Science & Technology

SANTIAGO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chilean Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that it will strengthen the search for new variants of COVID-19, with the genomic sequencing of 500 samples a week to investigate the cause of the new wave of infections that is affecting the country.

"So far, the Brazilian and the British variants have been detected in Chile. We were doing 176 sequences a week and, for next week, we are going to sequence 500 samples to try to search for any new or strange strains that may explain the increase in cases," said Minister of Health Enrique Paris.

New Delhi, Apr 1 (PTI) The DRDO has developed a lightweight bullet-proof jacket that weighs nine kg and meets the qualitative requirements of the Indian Army, the defence ministry said on Thursday.

Kanpur-based Defence Materials and Stores Research and Development Establishment (DMSRDE), which is one of the laboratories of the government-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has developed this jacket, a ministry statement said.

Tokyo, Mar 31 (AP-PTI) Japan is calling for further investigation into the origins of COVID-19, saying the WHO report released this week was based on work that faced delays and lacked access to essential virus samples.

In order to prevent future pandemics, it is indispensable to carry out prompt, independent and experts-led investigations that are free of surveillance, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters. We are concerned that the latest investigation faced delays and the lack of access to virus samples.

BEIJING (AP) — A joint WHO-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is “extremely unlikely,” according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.

The findings were largely as expected and left many questions unanswered, but the report provided in-depth detail on the reasoning behind the team’s conclusions. The researchers proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis.

22 Mar 2021; MEMO: Tunisian satellite Challenge ONE was launched today from the Baikonur base in south-central Kazakhstan aboard the Russian Soyuz-2.1a rocket which was also carrying other satellites, Xinhua reported.

Challenge ONE was designed and developed exclusively by Tunisian labour and is a small satellite that weighs about three kilogrammes, and will be used in the Internet of Things technology.

Bengaluru, Mar 20 (PTI) India and France are working on their third joint satellite mission, even as the bilateral space collaboration is entering into multiple domains, including human spaceflight programme, ISRO Chairman K Sivan said.

Sivan, also Secretary in the Department of Space, said many French companies are keen to tap into opportunities thrown up by recent reforms injected into the space sector by the Government.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA completed an engine test firing of its moon rocket Thursday, after the first attempt in January ended prematurely.

This time, the four main engines of the rocket’s core stage remained ignited for the full eight minutes. Applause broke out in the control room at Mississippi’s Stennis Space Flight Center once the engines shut down on the test stand.

BEIJING, March 14 (Xinhua) -- China has completed feasibility studies of the fourth phase of its lunar exploration program and is expected to build an international lunar research station on the moon's south pole in the future, said Wu Weiren, the chief designer of China's lunar exploration program.

08 Mar 2021; MEMO: Iran has started enriching uranium with a third set of advanced IR-2m centrifuges at its underground plant at Natanz, the UN nuclear watchdog told its member states on Monday, a further breach of Tehran's 2015 deal with major powers, Reuters reported.

The move is part of a recent acceleration by Iran of its violations of restrictions under that deal, which granted Iran relief from financial sanctions in return for curbs to its nuclear activities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday congratulated the NASA team responsible for last month’s successful landing of an six-wheeled rover on Mars and for giving the country a “dose of confidence” at a moment when the nation’s reputation as a scientific leader has been tattered by the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden speaking in video conference call with the leadership of space agency’s jet propulsion laboratory team expressed awe over the Feb. 18 landing of Perseverance.