition, version 2.0 also includes Java language bindings for model evaluation and a number of new tools that allow trained models to run on relatively low-powered devices, including smartphones.
Unsurprisingly, Microsoft is stressing the fact that the Cognitive Toolkit is a battle-tested system that it uses to power most of its internal AI systems, including Cortana, and that it can train models faster than most of its competitors. In addition to the Cognitive Toolkit, developers can access a suite of cloud computing applications via Microsoft Azure such as easy to use and deploy machine-learning application programing interfaces, or APIs, via Microsoft Cognitive Services.

Researchers develop method to instantly charge batteries of hybrid, electric cars

Researchers from the US have developed a safe, affordable and environment friendly method that can ‘instantly recharge’ batteries of electric and hybrid vehicle.
The process, presented at the recently held International Society for Porous Media 9th International Conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, takes time similar to refuelling a car at a gas station.
“The biggest challenge for industry is to extend the life of a battery’s charge and the infrastructure needed to actually charge the vehicle. The greatest hurdle for drivers is the time commitment to keeping their cars fully charged,” said John Cushman from Purdue University, who co-founded Ifbattery LLC (IF-battery).
The innovation could expedite the adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles by eliminating the time needed to stop and re-charge a conventional electric car’s battery and dramatically reducing the need for new infrastructure to support re-charging stations.
“Ifbattery is developing an energy storage system that would enable drivers to fill up their electric or hybrid vehicles with fluid electrolytes to re-energise spent battery fluids much like refuelling their gas tanks,” added Eric Nauman, co-founder of Ifbattery.
The spent battery fluids or electrolyte could be collected and taken to a solar farm, wind turbine installation or hydroelectric plant for re-charging.

ISRO on track for GSLV MK III launch on 5 June with the GSAT-19 on board: Mission overview

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GLSV) MK III has been fully integrated and is waiting to take off from the second launch pad (SLD) at the Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR), ISRO’s rocket launch facility in Andhra Pradesh. This is the first developmental flight of the GSLV MK III, and will make it the heaviest rocket launch by the Indian space agency. This will be the third consecutive flight by ISRO in 2017 considered to be a milestone, following the February launch of 104 satellites on board a single rocket, and the deployment of the South Asia Satellite in May, which was India’s gift to countries in the region.

The GSLV MK III has been dubbed the “Fat Boy”, but ISRO officials have referred to it as India’s “workhorse” rocket of the future. The current “workhorse” rocket is the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which is one of the most reliable launch vehicles in the world. The other rocket in the ISRO fleet is the GSLV MK II, known as the “naughty boy” because of its unpredictable nature. The GSLV will be able to take four ton class of satellites into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), which will allow India to commercialise launch services of this heavier class of satellites. The GSLV MK III or a variant, is expected to be the rocket that will be used for the first Indian manned mission into space.

The GSAT-9 is the first of three communications satellites that will be launched by ISRO by 2018. Each of these satellites will increase the communications capability of the country, and are on the verge of transforming the entertainment and internet landscapes in India. The satellites will allow for high speed broadband access, even in remote and rural areas. Through wi-fi dongles connected to regular television sets, and local antennas for downloading the information from the satellite, internet services will be available to the citizens through conventional television sets. The satellites are being launched to meet the future communication needs of the country, as well as support the smart cities project.

The GSAT-19 undergoing testing at the Antenna Test Facility. Image: ISRO.
The GSAT-19 is a geostationary communications satellite, that will always be above Indian skies. The lift off mass of the satellite is 3136 kg. The satellite is mainly cuboidal in shape with two solar arrays. There are momentum wheels, magnetic torquers and thrusters on board that will help the satellite maintain its position and orientation. Apart from the communication capabilities, there is a Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer (GRASP) payload on board which will study the effects of space weather on the delicate electronic components on satellites. The satellite uses an indigenous Lithium-ion Battery.

