The top 10 emerging technologies for 2013

New challenges need new technologies to tackle them. Here, the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies identifies the top 10 most promising technology trends that can help to deliver sustainable growth in decades to come as global population and material demands on the environment continue to grow rapidly. These are technologies that the Council considers have made development breakthroughs and are nearing large-scale deployment.

OnLine Electric Vehicles (OLEV)

Wireless technology can now deliver electric power to moving vehicles. In next-generation electric cars, pick-up coil sets under the vehicle floor receive power remotely via an electromagnetic field broadcast from cables installed under the road. The current also charges an onboard battery used to power the vehicle when it is out of range. As electricity is supplied externally, these vehicles need only a fifth of the battery capacity of a standard electric car, and can achieve transmission efficiencies of over 80%. Online electric vehicles are currently undergoing road tests in Seoul, South Korea.

3-D printing and remote manufacturing

Three-dimensional printing allows the creation of solid structures from a digital computer file, potentially revolutionizing the economics of manufacturing if objects can be printed remotely in the home or office. The process involves layers of material being deposited on top of each other in to create free-standing structures from the bottom up. Blueprints from computer-aided design are sliced into cross-section for print templates, allowing virtually created objects to be used as models for “hard copies” made from plastics, metal alloys or other materials.

Self-healing materials

One of the defining characteristics of living organisms is their inherent ability to repair physical damage. A growing trend in biomimicry is the creation of non-living structural materials that also have the capacity to heal themselves when cut, torn or cracked. Self-healing materials which can repair damage without external human intervention could give manufactured goods longer lifetimes and reduce the demand for raw materials, as well as improving the inherent safety of materials used in construction or to form the bodies of aircraft.

Energy-efficient water purification

Water scarcity is a worsening ecological problem in many parts of the world due to competing demands from agriculture, cities and other human uses. Where freshwater systems are over-used or exhausted, desalination from the sea offers near-unlimited water but a considerable use of energy – mostly from fossil fuels – to drive evaporation or reverse-osmosis systems. Emerging technologies offer the potential for significantly higher energy efficiency in desalination or purification of wastewater, potentially reducing energy consumption by 50% or more. Techniques such as forward-osmosis can additionally improve efficiency by utilizing low-grade heat from thermal power production or renewable heat produced by solar-thermal geothermal installations.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion and use

Long-promised technologies for the capture and underground sequestration of carbon dioxide have yet to be proven commercially viable, even at the scale of a single large power station. New technologies that convert the unwanted CO2 into saleable goods can potentially address both the economic and energetic shortcomings of conventional CCS strategies. One of the most promising approaches uses biologically engineered photosynthetic bacteria to turn waste CO2 into liquid fuels or chemicals, in low-cost, modular solar converter systems. Individual systems are expected to reach hundreds of acres within two years. Being 10 to 100 times as productive per unit of land area, these systems address one of the main environmental constraints on biofuels from agricultural or algal feedstock, and could supply lower carbon fuels for automobiles, aviation or other big liquid-fuel users.

Enhanced nutrition to drive health at the molecular level

Even in developed countries millions of people suffer from malnutrition due to nutrient deficiencies in their diets. Now modern genomic techniques can determine at the gene sequence level the vast number of naturally consumed proteins which are important in the human diet. The proteins identified may have advantages over standard protein supplements in that they can supply a greater percentage of essential amino acids, and have improved solubility, taste, texture and nutritional characteristics. The large-scale production of pure human dietary proteins based on the application of biotechnology to molecular nutrition can deliver health benefits such as muscle development, managing diabetes or reducing obesity.

Remote sensing

The increasingly widespread use of sensors that allow often passive responses to external stimulae will continue to change the way we respond to the environment, particularly in the area of health. Examples include sensors that continually monitor bodily function – such as heart rate, blood oxygen and blood sugar levels – and, if necessary, trigger a medical response such as insulin provision. Advances rely on wireless communication between devices, low power-sensing technologies and, sometimes, active energy harvesting. Other examples include vehicle-to-vehicle sensing for improved safety on the road.

