China applies brakes to its high-speed train plans

China has recalled 54 bullet trains in a new blow to its showcase transport 'revolution', following a deadly rail crash on July 23.

China puts brakes on bullet trains

China recalls 54 bullet trains as the government reconsiders its rail policy following July's deadly crash. Sunita Rappai reports.

Weather “tweets” sprinkled in with forecasts

The Weather Channel added Twitter comments about local conditions to forecasts.

SAN FRANCISCO: The Weather Channel on Thursday added Twitter comments about local conditions to forecasts broadcast to computers, televisions, and mobile devices.
“Twitter gives voice and context to the topics people are most interested in, and everyone is interested in the weather,” said Chloe Sladden, director of content and programming at the popular micro-blogging service.
“By surfacing these conversations and providing human context around factual weather information, The Weather Channel Social brings weather alive.”

Heart failure in elderly linked to memory problems

Older patients with heart failure had more memory problems when their heart ailments were advanced as compared to that in younger patients.

NEW YORK: Older patients with heart failure had more memory problems when their heart ailments were advanced, but the same was not true with younger patients who suffered from a similar type of heart failure, according to a study.The findings, published in Archives of Neurology, tell cardiologists they need to be aware their patients may be at higher risk of memory problems, problems that could come into play in their treatment, said study author Joanne Festa from St.Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital in New York.

‘Supergene’ is key to copycat butterflies

This undated hand out photo released by the CNRS shows butterflies, Melinaea mneme (top) and Heliconius numata. The mystery of how a butterfly has changed its wing patterns to mimic neighbouring species and avoid being eaten by birds has been solved by a team of European scientists

PARIS: Since Charles Darwin, biologists have pondered the mystery of “mimicry butterflies”, which survive by copying the wing patterns of other butterflies that taste horrible to their predators, birds.

The answer, according to a study released on Friday, lies in an astonishing cluster of about 30 genes in a single chromosome.

Pakistan missing the solar bandwagon

Solar panels on display in park. 

Solar energy getting popular across the world is also the best viable solution to energy shortages in Pakistan provided that the government invests or at least makes investor-friendly policies and implements them, too, said entrepreneurs and energy experts in interviews with Dawn regarding the current market status for solar energy commodities and its future prospects.

Right now, they said, country’s progress in exploring solar potential for electricity generation was

Russia space chief regrets focus on manned missions

Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov (R) and Anatoly Ivanishin take part in a training session at the Star City space centre outside Moscow August 8, 2011. Shkaplerov, Ivanishin and NASA astronaut Dan Burbank are scheduled to leave for the International Space Station in September 2011

MOSCOW: The new chief of Russia’s space agency on Thursday said it had put too much emphasis on manned space flight and needed to increase financing on projects that brought a tangible return.
Roskosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin, in one of his first interviews since taking office this year, said the agency was spending almost half its budget on manned flight and it was no longer good enough just to put a human in orbit.

Pakistan’s first Communications Satellite PAKSAT-1R launched

Pakistani engineers have worked closely with their Chinese counterparts during all stages of development of the satellite in China.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first Communications Satellite PAKSAT-1R, as a part of Pakistan’s Space Programme 2040, was launched on Thursday at 2117 hrs on board China’s Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.

Besides others, launch was witnessed by Secretary Defence Lt Gen Syed Athar Ali (R), Secretary Foreign Affairs,    Salman Bashir, Director General, Strategic Plans Division Lt Gen Khalid Ahmed Kidwai (R) and Ambassador of Pakistan to China, Muhammad Masood Khan, said a press release issued here.

PAKSAT-1R has a total of 30 transponders, 12 in C-band and 18 in Ku-band.