The entire flight is expected to last only sixteen minutes. There are four separation events, the strap on motors, the payload fairing, the core stage, and the satellite itself. There are only two strap on motors, unlike the four used in the PSLV missions flown in the XL configuration.  There are three stages on the GSLV MK III. The first stage uses a composite solid propellant, the second stage uses hypergolic liquid fuel, and the third stage has an indigenously developed cryogenic engine. This third stage is a matter of pride for ISRO and the country, and will be the first time it is being used in a launch. The C25 cryogenic stage has 28 tons of propellant stored in very cool conditions.

The fully integrated GSLV MK III at ISRO’s launch facility.
The 25 hour countdown has started, and it is shorter than usual. The launch will be telecast live on Doordarshan and the ISRO web site. For cord cutters, the live stream will also be available on Doordarshan’s YouTube channel. The launch is scheduled for 5:28 PM, but the pre-launch programming will start0
ISRO on track for GSLV MK III launch on 5 June with the GSAT-19 on board: Mission overview

The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GLSV) MK III has been fully integrated and is waiting to take off from the second launch pad (SLD) at the Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR), ISRO’s rocket launch facility in Andhra Pradesh. This is the first developmental flight of the GSLV MK III, and will make it the heaviest rocket launch by the Indian space agency. This will be the third consecutive flight by ISRO in 2017 considered to be a milestone, following the February launch of 104 satellites on board a single rocket, and the deployment of the South Asia Satellite in May, which was India’s gift to countries in the region.

The GSLV MK III has been dubbed the “Fat Boy”, but ISRO officials have referred to it as India’s “workhorse” rocket of the future. The current “workhorse” rocket is the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which is one of the most reliable launch vehicles in the world. The other rocket in the ISRO fleet is the GSLV MK II, known as the “naughty boy” because of its unpredictable nature. The GSLV will be able to take four ton class of satellites into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), which will allow India to commercialise launch services of this heavier class of satellites. The GSLV MK III or a variant, is expected to be the rocket that will be used for the first Indian manned mission into space.

The GSAT-9 is the first of three communications satellites that will be launched by ISRO by 2018. Each of these satellites will increase the communications capability of the country, and are on the verge of transforming the entertainment and internet landscapes in India. The satellites will allow for high speed broadband access, even in remote and rural areas. Through wi-fi dongles connected to regular television sets, and local antennas for downloading the information from the satellite, internet services will be available to the citizens through conventional television sets. The satellites are being launched to meet the future communication needs of the country, as well as support the smart cities project.

The GSAT-19 undergoing testing at the Antenna Test Facility. Image: ISRO.
The GSAT-19 is a geostationary communications satellite, that will always be above Indian skies. The lift off mass of the satellite is 3136 kg. The satellite is mainly cuboidal in shape with two solar arrays. There are momentum wheels, magnetic torquers and thrusters on board that will help the satellite maintain its position and orientation. Apart from the communication capabilities, there is a Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer (GRASP) payload on board which will study the effects of space weather on the delicate electronic components on satellites. The satellite uses an indigenous Lithium-ion Battery.

The entire flight is expected to last only sixteen minutes. There are four separation events, the strap on motors, the payload fairing, the core stage, and the satellite itself. There are only two strap on motors, unlike the four used in the PSLV missions flown in the XL configuration.  There are three stages on the GSLV MK III. The first stage uses a composite solid propellant, the second stage uses hypergolic liquid fuel, and the third stage has an indigenously developed cryogenic engine. This third stage is a matter of pride for ISRO and the country, and will be the first time it is being used in a launch. The C25 cryogenic stage has 28 tons of propellant stored in very cool conditions.

The fully integrated GSLV MK III at ISRO’s launch facility.
The 25 hour countdown has started, and it is shorter than usual. The launch will be telecast live on Doordarshan and the ISRO web site. For cord cutters, the live stream will also be available on Doordarshan’s YouTube channel. The launch is scheduled for 5:28 PM, but the pre-launch programming will start0
ISRO on track for GSLV MK III launch on 5 June with the GSAT-19 on board: Mission overview

By tech2 News Staff / 04 Jun 2017, 16:52
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GLSV) MK III has been fully integrated and is waiting to take off from the second launch pad (SLD) at the Sriharikota High Altitude Range (SHAR), ISRO’s rocket launch facility in Andhra Pradesh. This is the first developmental flight of the GSLV MK III, and will make it the heaviest rocket launch by the Indian space agency. This will be the third consecutive flight by ISRO in 2017 considered to be a milestone, following the February launch of 104 satellites on board a single rocket, and the deployment of the South Asia Satellite in May, which was India’s gift to countries in the region.