Precise drug delivery through nanoscale engineering

Pharmaceuticals that can be precisely delivered at the molecular level within or around a diseased cell offer unprecedented opportunities for more effective treatments while reducing unwanted side effects. Targeted nanoparticles that adhere to diseased tissue allow for the micro-scale delivery of potent therapeutic compounds while minimizing their impact on healthy tissue, and are now advancing in medical trials. After almost a decade of research, these new approaches are finally showing signs of clinical utility.

Organic electronics and photovoltaics

Organic electronics – a type of printed electronics – is the use of organic materials such as polymers to create electronic circuits and devices. In contrast to traditional (silicon-based) semiconductors that are fabricated with expensive photolithographic techniques, organic electronics can be printed using low-cost, scalable processes such as ink jet printing, making them extremely cheap compared with traditional electronics devices, both in terms of the cost per device and the capital equipment required to produce them. While organic electronics are currently unlikely to compete with silicon in terms of speed and density, they have the potential to provide a significant edge in cost and versatility. The cost implications of printed mass-produced solar photovoltaic collectors, for example, could accelerate the transition to renewable energy.

Fourth-generation reactors and nuclear-waste recycling

Current once-through nuclear power reactors use only 1% of the potential energy available in uranium, leaving the rest radioactively contaminated as nuclear “waste”. While the technical challenge of geological disposal is manageable, the political challenge of nuclear waste seriously limits the appeal of this zero-carbon and highly scalable energy technology. Spent-fuel recycling and breeding uranium-238 into new fissile material – known as Nuclear 2.0 – would extend already-mined uranium resources for centuries while dramatically reducing the volume and long-term toxicity of wastes, whose radioactivity will drop below the level of the original uranium ore on a timescale of centuries rather millennia. This makes geological disposal much less of a challenge (and arguably even unnecessary) and nuclear waste a minor environmental issue compared to hazardous wastes produced by other industries. Fourth-generation technologies, including liquid metal-cooled fast reactors, are now being deployed in several countries and are offered by established nuclear engineering companies.

At Global CSR Congress – Ankesh Shahra of Ruchi Soya receives CSR Award for Community Development

Mumbai, February 20, 2013: Ruchi Soya Industries Limited (Ruchi Soya) has been Felicitated with the CSR Award for Community Development during the World CSR Congress.

Mr. Ankesh Shahra who manages the international businesses of Ruchi Soya and participates in the CSR activities of the Company was honoured with the felicitation at a glittering event in Mumbai. Dr. Christoph Stueckelberger, Executive Director and Founder of Globethics and Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate  affairs handed over the trophy and citation to Mr. Ankesh Shahra.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Ankesh Shahra stated, “I am very grateful to the World CSR Congress for honouring Ruchi Soya with the award for Community Development. Ruchi believes in sharing its growth with every stakeholder and giving back to the society in a sustainable and transparent manner. A big congratulations to the team.”

Featuring among the top five FMCG players in India, Ruchi Soya is India’s number one cooking oil maker and marketer through popular brands like Nutrela, Ruchi Gold, Mahakosh and Sunrich. Ruchi Soya is working closely with the communities around its plants in Patalganga and Nagpur in Maharashtra. Ruchi Soya believes in the concept of ‘Giving back to the Society’. The corporate social initiatives of Ruchi Group are executed through Shri Mahadeo Shahra Sukrat Trust with the focus on three core areas of Health, Education and Women Empowerment.

An Integrated player from farm to fork, Ruchi Soya has secured access to oil palm plantations in India and other important parts of the world. Besides being a leading manufacturer of high quality edible oils, soya foods, vanaspati, and bakery fats, Ruchi Soya is also the highest exporter of soya meal, lecithin and other food ingredients from India. Ruchi Soya is committed to renewable energy and exploring suitable opportunities in the sector.

