A Google artificial intelligence program has beaten the European champion of the board game Go.The Chinese game is viewed as a much tougher challenge than chess for computers because there are many more ways a Go match can play out.The…
Tag: Science
Securing East Asia through a silk road for science, technology, innovation
While various Silk Roads are being laid down by China for a “Greater Eurasia” economic integration, it is time to look beyond infrastructure, trade and economics. A lasting foundation must be buttressed by the building blocks of tomorrow, especially in…
Overlooked disease believed to kill throughout tropics
Researchers have raised the alarm about an overlooked bacterial disease that they say killed 89,000 people in 79 countries in 2015.In a paper published in Nature Microbiology last week (11 January), researchers say that melioidosis is likely to be present…
Human like robots in deep space soon
The US space agency NASA is considering making new humanoid robots that could offer astronauts a helping hand in risky and extremely hazardous future space expeditions.The agency is developing a six-feet tall, 131.5 kg heavy humanoid robot called R5, previously…
Breast milk protein could destroy super bugs
An antibiotic developed from human breast milk can destroy certain types of drug-resistant bacteria, says a report by ‘The Times’.A study by the UK’s National Physical Laboratory and University College London found that Lactoferrin effectively kills bacteria, fungi and even…
Facebook to respond within 48 hours: Tarana
State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim on Sunday said Facebook authorities will respond within 48 hours to the complaints of Bangladesh government over issues relating to violence against women and militant acts through the social networking site.
US mulls privacy ‘ombudsman’
The United States has proposed creating an “ombudsman” to deal with EU citizens’ complaints about US surveillance as part of talks to clinch a new EU-US data transfer pact, four people familiar with the talks said.Washington and Brussels are racing…
Humans at risk of lethal ‘own goal’: Hawking
Humanity is at risk from a series of dangers of our own making, according to Prof Stephen Hawking.Nuclear war, global warming and genetically-engineered viruses are among the scenarios he singles out.And he says that further progress in science and technology…
Flower in space
Remember how in the Hollywood film The Martian, Matt Damon’s character Mark Watney grows potatoes on Mars to survive on the Red Planet? While that’s still a sci-fi achievement, here’s a bit of real life news that’ll leave you quite…
Signs of Secret Phone Surveillance Across London
A VICE News investigation has found evidence that sophisticated surveillance equipment that spies on people’s phones is being used across London, and uncovered a growing black market for the technology worldwide.Signs of IMSI catchers — also known as stingrays or…
Japanese astronomers discovers Black hole in Milky way
A team of Japanese astronomers has discovered an enigmatic gas cloud just 200 light years away from the centre of the Milky Way that can be the possible missing link in the black hole evolution.This may be the first detection…
SpaceX to launch ocean satellite
A $180 million satellite to study the world’s oceans in a changing climate will blast off Sunday atop a Falcon 9 rocket, which SpaceX will try to land on a floating platform after launch.The satellite, known as Jason-3, aims to…
BTRC sets nine criteria for mobile no. Portability
Telecoms regulators have finalised the reviewed draft of the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) policy.Some criteria have been set in the draft guidelines for the contractor that will get the job to give the subscribers the facility to change mobile-phone operators…
Govt to prepare 10-year ICT Roadmap
The government has taken initiatives to prepare a 10-year ICT roadmap under Bangladesh National Enterprise Architecture (BNA) to operate e-Government activities smoothly, official sources said.The World Bank financed Leveraging ICT for Growth, Employment and Governance (LICT) Project of Bangladesh Computer…
Spacecraft Jupiter breaks distance record
NASA’s first solar-powered spacecraft Juno to Jupiter has broken the record to become humanity’s most distant solar-powered emissary.The probe, launched from the Earth in 2011 to study the giant planet from an elliptical, polar orbit, achieved the milestone on Wednesday…
Ancient giant crocodile discovered in Sahara
Paleontologists searching far and wide in Tunisia made a discovery of massive proportions: the world’s largest sea-dwelling crocodile, previously unknown to science, The Washington Post newspaper reports.This prehistoric crocodile is believed to have measured more than 30 feet long and…
NASA finds 100 new alien planets
NASA’s planet-hunting revamped Kepler mission has found more than 100 confirmed planets orbiting other stars. The information about the planets, some of which are very different from what the spacecraft observed during its original mission, was shared by University of…
Islamic science back in spotlight
On Christmas Day, the Islamic world sent out a reminder of its vast contributions to the advancement of science and innovation. At a solemn ceremony in Tehran, Iran, set off by recitations from the Koran, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation…
Facebook recruits Bangla language translator
Facebook has recruited a Bangla language expert to check on traffic on its platform in that language.State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim on Sunday said that this would make it possible for Facebook to spot any objectionable post…
China begins 5G research
China’s ministry of industry and information technology (MIIT) began to research and test 5G technology with the aim of commercialising it by 2020, the media reported.”The purpose of the research and test is to support the formulation of global 5G…
Why real King Kong became extinct
The largest ape to roam Earth died out 100,000 years ago because it failed to tuck into savannah grass after climate change hit its preferred diet of forest fruit, scientists suggest.Gigantopithecus — the closest Nature ever came to producing a…
New elements in Periodic Table
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has formally added four new chemical elements to the periodic table, report the BBC and the Guardian.Discovered by scientists in Japan, Russia and America, elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 have finally…
Pre-historic animal shell found in Argentina
A passer-by on Christmas Day found a meter-long shell on a riverbank in Argentina which may be from a glyptodont, a prehistoric kind of giant armadillo, experts said Tuesday.A local man thought the black scaly shell was a dinosaur egg…
Monkeys knew to sing
Ancient monkeys used auditory cues similar to humans to distinguish between low and high sound notes, say researchers, adding that pitch perception may have evolved more than 40 million years ago to enable vocal communication and song-like vocalisations.Pitch perception is…
Hydra can live forever
Is there a creature that can defeat death? Yes, says new research that confirmed that the tiny hydra – a centimetre-long polyp that inhabits fresh water all over the world – does not show any sign of deteriorating with age…
Space robots trained with virtual reality
NASA is training space robots with Virtual Reality (VR) where the operators are using Sony’s PlayStation VR to control a “humanoid” in the space environment.Part of “Mighty Morphenaut” project, the PlayStation VR lets the operator make decisions by taking into…
SpaceX landed its rocket, but you should know a few things
By Ryan Faith In case you had missed it, amid all the fanfare over the release of the latest installment of Star Wars, a great many of your nerd friends may be incredibly excited about something else related to space:…
Paris climate deal paves way for further science
Paris – A deal to reduce global emissions and help the world adapt to climate change was signed in Paris on 12 December — with earlier concerns that science would be ignored allayed by new promises. The agreement, signed by…
Tim Peake to help with space walk, Nasa says
UK astronaut Tim Peake is to be involved in assisting two astronauts carry out a space walk outside the International Space Station (ISS) next week.Fellow crew members Tim Kopra and Scott Kelly will go outside the ISS to fix a…
‘Sail-backed’ dinosaur roamed in Spain
Along a lush river delta in what is now northeastern Spain, a herd of dinosaurs munched on ferns and conifers similar to modern-day cypresses 125 million years ago.These creatures stood out from the others in this Cretaceous Period landscape by…