The GSLV MK III has been dubbed the “Fat Boy”, but ISRO officials have referred to it as India’s “workhorse” rocket of the future. The current “workhorse” rocket is the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which is one of the most reliable launch vehicles in the world. The other rocket in the ISRO fleet is the GSLV MK II, known as the “naughty boy” because of its unpredictable nature. The GSLV will be able to take four ton class of satellites into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), which will allow India to commercialise launch services of this heavier class of satellites. The GSLV MK III or a variant, is expected to be the rocket that will be used for the first Indian manned mission into space.

The GSAT-9 is the first of three communications satellites that will be launched by ISRO by 2018. Each of these satellites will increase the communications capability of the country, and are on the verge of transforming the entertainment and internet landscapes in India. The satellites will allow for high speed broadband access, even in remote and rural areas. Through wi-fi dongles connected to regular television sets, and local antennas for downloading the information from the satellite, internet services will be available to the citizens through conventional television sets. The satellites are being launched to meet the future communication needs of the country, as well as support the smart cities project.

The GSAT-19 undergoing testing at the Antenna Test Facility. Image: ISRO.
The GSAT-19 is a geostationary communications satellite, that will always be above Indian skies. The lift off mass of the satellite is 3136 kg. The satellite is mainly cuboidal in shape with two solar arrays. There are momentum wheels, magnetic torquers and thrusters on board that will help the satellite maintain its position and orientation. Apart from the communication capabilities, there is a Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer (GRASP) payload on board which will study the effects of space weather on the delicate electronic components on satellites. The satellite uses an indigenous Lithium-ion Battery.

The entire flight is expected to last only sixteen minutes. There are four separation events, the strap on motors, the payload fairing, the core stage, and the satellite itself. There are only two strap on motors, unlike the four used in the PSLV missions flown in the XL configuration.  There are three stages on the GSLV MK III. The first stage uses a composite solid propellant, the second stage uses hypergolic liquid fuel, and the third stage has an indigenously developed cryogenic engine. This third stage is a matter of pride for ISRO and the country, and will be the first time it is being used in a launch. The C25 cryogenic stage has 28 tons of propellant stored in very cool conditions.

The fully integrated GSLV MK III at ISRO’s launch facility.
The 25 hour countdown has started, and it is shorter than usual. The launch will be telecast live on Doordarshan and the ISRO web site. For cord cutters, the live stream will also be available on Doordarshan’s YouTube channel. The launch is scheduled for 5:28 PM, but the pre-launch programming will startfrom 4:55 itself. Viewers can follow along with ISRO scientists through the countdown and the separation events over the sixteen minute flight. Toptechz will be covering the launch in a liveblog, so keep an eye out for that as well.

Researchers develop a health app for people suffering from dementia

In a first, an app is being developed by researchers to help improve the environment at workplaces, public buildings, and homes for people living with dementia. The app being developed by the researchers at the University of Stirling in Britain will digitally assess how suitable a residence, care facility or other environment is for older people and those living with dementia and recommend changes that can be made to the building.
Lighting, colour contrast, and noise of a house can impact an older adult’s quality of life as well as their ability to live more independently.The app will take just 20 minutes to assess the suitability of a two-bedroom home for an older person, the researchers said.
“This is a unique opportunity to revolutionise how we improve day-to-day life for older people and people living with dementia around the world. We are creating a simple way for anyone to assess how dementia-friendly their environment is, and find out how to improve their surroundings,” said Lesley Palmer, Chief Architect at Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) in Britain.
People living with dementia, family members, healthcare professionals, construction experts or designers using the app, will be asked questions about their surroundings and asked to take photographs.
The dementia database, called IRIDIS, will suggest improvements ranging from changing a light bulb, to more complex improvements such as reconfiguring bathrooms. “Typically, people living with dementia have greater demands on the health care services and providing guidance on how to adapt living conditions allows people to stay independent for longer and future proofs housing for autonomous living,” Palmer said.
“With around 50 million people estimated to be living with dementia worldwide, there is an immediate need to invest in our ageing population and provide improved services and facilities,” she added. The data within the IRIDIS app will also make recommendations on property design and refurbishment for construction professionals, the researchers noted.