Source: http://planetcorporatenews.blog.com/ankesh-shahra-of-ruchi-soya-receives-csr-award-for-community-development-at-global-csr-congress/

First space tourist planning historic trip to Mars in 2018

A multi-millionaire investment tycoon and space travel enthusiast is planning a privately funded 501-day round trip mission to Mars in 2018.

Inspiration Mars Foundation, a nonprofit organisation, led by millionaire Dennis Tito – the world’s first space tourist ¿ will hold a news conference next week to announce the mission, for a January 2018 launch.

“This ‘Mission for America’ will generate new knowledge, experience and momentum for the next great era of space exploration,” Inspiration Mars officials wrote in a media advisory.

Some people and media reports speculate that given the speakers’ backgrounds and the lofty goals articulated in the media advisory, Inspiration Mars is planning a manned mission to the Red Planet, ‘SPACE.com’ reported.

According to the NewSpace Journal, Tito’s paper discusses “a crewed free-return Mars mission that would fly by Mars, but not go into orbit around the planet or land on it. This 501-day mission would launch in January 2018, using a modified SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched on a Falcon Heavy rocket.”

The Journal writes: “According to the paper, existing environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) technologies would allow such a spacecraft to support two people for the mission, although in Spartan condition.”

It added the mission would be privately financed and cheaper than previous estimates for manned Mars efforts, though no overall cost is given.

A 501-day mission would pose potentially serious physiological and psychological issues for astronauts, experts say.

Tito made history in 2001, plunking down a reported USD 20 million for an eight-day trip to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/first-space-tourist-planning-historic-trip-to-mars-in-2018/1078136/

North Korea to allow mobile Internet for foreigners

North Korea will soon allow foreigners to tweet, Skype and surf the Internet from their cellphones, iPads and other mobile devices in its second relaxation of controls on communications in recent weeks. However, North Korean citizens will not have access to the mobile Internet service to be offered by provider Koryolink within the next week.

Koryolink, a joint venture between Korea Post & Telecommunications Corporation and Egypt’s Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding SAE, informed foreign residents in Pyongyang on Friday that it will launch a third generation, or 3G, mobile Internet service no later than March 1.

The announcement comes just weeks after North Korea began allowing foreigners to bring their own cellphones into the country to use with Koryolink SIM cards, reversing a longstanding rule requiring most visitors to relinquish their phones at customs and leaving many without easy means of communication with the outside world.

The two changes in policy mean foreigners in North Korea will have unprecedented connectivity while living, working or traveling in a country long regarded as one of the most isolated nations in the world.

However, wireless Internet will not yet be offered to North Koreans, who are governed by a separate set of telecommunication rules from foreigners. North Koreans will be allowed to access certain 3G services, including SMS and MMS messaging, video calls and subscriptions to the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, but not the global Internet.

The lack of Internet access in North Korea has put the country at the bottom of Internet freedom surveys. Though North Korea is equipped for broadband Internet, only a small, approved segment of the population has access to the World Wide Web.

During a visit to Pyongyang early last month, Google’s executive chairman pressed the North Koreans to expand access to the Internet. Eric Schmidt noted that it would be “very easy” for North Korea to offer Internet on Koryolink’s fast-expanding 3G cellphone network.

“As the world becomes increasingly connected, the North Korean decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world and their economic growth,” he wrote in a Jan. 20 blog post after returning to the United States. “It will make it harder for them to catch up economically. It is their choice now, and in my view, it’s time for them to start, or they will remain behind.”

Soon after Schmidt’s visit, Google unveiled maps of North Korea with more details based on contributions from foreigners using satellite images and publicly available information to map the country. Before, North Korea was left mostly blank in Google Maps but with the update, Pyongyang and major North Korean cities are shown with street names, parks, roads, train stops and monuments.

