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Mars, the fourth planet in our solar system (and a potential candidate for human colonisation sometime in the future) is often referred to as the Red Planet. The planet has hardly any air, coupled with a terrain that’s made of a sandy desert.  There are indications of activities on the planet in the past, with volcanic eruptions, seasons, canyons, polar ice caps, all being a part of the planet’s geography. It is believed that Mars became inhospitable around 4 billion years ago, when its magnetic field died out and the atmosphere eroded. So, what is Red Planet Day? The Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to arrive on Mars on 28th November, 1964. This day is known as Red Planet Day and marks mankind’s first excursion onto the planet. Red Planet Day is celebrated every year.  The Mariner 4 was built specifically to facilitate space exploration in the future, and its primary purpose was to conduct fly-bys and gather data on the planet. It completed its mission in 8 months, allo...

Tech giant Google has released Chrome OS 107 update, which includes a "Save Desk for Later" feature in an effort to improve user experience. According to 9to5Google, the new update introduces two improvements to Desks. The first one will allow users to quickly "Save desk for later" from the overview screen using the button above the left-most window. Upon clicking, the user will be redirected to the "Saved for later" screen, which can be accessed from the right of the "New desk" screen. Users can also see a row of open favicons, assign it a name, and check its creation date. Upon tapping, the desk will be immediately launched and restored, it added. Meanwhile, it will be now easier to close open desks from the Overview menu, and there will be an "Undo" option at the bottom of the screen if the user closes the desk accidentally. Google is reportedly testing a merge feature as well, so users can combine opened Desks, according to the...

Tokyo, Oct 8 (IANS) The A16 Bionic chip in iPhone 14 Pro models costs $110 to manufacture, which is 2.4 times more than A15 chip in iPhone 14 models. A Nikkei teardown of Apple's iPhone 14 series models revealed that production costs jumped nearly 20 per cent from its previous iPhone generation which is an all-time high. "The company has not raised prices for its latest model in the US and some other markets, but higher production costs mean that the company's profit margin has likely shrunk," the report mentioned on Friday. The production of iPhone 14 Pro Max costs Apple $501, up more than $60 from iPhone 13 Pro Max. The higher production cost is reportedly due to the A16 Bionic chips in the iPhone 14 Pro models. According to the report, Parts for the iPhone 14 primarily come from US suppliers, accounting for 32.4 per cent of costs. Apple raised iPhone prices in some countries, such as Japan and Australia, but not in the US and other markets owing to foreign ex...

Washington, Sep 24 (IANS) As NASA prepares to launch its much-anticipated Artemis 1 Moon mission next week, there is only a 20 per cent chance that the weather will be ideal for the launch. The US space agency is monitoring the forecast associated with the formation of a tropical depression in the Caribbean Sea while in parallel continuing to prepare for a potential launch opportunity on September 27, during a 70-minute window. "Managers are initiating activities on a non-interference basis to enable an accelerated timeline for rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to protect the rocket, should it be necessary," NASA said in a statement. Discussions about whether to remain at the launch pad or roll back to the VAB are also ongoing, it added. NASA said it will make a decision on whether to remain at the launch pad or roll back using incremental protocols to take interim steps necessary to protect people and hardware "with a final decision anticipated no ...

Delhi government has introduced an electricity subsidy scheme that proposes free electricity for up to 200 units and a 50-percent subsidy for up to 400 units per month. While previously all citizens were eligible for this, now only those who apply for the scheme will get it. In other words, it is a Voluntary Subsidy Scheme now. Let’s see how to apply for it here. How to apply for the Delhi electricity subsidy scheme through WhatsApp Send a ‘Hi’ to this Delhi Government number 7011311111 via WhatsApp. Choose the language you want to proceed with the conversation. Enter and send the CA number. In case you don’t know, you can find it on your electricity bill. You will receive a pre-filled application for the electricity subsidy with details like the name, address, and CA number you gave in the previous step. Check and confirm the details if they are right. Once you confirm, you should get the message that the application for the electricity subsidy has been submitted. You can note down ...

A small supersonic asteroid, travelling at ten times the speed of a bullet, will pass by the Earth on Tuesday, media reports said. The asteroid has been given the designation 2022 QC7 and it is not too big, with a width ranging from just 16 metres to 36 metres, according to the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), The Jerusalem Post reported. For comparison, 36 metrrs is around half the wingspan of a Boeing 767 jet plane, the report said. But asteroid 2022 QC7 is also coming in fast, barreling in Earth's direction at a speed of around 9.10 kilometers per second, or 32,760 kilometers per hour. To put that in perspective, that is about 10 times as fast as an average 5.56 x 45 mm NATO rifle bullet and is the equivalent of close to 27 times the speed of sound. NASA has made it clear that asteroid 2022 QC7 has essentially no chance of hitting the Earth, and is set to pass at a distance of over 4.6 million kilometers away. Considerin...