Sony launches the Xperia XZ Premium powered by the Snapdragon 835 SoC in India at Rs 59,990

Sony announced its top of the line Xperia XZ Premium smartphone at this years Mobile World Congress back in February. Today the smartphone has been made official for the Indian market as the Sony has revealed the price and availability.
Sony won the ‘Best new smartphone’ award for the Xperia XZ Premium and was unveiled along with the Xperia XZs as a flagship device. Just like the Xperia Z5 Premium, the new smartphone comes in a shiny chrome finish and yet again a 4K display. Other features include a Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4 GB of RAM and a 5.5-inch 4K screen with HDR support and Triluminos display, Gorilla Glass 5 that covers the whole phone, IP68 certification for water and dust, Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, a 3,230 mAh battery with QuickCharge 3.0, USB Type-C and a fingerprint scanner. The handset will be available in Luminous Chrome and Deep Sea Black color options.
It also feature’s Sony’s new ‘Motion Eye’ smartphone camera. According to Sony, the new camera can record 960 fps slow motion video which is 4x slower than current smartphone cameras, though slow-mo is captured only at 720p. There is also an anti-distortion shutter which minimizes rolling shutter and a unique memory-stacked sensor. The camera has a 19 MP sensor (1/2.3-inch), a 25 mm f/2.0 lens, a dual-tone flash, predictive and laser autofocus and an RGBC-IR sensor for natural color rendering. The camera can record 4K video with SteadyShot 5-axis digital stabilization.
The smartphone is priced at Rs 59,990 and will officially be available for pre-order between 2 June to 11 June and will go on sale on 12 June. Sony has also announced a limited period pre-booking offer where customers get a free SRS-XB20 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker worth Rs 8,990. The smartphone will also be bundled with free 3 months subscription of Sony LIV worth Rs 3,49 and 5200 game credits for Modern Combat 5.

NEPA ALARM TUTORIALS

Please make sure you follow the steps

Firstly
Get all the comopnet required for this project,the NE555 timmer IC has 8 pins, the pins name are as follows
Pin1:Gnd
Pin2:trigger
Pin3:output
Pin4:reset
pin5:voltage controller
Pin6:threshold
Pin7:discharge
Pin8:+vcc
Download the full tutorials through this link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Xdc5LdCPK5bFNjYzhlaFhJQ3c/view?usp=drivesdk

Facebook signs deal with esports giant ESL to livestream events

Taking on Twitter and Amazon-owned Twitch when it comes to livestreaming sport events, Facebook has now announced a partnership with global esports company ESL to bring over 5,550 hours of esports events and other original content to its platforms.

The news came after Facebook announced a tie-up with Major League Baseball (MLB) earlier this week to livestream 20 regular season games on the social network.

“The move will aid Facebook in challenging Amazon-owned Twitch as well as Twitter, both of which have esports deals as part of their efforts in the livestreaming space,” technology website techcrunch.com reported on Saturday.

In March, Twitter partnered with ESL and Dreamhack to live stream tournaments and other e-sports events. More than 15 events in the ESL One, Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) and DreamHack circuits will be live streamed globally on Twitter and connected devices.

In addition to all Intel Extreme Masters and ESL One tournament content, ESL will also produce live original content for Twitter, including a weekly 30-minute show featuring highlights and behind-the-scenes footage.

The social network has also updated its developer policies so that people cannot use the platform just for attention grabbing and flooding people’s news feeds with irrelevant content.

The move will explicitly forbid live videos that are “only images” (including animated images) or polls linked to largely inanimate material.

One of These Three Light Attack Planes Could Help Replace the A-10 A series of tests this summer will consider three new air support concepts.