Cellphone use has multiplied in North Korea since Orascom built a 3G network more than four years ago. More than a million people are now using mobile phones in North Korea, where the network now covers most major cities, according to Orascom.

Chinese-made Huawei cellphones sold by Koryolink are not cheap, with the most basic model costing about $150, and the governments restricts North Koreans from phoning abroad or foreigners from their cellphones. Still, mobile phones have become a must-have accessory among not only the elite in Pyongyang but also the middle class in cities such as Kaesong and Wonsan.

Foreigners, meanwhile, can now purchase SIM cards at the airport or at Koryolink shops for 50 euros ($70). Calls abroad range from 0.38 euros a minute to Switzerland and France and more than 5 euros a minute to the U.S. Calls to South Korea remain prohibited.

Starting next week, foreigners will be allowed to purchase monthly mobile Internet data plans for use with a USB modem or on mobile devices using their SIM cards. Prices for the service haven’t been announced yet.

The expansion of cellphone and Internet services _ at least for foreigners _ comes as North Korea promotes the development of science and technology as a means of improving its moribund economy.

Late leader Kim Jong Il was revealed to have been a Mac user. His Macbook Pro, or a replica, is enshrined at the Kumsusan mausoleum where his body lies in state.

Current leader Kim Jong Un, meanwhile, was shown in a recent photo with a more mobile computing accessory: a smartphone.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/north-korea-to-allow-mobile-internet-for-foreigners/1078119/0

Facebook blocks access to NBC.com after reports site is infected

Facebook Inc has blocked users from accessing the NBC.com website following reports that the site is infected with a computer virus.

Facebook users were told “This link has been reported as abusive” on Thursday when they attempted to access the NBC.com website.

Several security bloggers warned on Thursday that the site was infected with malicious software, advising computer users to avoid the site.

Officials with NBC could not immediately be reached for comment.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/facebook-blocks-access-to-nbc.com-after-reports-site-is-infected/1078112/

Milky Way grew by ‘cannibalising’ other smaller galaxies

Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have uncovered tantalising evidence for the possible existence of a shell of stars that are a relic of the Milky Way’s past cannibalism of other galaxies.

Peering deep into the vast stellar halo that envelops our Milky Way galaxy, a team of astronomers led by Alis Deason, from UC Santa Cruz, used Hubble observations to precisely measure, for the first time ever, the sideways motions of a small sample of stars located far from the galaxy’s center.

Their unusual lateral motion is circumstantial evidence that the stars may be the remnants of a shredded galaxy that was gravitationally ripped apart by the Milky Way billions of years ago. These stars support the idea that the Milky Way grew through the accretion of smaller galaxies.

“Hubble’s unique capabilities are allowing astronomers to uncover clues to the galaxy’s remote past,” said coauthor Roeland van der Marel of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore.

“The more distant regions of the galaxy have evolved more slowly than the inner sections. Objects in the outer regions still bear the signatures of events that happened long ago,” Marel said in a statement.

They also offer a new opportunity for measuring the “hidden” mass of our galaxy, which is in the form of dark matter — an invisible form of matter that does not emit or reflect radiation.

“Our ability now to measure the motions of these stars opens up a whole new territory we haven’t explored yet,” Deason said.

Deason and her team plucked the outer halo stars out of seven years’ worth of archival Hubble telescope observations of our neighbouring Andromeda galaxy.

In those observations, Hubble peered through the Milky Way’s halo to study the Andromeda stars, which are more than 20 times farther away.

The Milky Way’s halo stars were in the foreground and considered as clutter for the study of Andromeda. But to Deason’s study they were pure gold.

The observations offered a unique opportunity to look at the motion of Milky Way halo stars.

“We knew these stars were there, because for the Andromeda study we had to separate the stars in Andromeda from the stars in the Milky Way,” said co-author Puragra Guhathakurta, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz.

Researchers said finding the stars was meticulous work. Each Hubble image contained more than 100,000 stars.

