Miscellaneous

Washington DC, Apr 25: As bizarre as it may sound but caterpillars could now help us get rid of plastic pollution! Scientists have found that a caterpillar commercially bred for fishing bait has the ability to biodegrade polyethylene: one of the toughest and most used plastics, frequently found clogging up landfill sites in the form of plastic shopping bags. The wax worm, the larvae of the common

Frankfurt, Apr 24: A Bavarian start-up is developing a five-seat "flying taxi" after successful test flights over Germany of a smaller version of the electric jet. Munich-based Lilium, backed by investors who include Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom, said the planned five-seater jet, which will be capable of vertical take-off and landing, could be used for urban air taxi and ride-sharing services

Apr 22: Apple Inc outlined a plan to train operators of self-driving cars in documents submitted to California regulators earlier this month, the latest clues to the company's autonomous vehicle technology aspirations. Apple was granted a permit to test self-driving cars on April 14 by the California Department of Motor Vehicles but the company has never said anything about its plan. The state

Varanasi, Apr 21: Think twice before becoming administrator of a group on WhatsApp or Facebook as one is liable for prosecution if any rumour or fake news is circulated on it. Social media platforms allow a person to create a group on which members can share views, photographs or videos. Concerns have been raised about social media misuse as fake news, morphed photographs and disturbing videos

San Jose, Calif, Apr 20: Three days after a man broadcast himself committing murder on Facebook, the social platform was all about playfulness again. At the company's annual developer's conference, held in nondescript conference center in downtown San Jose this week, Facebook launched a slew of products and features that encouraged people to use its service to snap images and video of themselves

Apr 18: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes that Apple, Google and Facebook will be bigger in 2075 and dominate the world.”Apple will be around a long time, like IBM (which was founded in 1911),” USA Today quoted Wozniak as saying on Sunday. “Look at Apple"s cash ($246.1 billion, as of the end of its last fiscal quarter). It can invest in anything. It would be ridiculous to not expect them to

Houston, Apr 17: Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have developed a unique camera that can capture detailed images of distant objects without using a long lens, an advance that could lead to telescopes that are less bulky. The system known as SAVI – for “Synthetic Apertures for long-range, subdiffraction-limited Visible Imaging” – does not need a long lens to take a picture of a faraway

Rome, Apr 16: Emma Morano, at 117 the world's oldest person who is also believed to have been the last surviving person born in the 1800s, died Saturday at her home in northern Italy, her physician said. Dr. Carlo Bava said that Morano's caretaker had called him to say she had stopped breathing in the afternoon while sitting in an armchair at her home in Verbania, a town on Italy's Lake Maggiore

London, Apr 11: Hackers can steal your PINs and passwords just from the motion of your phone when you type in the information, warn experts who have unveiled how easy it is for malicious websites and installed apps to spy on you. Cyber experts at Newcastle University in the UK have shown it is possible to crack four-digit PINs with a 70 per cent accuracy on the first guess - 100 per cent by the

New Delhi, Apr 10: Nokia phones might be making a comeback in a partnership with HMD Global, but the Finnish company is also investing heavily in networks and communications across the world, particularly 5G technology. Nokia had in March announced partnerships with Airtel and BSNL for preparing 5G networks in India, and now according to a report in Economic Times, the company has MOUs with both