The Air Force has chosen three aircraft designs to participate in a series of demonstration flights this summer, and one of them could be selected for a new light attack aircraft to serve as a partial replacement for the A-10 Warthog. The Air Force hopes the OA-X program will lead to smaller, lighter airplanes capable of providing air support in low-threat conflicts.

The three planes—the Sierra Nevada/Embraer A-29 Super Tucano, Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine, and Textron Scorpion—will fly this Summer at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. The OA-X, or "Observation, Attack, concept," envisions a small, nimble airplane that can carry a large payload of sensors and weapons. Flown by a pilot and copilot/observer, the small plane could carry out strike and close air support missions in support of ground troops.

OA-X is seen as half of a two airplane solution for eventually replacing the A-10 Thunderbolt. OA-X is a smaller, cheaper plane that would thrive where the air defense threat is limited to shoulder-fired missiles and machine guns. Another key requirement is that the plane be cheaper to fly per hour than the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter or A-10. The F-35 costs a whopping $42,000 an hour to fly, while the A-10 costs $17,000 an hour. The Air Force envisions the OA-X costing about $4,000 to $5,000 an hour.

One of the three planes picked for this summer's fly-off is the AT-6 Wolverine. The Wolverine is a descendant of the Beechcraft T-6 Texan II, a trainer used by the Air Force and Navy. The two-person Wolverine features new engines delivering nearly 50 percent more horsepower, a glass cockpit, 7 wing hardpoints for weapons and sensors, color and IR cameras, a laser designator, laser illuminator, and laser rangefinder.

The A-29 Super Tucano is a Brazilian-designed aircraft used extensively around the world. Designed by Embraer, the South American company has partnered with Sierra Nevada Corporation to bring the plane to the U.S. market. Like the AT-6, the Super Tucano is also a two-seat turboprop aircraft, and aviation authority Robert Dorr posted a detailed comparison of the two planes last year. In 2008 the Super Tucano was evaluated for the Imminent Fury program, a 2008 U.S. Navy effort to field a close air support aircraft for U.S. special operations forces.

The third contestant is the Scorpion. A self-funded project from Textron AirLand, the Scorpion is the only jet in the competition. A clean-sheet design, the aircraft was unveiled to the public in 2013. The aircraft has six external hardpoints and an internal payload bay, with a total weight capacity in fuel, weapons, and sensors of close to 10,000 pounds. The Scorpion is also affordable, costing only $3,000 an hour to fly.

The tests will take place in July, after which the Air Force will stand back, look at the data, and decide if it wants to actually buy an OA-X aircraft. The plane will be flying into some tough fiscal headwinds: The service is also buying the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter, KC-46A Pegasus tanker, developing the B-21 Raider bomber, looking for a new T-X jet trainer, and starting work on a new ICBM. On the other hand, the OA-X could be highly useful, and if the plane can deliver an affordable partial replacement for the A-10 Thunderbolt, cutting operating costs by a projected 75 percent along the way, it just might attract benefactors in Congress.

A Robot Copilot Just Flew—and Landed—a 737 Sim Good morning from the cockpit, this is your robot speaking.

A robot arm can fly an airliner.

                    You may remember DARPA's Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System
                    (ALIAS) from such flights as the time it piloted a Cessna. Now the robotic arm is                             moving up to bigger and better planes. DARPA just announced that ALIAS has flown                         and landed a simulated Boeing 737.

In brief: ALIAS sits in the copilot's seat and uses cameras to monitor all the dials and gauges and switches in a cockpit, feeding that information to a processor. The system has a robotic    arm to move the throttle and actuators to control the rudder and control column. It previously flew a Diamond DA42 and then the Cessna Caravan last October.

This time, ALIAS went to a Boeing 737-800NG simulator at the U.S. Department of Transportation's John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, MA. The machine not only flew the plane during the sim but also used the 737's automated landed system to set it down safely, showing it could do so if it ever needed to—say, if the human pilot were incapacitated.