“We had to somehow find those few stars that actually belonged to the Milky Way halo. It was like finding needles in a haystack,” Marel said.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/milky-way-grew-by-cannibalising-other-smaller-galaxies/1078215/0

Ankesh Shahra receives CSR Award (Ruchi Soya)

Ankesh Shahra who manages the international businesses of Ruchi Soya and participates in the CSR activities of the Company was honoured with the felicitation at a glittering event in Mumbai.

Ruchi Soya Industries Limited (Ruchi Soya) has been felicitated with the CSR Award for Community Development during the World CSR Congress.  Ankesh Shahra who manages the international businesses of Ruchi Soya and participates in the CSR activities of the Company was honoured with the felicitation at a glittering event in Mumbai.

Dr. Christoph Stueckelberger, Executive Director and Founder of Globethics and Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, Director General & CEO, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs handed over the trophy and citation to  Ankesh Shahra.

Commenting on the occasion,  Ankesh Shahra stated, “I am very grateful to the World CSR Congress for honouring Ruchi Soya with the award for Community Development. Ruchi believes in sharing its growth with every stakeholder and giving back to the society in a sustainable and transparent manner.

A big congratulations to the team.” Featuring among the top five FMCG players in India, Ruchi Soya is India’s number one cooking oil maker and marketer through popular brands like Nutrela, Ruchi Gold, Mahakosh and Sunrich.

Ruchi Soya is working closely with the communities around its plants in Patalganga and Nagpur in Maharashtra. Ruchi Soya believes in the concept of ‘Giving back to the Society’. The corporate social initiatives of Ruchi Group are executed through Shri Mahadeo Shahra Sukrat Trust with the focus on three core areas of Health, Education and Women Empowerment.

An Integrated player from farm to fork, Ruchi Soya has secured access to oil palm plantations in India and other important parts of the world. Besides being a leading manufacturer of high quality edible oils, soya foods, vanaspati, and bakery fats, Ruchi Soya is also the highest exporter of soya meal, lecithin and other food ingredients from India. Ruchi Soya is committed to renewable energy and exploring suitable opportunities in the sector.

Source:  http://newsaboutruchigroup.wordpress.com/

Tiniest planet ever discovered outside our solar system

NASA has discovered the smallest known planet outside our solar system which is slightly larger than the Moon and orbits its Sun like host star every 13 days.

NASA’s Kepler space telescope detected the smallest planet yet found around a star similar to the Sun in a new planetary system. The planets are located in a system called Kepler-37, about 210 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra.

The smallest planet, Kepler-37b, is slightly larger than our Moon, measuring about one-third the size of Earth. It is smaller than Mercury, which made its detection a challenge.

The Moon-size planet and its two companion planets were found by scientists with NASA’s Kepler mission to find Earth-sized planets in or near the “habitable zone,” the region in a planetary system where liquid water might exist on the surface of an orbiting planet.

However, while the star in Kepler-37 may be similar to our Sun, the system appears quite unlike the solar system in which we live.

Astronomers think Kepler-37b does not have an atmosphere and cannot support life as we know it. The tiny planet almost certainly is rocky in composition.

Kepler-37c, the closer neighbouring planet, is slightly smaller than Venus, measuring almost three-quarters the size of Earth. Kepler-37d, the farther planet, is twice the size of Earth.

“Even Kepler can only detect such a tiny world around the brightest stars it observes,” said Jack Lissauer, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.

“The fact we’ve discovered tiny Kepler-37b suggests such little planets are common, and more planetary wonders await as we continue to gather and analyse additional data,” said Lissauer in a NASA statement.

Kepler-37’s host star belongs to the same class as our Sun, although it is slightly cooler and smaller. All three planets orbit the star at less than the distance Mercury is to the Sun, suggesting they are very hot, inhospitable worlds.

The estimated surface temperature of this smoldering planet, at more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit, would be hot enough to melt the zinc in a penny. Kepler-37c and Kepler-37d, orbit every 21 days and 40 days, respectively.