As NASA scrubbed the Artemis 1 uncrewed mission to the Moon once again, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Sunday came up with a suggestion for the ailing mission that will finally land astronauts on the lunar surface after decades. NASA engineers could not overcome a hydrogen leak in a 'quick disconnect' phase of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launch on Saturday. According to Eric Berger of Ars Technica, NASA has a tolerance for a small amount of hydrogen leakage and anything above a 4 per cent concentration of hydrogen near the 'quick disconnect' is considered a flammability hazard. Musk replied to Berger's 'accurate assessment', saying that "Raptor design started out using H2 (hydrogen), but switched to CH4 (hydrogen). Latter is the best combo of high efficiency and ease of operation in my opinion." "Delta-v difference between H2 and CH4 is small for most missions, because the CH4 tank is much smaller & no insulation is needed,...

The US space agency on Saturday once again scrubbed the Artemis I Moon mission launch attempt after it encountered a liquid hydrogen leak while loading the propellant into the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket. Multiple troubleshooting efforts to address the area of the leak by reseating a seal in the quick disconnect where liquid hydrogen is fed into the rocket did not fix the issue. Engineers were continuing to gather additional data, said NASA. Artemis I is a flight test to launch NASA's Space Launch System rocket and an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the Moon before the Artemis II mission with astronauts aboard. Through Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon, paving the way for a long-term lunar presence and serving as a steppingstone to send astronauts to Mars. The US space agency on August 30 scrubbed the mission launch for the first time owing to technical glitch with one of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocke...

As the world moves towards smaller and smaller electronics, it looks like OmniVision Technologies Inc may have just hit the ball out of the park with the world’s smallest medical camera. It's actually the size of a grain of sand. The tiny camera measures in at a whopping 0.65 x 0.65 x 1.158mm. The OmniVision OV6948 has also just entered the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest commercially available image sensor in the world. Although it outputs a 40,000-pixel image, the resolution of the camera isn’t anything to write home about. But, for medical professionals who require a closer look at the human body, these cameras are a godsend.  What can the OmniVision camera be used for? These cameras can be used in a variety of medical use cases such as helping with delicate surgery and even delivering a more precise diagnosis since doctors are able to get a better look at the problem. It even comes with a 120-degree FOV and an aperture of f/2.8. The camera also produces significa...

NASA is known for tracking dangerous space objects to ascertain whether any are heading towards Earth, and whether they have the potential to cause major damage. The agency recently warned that a huge asteroid is moving towards Earth’s orbital path. This asteroid is said to be twice the size of Big Ben, with the potential to cause damage akin to a nuclear explosion. Thankfully, that’s not actually going to happen as the agency says it’s not colliding with Earth.  What kinds of damage can an asteroid this size cause? According to NASA, this asteroid has the potential of producing 77 megatons of TNT, and is comparable to some of the largest nuclear explosions tested by man. In fact, NASA believes that the energy an asteroid like this can release will be 1.5 times that of the biggest nuclear weapon ever tested, Tsar Bomba. The Tsar Bomba was a bomb tested by the Russians, and the force was 3,333 times that of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War. So, you ca...

Last year, former Facebook data scientist, Sophie Zhang, published a memo detailing the way Facebook is used to influence global politics. She spoke about sophisticated systems in place in India that were used to try and influence the 2020 Delhi Elections, along with similar systems in other developing countries throughout the world. Now, on the heels of her memo and a recent controversy surrounding Facebook’s policies and impact on politics, the Parliament has summoned officials representing Facebook India to discuss citizens’ rights and womens’ safety.  The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT) will be held on November 29, with Congress leader Shashi Tharoor appointed as the Chairman of the same.  "To hear the views of representatives Of Facebook India on the subject safeguarding citizens rights and prevention of misuse of social/online news media platforms including special emphasis on women security in the digital space," the committee agenda r...

Augmented Reality is still in its nascent stages of development, but even at such an early stage, the applications and uses of this technology are moving beyond even the boundaries of the Earth. In a new report on the official NASA website, the space agency has stated that the astronauts aboard the International Space Station could soon be using AR to actually repair and perform maintenance on the space station. This will essentially bypass the need for astronauts to be in constant communication with ground control, freeing them up to focus on the task at hand.  From what we can see, the applications of this kind of technology are boundless as maintenance is a key component of space travel since you’re essentially stuck in the cold darkness of space with little to no real resources. So, keeping your spacecraft intact and function will be of utmost importance. Without the need for communication with ground control, astronauts will be able to make decisive and necessary decisions w...