Obviously machines can fly themselves without any human occupants—for years now we've had drones flown by remote human pilots, and UAVs are learning to fly with more and more autonomy. ALIAS, however, was made to stand in as the copilot on a two-person flight crew, allowing the flesh-and-blood occupants to attend to other matters of the mission while its chill robot arm keeps the plane on course. It might take a while, though, before watching a robot copilot is anything but out-of-this-world.

The MP3 Is Old But Far From Dead And its death has been wildly exaggerated.

If you've ever listened to digital music, you've probably did so using an MP3 file. The MP3 is a ubiquitous staple of digital audio for decades and is one of the most common ways people listen to music. Now the institute that initially developed the MP3 has terminated its licensing fees, meaning the MP3 is now free.

In 1988, a group of engineers were faced with a problem: audio files were too large. A hit single might take up several kilobytes of storage space, which was a lot in 1988. The rise of portable digital audio players earlier in the decade meant people were constantly looking for a way to fit more files into less space.

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Snake Robots: Can you watch this without squirming?

Are you, like many, afraid of snakes? What about robots? What about snake robots?

Are you, like many, afraid of snakes? What about robots?
How about we put that in an innovative light? Today we Ever Widening Circles brings you the story of robots with the advantages of a snakes.

Now here’s an idea that is truly “outside the box!” This innovation, which uses nature for inspiration, is just one incredible example of biomimicry; a growing field of science at the intersection of engineering, design, and biology.
After we get over the impulse to recoil from how snake-like it is, you will see that the snake robot has some incredible abilities and applications, about which we will soon learn more. But first, let’s take a look at the possibilities for underwater applications:


Via: Michele Guarnieri 2
What is the potential for the snake robot?
Consider the many dirty jobs that, performed by humans, endanger lives, or jobs that require access to small spaces, spaces that even conventional robots, with limbs or wheels, could never access.   Consider the possibility for assisting in minimally-invasive surgery, for inspection of power plants, for aiding in search and rescue efforts, in archaeological digs.

When one considers the many fields of work and disciplines of study in which we humans are engaged, and the number of associated problems we are trying to solve, it becomes clear that the snake robot has a lot of potential indeed!

We found a short video from a conference that explores the reaches of the snake robot’s potential. Let’s take a little trip into the future of this extraordinary technology, with a video courtesy of the Huffington Post:

If you’d like to read more about the snake robot story, here’s a link to a darn good article by Fox News called Snake Robots: Slithering machines could aid search and rescue efforts.

Snake robots aren’t just interesting creepy crawlies, they offer us a chance to explore our world and enhance our experience.

Why should we care?
Most importantly, inventions like the snake robot remind us to look to nature in our search for solutions to our many problems.

Think about it for a moment: humans have been perking along, solving problems with clever inventions since the dawn of simple machines like the wheel. That’s about 5,500 years. But Mother Nature has been barreling along, solving every challenge an organism can face on this earth for 3.5 billion years!

That’s a lot of “research and development” and “institutional knowledge” that we can tap into!

And that’s essentially what the new field of science I mentioned – called “Biomimicry”, or in professional circles, “Biomemetics” – is doing to make the world a better place.

If you’d like to check out a few other great articles we’ve done on that remarkable innovation of the future, I can recommend a great article we wrote called Biomimicry and the Floating Islands. Or another that gets shared a lot is called, Turning Birds into Dinosaurs.

Samsung launches Galaxy S8, S8+ smartphones with 'safety' as the mantra

NEW YORK: Samsung seems to be playing it safe with its first major smartphone since the embarrassing recall of its fire-prone Note 7. The Galaxy S8 features a larger display than its predecessor, the Galaxy S7, and sports a voice assistant intended to rival Siri and Google Assistant. But there is no increase in battery capacity, providing the battery more breathing room. The Note 7 pushed the engineering envelope with its battery, which contributed to a series of spontaneous smartphone combustions.

The Galaxy S8 will come in two sizes, both bigger than last year's models. Both models have screens that curve around the edges and get rid of the physical home button.