We uncovered a planet smaller than any in our solar system orbiting one of the few stars that is both bright and quiet, where signal detection was possible,” said Thomas Barclay, Kepler scientist at the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in Sonoma, California, and lead author of the new study published in the journal Nature.

“This discovery shows close-in planets can be smaller, aswell as much larger, than planets orbiting our Sun,” he said.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/tiniest-planet-ever-discovered-outside-our-solar-system/1077692/0

HTC One looks to redefine photography, social hub

Smartphone maker HTC is looking to breathe new life into its fortunes with its latest product. HTC One, a 4.7-inch phone with the best display in the market at 468 pixels per inch, was launched in Sydney on Thursday.

With this phone, HTC has taken a big step away from the megapixel race. The camera is rated at just four megapixels, but HTC says that doesn’t matter because it has a large sensor. The sensor is bigger than that in some compact cameras. This ensures that the picture quality is high.

HTC One is powered by Android Jelly Bean, running the firm’s custom skin — Sense 5. This version of Sense brings radical improvements to the phone. The most noticeable change is called Blinkfeed. Building on the features in Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10, HTC Blinkfeed lets users integrate all their social networks, calendar, email accounts and displays these with news updates. It’s the default homescreen on HTC One, meaning that it can be accessed by pressing the home button.

Another radical feature of Sense 5 is HTC Zoe, the new gallery app. It captures a short video, letting users choose the best frame and save it as a picture, rivalling BlackBerry Time Shift. Users can also remove unwanted objects from the picture easily. Zoe can also make a short movie by putting together all your pictures and videos, it adds background music on its own.

Other additions include a new music player app that adds new visualisations and pulls lyrics from the web, and Sense TV. The company has built an infrared transmitter into the power button, which helps it double up as a TV remote. Using the Sense TV app, users can see TV schedules and open the channel airing a particular programme.

The phone will be launched in India in March. HTC did not announce the price, but it is expected to be around Rs 42,000.

(The reporter was in Sydney on the invitation of HTC India)

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/htc-one-looks-to-redefine-photography-social-hub/1077641/0

NASA rover Curiosity grabs first Martian rock sample

In a hunt for discovering life on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover has beamed back pictures confirming the first ever sample collected from the interiors of a rock on another planet.

No rover has ever drilled into a rock on any other planet and collected a sample from its interior, NASA said. Transfer of the powdered-rock sample into an open scoop was visible for the first time in images received yesterday at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. “Seeing the powder from the drill in the scoop allows us to verify for the first time the drill collected a sample as it bore into the rock,” said JPL’s Scott McCloskey, drill systems engineer for Curiosity.

“Many of us have been working toward this day for years. Getting final confirmation of successful drilling is incredibly gratifying,” McCloskey said in a statement. The drill on Curiosity’s robotic arm took in the powder as it bored a 2.5-inch hole into a target on flat Martian bedrock on February 8. The rover team plans to have Curiosity sieve the sample and deliver portions of it to analytical instruments inside the rover. The scoop now holding the precious sample is part of Curiosity’s Collection and Handling for In-Situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) device.

During the next steps of processing, the powder will be enclosed inside CHIMRA and shaken once or twice over a sieve that screens out particles larger than 0.006 inch (150 microns) across. Small portions of the sieved sample later will be delivered through inlet ports on top of the rover deck into the Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instrument and Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument.

The sample comes from a fine-grained, veiny sedimentary rock called “John Klein,” named in memory of a Mars Science Laboratory deputy project manager who died in 2011. The rock was selected for the first sample drilling because it may hold evidence of wet environmental conditions long ago. The rover’s laboratory analysis of the powder may provide information about those conditions.

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Project is using the Curiosity rover with its 10 science instruments to investigate whether an area within Mars’ Gale Crater ever has offered an environment favourable for microbial life.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nasa-rover-curiosity-grabs-first-martian-rock-sample/1077627/0