Assorted

Feb 26: Astronomers have spotted an enormous, glowing blob of gas in the distant universe, with no obvious source of power for the light it is emitting. Called an “enormous Lyman-alpha nebula” (ELAN), it is the brightest and among the largest of these rare objects, only a handful of which have been observed, the researchers said. The newly discovered nebula was found at a distance of 10 billion...

Feb, 25: A spectacular “ring of fire” solar eclipse Sunday will regale skygazers in South America and southern Africa, with seafarers in the nearby Atlantic getting a front-row view too, astronomers say. The eclipse — during which the Sun will all but disappear as the Moon crosses its path — will be most visible in a 100-kilometre (62-mile) band cutting through Chile, Argentina, Angola, Zambia and...

Feb 24: A permanent job with a nationalised bank. Until a few months ago, being employed with a public sector bank was a matter of pride and drew the choicest wedding proposals. Unfortunately, that position is losing its lustre as it may no longer be a job for life. After its associate banks are merged into the State Bank of India (SBI), about 200,000 jobs could be cut, said CH Venkatachalam...

Feb 24: In 2013, Anthony Levandowski was the star of Google's self-driving car project. The tall, swaggering engineer was featured in a long New Yorker story about the search engine willing the impossible technology into reality. Less than four years later, he is Google's enemy number one. On Thursday, Waymo, the Alphabet Inc. company formed from Google's self-driving project, filed a blistering...

Cape Canaveral, Feb 24: For the first time, astronomers have discovered seven Earth-size planets orbiting a single nearby star — and these new worlds could hold life. This cluster of planets is less than 40 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius, according to NASA and the Belgian-led research team who announced the discovery Wednesday. The planets circle tightly around a dim dwarf star...

Melbourne, Feb 23: Australian engineers have developed an advanced microscope using barcode laser scanner technology that may help doctors better analyse complex medical conditions ranging from blood disorders and cancer to neurological disorders. The microscope can film moving blood cells and neurons firing in living animals and is much more powerful than similar microscopes available...

New Delhi, Feb 23: Demonetisation has significantly impacted credit demand and deposit growth of banks but had a mixed effect on asset quality in the third quarter of current fiscal, Moody's Investors Service said today. The cancellation of legal tender of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes has led to a slowdown in economic activity that weighed on demand for credit among companies and retail borrowers...

Washington, Feb 23: Astronomers have discovered the first known system of seven Earth-sized planets around a single star - located a mere 40 light years away - that could have liquid water, and possibly host alien life. Three of these planets are firmly located in the habitable zone, the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water, NASA said.The discovery...

Mangaluru: The Kanara Catholic Association (KCA), a 67-year-old organisation set up in 1955 is all set for its ‘Mood Mangalorean’ event on February 25 at the newly inaugurated Konkani Samudai Bhavan at Kalyan Nagar at 6:30pm . Errol Fernandes, KCA president said Leslie Fernandes, former chairman of Dockendale Shipping. Co will be the chief guest and Ronald Colaco, catholic social worker will be...

Feb 22: The government's sustained efforts to implement the use-case scenarios for 12-digit Aadhaar got a major fillip from tech giant Microsoft when it launched new apps Linkedin Lite and Skype Lite. Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella, in his keynote speech at the company's Future Decoded summit in Mumbai, unveiled the apps explaining how they can revolutionise the way candidate verification...