TECHNOLOGY WORLD

British-born astronaut Piers Sellers has been appointed an OBE in the New Year Honours List for his services to science. Dr Sellers, who was born in Crowborough, East Sussex, has flown on three space shuttle missions - most recently in May this year. Like other astronaut candidates born outside the US, he had to become an American citizen to be considered. The science journalist and broadcaster Vivienne Parry is also awarded an OBE. Dr Sellers is one of only five UK-born people to have flown into orbit so far - out of some 500 in total across the world. "It is a tremendous honour, and I'm really glad that the whole business of spaceflight has been recognised in the UK," he told BBC News. He first joined Nasa in the 1980s, working at the Nasa Goddard Space Center in Maryland. It was there that he succeeded in getting on to the Nasa astronaut programme. Dr Sellers first flew into space aboard the shuttle Atlantis in 2002, during which he carried out three spacewalks to help...

More than a million school children in the UK still lack access to a computer at home, research suggests. And almost 2m are unable to go online at home, according to leading digital education charity, the E-Learning Foundation. It also claims those from the poorest families are two-and-a-half-times less likely to have the internet at home than children from the richest homes. The government would not comment on the findings. The E-Learning Foundation, which works to ensure that all children have access to the internet and a computer at home, has analysed the latest government spending survey. It found that while computer access is growing in better-off households, those from low-income families are being left behind. 'Get worse' It is warning that many of the UK's poorest children face being severely educationally disadvantaged by their lack of access to technology as a result. In November more than half of teachers who took part in a survey for the Times Education Suppleme...

A prototype solar device has been unveiled which mimics plant life, turning the Sun's energy into fuel. The machine uses the Sun's rays and a metal oxide called ceria to break down carbon dioxide or water into fuels which can be stored and transported. Conventional photovoltaic panels must use the electricity they generate in situ, and cannot deliver power at night. Details are published in the journal Science. The prototype, which was devised by researchers in the US and Switzerland, uses a quartz window and cavity to concentrate sunlight into a cylinder lined with cerium oxide, also known as ceria. Ceria has a natural propensity to exhale oxygen as it heats up and inhale it as it cools down. If as in the prototype, carbon dioxide and/or water are pumped into the vessel, the ceria will rapidly strip the oxygen from them as it cools, creating hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide. Hydrogen produced could be used to fuel hydrogen fuel cells in cars, for example, while a combination of...

India has toughened its scrutiny of telecoms firms with a directive demanding "access to everything". An Indian Home Ministry official told the BBC that "any company with a telecoms network should be accessible". India's clampdown on telecom firms is likely to affect Google and Skype "It could be Google or Skype, but anyone operating in India will have to provide data," he said. The move follows high-profile talks with Blackberry maker Research in Motion about ways to allow Indian security forces to monitor data. The government is also likely to target virtual private networks, which give secure access to company networks for employees working away from their offices. To-do list Some have speculated that the Indian government's new focus on its snooping powers is down to increased fears of terrorism. Carsten Casper, a research director at analyst firm Gartner thinks it more likely that the government is simply "working its way down the to-do l...

Three Russian satellites have failed to enter orbit after they were launched on a rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. One Russian aerospace source said the carrier rocket veered off course after launch Russian aerospace experts said the Glonass spacecraft and the upper-stage booster carrying them probably fell into the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. The satellites were to be part of a navigation system meant to rival GPS. Russia has already successfully launched a number of the Glonass satellites this year. Officials had hoped to have the navigation system fully in place in 2011.

The second European satellite dedicated to delivering broadband internet connections has launched successfully. The six-tonne Ka-Sat lifted off atop a Proton rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan at 0351 local time on Monday (2151 GMT on Sunday). The flight to orbit lasted nine hours and 12 minutes. The Eutelsat-operated spacecraft will concentrate its services on the estimated tens of millions of European homes in so-called "not-spots". These are places where consumers cannot get a decent terrestrial connection. The spacecraft follows the Hylas-1 platform into orbit. This satellite, operated by Avanti Communications of London, was launched just last month. Ka-Sat, however, is considerably bigger, and has a notional capacity to serve up to two million households compared with Hylas's 300,000. Nevertheless, such is the scale of the under-served market in Europe that both platforms should be very profitable ventures, the two companies believe. "As many as 30 million house...

All signs point to the next version of Windows running on ARM, the emerging global silicon standard for smartphones and tablets. But don't get too excited--it won't happen until 2012 at the earliest and just as likely not until 2013. Unless Windows 7 tablets like the Archos 9 take the world by storm--not likely--consumers will have to wait for Windows 8. Unless Windows 7 tablets like the Archos 9 take the world by storm--not likely--consumers will have to wait for Windows 8. For now, let's call the next major release from Redmond Windows 8--though I'm hearing that Microsoft will call it something else. More importantly, I'm also hearing that Windows 8 isn't due until the fourth quarter of 2012, at the earliest. So that means tablets running Windows 8 won't appear until 2013. Microsoft could do something in the interim with a technology such as a future version of Windows CE but that's not the Windows we all know and love. A lot can happen in two years an...

Samsung Galaxy Tab front and backEtisalat has partnered up with Samsung Electronics West Africa to bring the latest Samsung mobile gadget to Nigeria, the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Etisalat is the first African country to offer the new 7-inch tablet from Samsung. Etisalat is selling the tablet for N125,000, to compare the Apple iPad can be bought in Nigeria for N175,000.

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean in which a number of aircraft and surface vessels have disappeared. Some people have claimed that these disappearances fall beyond the boundaries of human error or acts of nature. Some of these disappearances have been attributed to the paranormal, a suspension of the laws of physics, or activity by extraterrestrial beings by popular culture. Though a substantial documentation exists showing numerous incidents to have been inaccurately reported or embellished by later authors, and numerous official agencies have gone on record as stating the number and nature of disappearances to be similar to any other area of ocean, many have remained unexplained despite considerable investigation. The Triangle Area The boundaries of the Triangle vary with the author; some stating its shape is akin to a trapezoid covering the Straits of Florida, the Bahamas, and the entire Caribbean island are...

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