The Note 7 recall cost Samsung at least $5.3 billion. Though many customers remain loyal, any further misstep could prove fatal for the brand. "We're in the process of earning back that trust,'' saidDrew Blackard, a senior director of product marketing for Samsung. In the US, Samsung will start taking orders Thursday, with shipments scheduled for April 21. Prices haven't been announced yet. About that battery Samsung has blamed the Note 7 fires on multiple design and manufacturing defects in its batteries. Inspectors concluded that the initial batteries were too small for their capacity, and that their external pouch put pressure on the internal structure, leading to damage and overheating. Samsung recalled the phones and shipped replacements, but the newer batteries had welding defects and a lack of protective tape in some battery cells. Samsung recalled the replacements, too, and scrapped the phone. The company says phones will now go through multiple inspections, including X-rays and stress tests at extreme temperatures. The standard-size S8 phone has as much battery capacity as last year's Galaxy S7, but the phone is 4 percent larger by volume. The larger S8 Plus model has 3 percent less capacity than the Galaxy S7 Edge and the same capacity as the Note 7, but the phone's volume is larger by 12 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

eleven human beings and matters to have a good time on Valentine's Day except a sizable other

1. Your parents

They paid your bills, let you live at home for an inappropriately long amount of time and let you get away with a lot of sh*t. The least you could do is buy them dinner.

2. Your grandparents
 

You usually put off calling them, so use Valentine's Day as your chance to update them on your life. You'll make them feel great and they'll compliment you until your head blows up. It's a win-win, really.

3. Your siblings

Yeah, they're annoying, but you know they always have your back no matter what. They were probably your first best friend, so celebrate that. Take them to a funny movie or buy them a small gift that represents your weird relationship. It's not like you have to hug them or anything.

4. Your best friend

They never care what you look like, have seen you at your worst and always give you the best advice. They are your surrogate S.O., and you can be completely yourself around them. Treat them like the king or queen they truly are by buying them fast food. That's all they really want anyway.

5.
 The cute dog you pass every day on your way to work
 Celebrate this pup.
Celebrate this pup.

This amazing pup always starts your day off on the right foot. They give you a reason to smile before work gives you a reason not to. Pick them up a little treat (with permission from their owner), give them a few extra snuggles and let the little doge know that you appreciate them more than they will ever know. If they sneeze or look like they're going to mark their territory on you, you'll know they feel the same.

6. Your barista
 

Now here is someone who has most definitely seen you during some of your worst moments. You're usually on your way to work, haven't had caffeine yet and are cranky and probably late. Unlike a significant other, your barista knows exactly what you need and never, ever judges. They just get you. Tip them extra on Valentine's Day because you cannot afford to be on their bad side.

7. Your least favorite coworker
You hear them complain about literally everything all day and can't stand to sit across from them while their hacking up lung during flu season. But today, try not to roll your eyes every time they say something stupid to your boss. Or listen to them talk about their five cats like they are their children. Or do one of the 10,000 favors they ask you to do that you usually ignore. Just for today. You can go back to resenting them tomorrow.

8. The hottie you stalk on social media who you've never met
You feel like you know them, but let's face it, you don't. You've admired them from afar, but now it's time to get a little closer. It is Valentine's Day after all. If you're feeling bold and confident, give one of their pics a "like." Just make sure you're not 15 weeks deep in an Instagram rabbit hole. We get it, but it's just creepy.

9. Your favorite article of clothing
If "dry clean only" is usually just a suggestion to you, it may be time to show your favorite clothes some love. If you have a favorite pair of jeans you wear every single day and hope no one notices, give them a break and wear a comfy pair of sweats. If you never properly take care of your favorite sweater, splurge a little and get that sucker dry cleaned. They're worth it.

10. Your phone


You have your hands around this thing more than you have ever had them around any living human. And you have never felt heartbreak quite like dropping your phone, cracking the screen or letting it slip into the toilet. This V-Day, do yourself and your phone a favor and buy it a new case, take extra care of it and, for the love of God, stop bringing into the bathroom with you.

11. Last, but certainly not least... you.

You are the coolest person you know and you should act like it. You don't need anyone to validate your worth. So, pull a Donna and Tom and "Treat yo' self"! It's the perfect day to show yourself some love. You deserve it.

Happy Valentine's Day!