Meteor shower hits Russia, 500 injured by blasts

A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia’s Ural Mountains today morning, causing sharp explosions and injuring more than 400 people, many of them hurt by broken glass. “There was panic. People had no idea what was happening. Everyone was going around to people’s houses to check if they were OK,” said Sergey Hametov, a resident of Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers east of Moscow, the biggest city in the affected region.

“We saw a big burst of light then went outside to see what it was and we heard a really loud thundering sound,” he said. Fragments of the meteor fell in a thinly populated area of the Chelyabinsk region, the Emergency Ministry said in a statement. Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim Kolesnikov said more than 400 people had sought medical treatment after the blasts, and at least three had been hospitalized in serious condition.

Many of the injuries were from glass broken by the explosions. Kolsenikov also said about 600 square meters of a roof at a zinc factory had collapsed. Reports conflicted on what exactly happened in the clear skies. A spokeswoman for the Emergency Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The Associated Press that there was a meteor shower, but another ministry spokeswoman, Elena Smirnikh, was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying it was a single meteorite.

Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 am local time (0320 GMT), leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash. Russian news reports noted that the meteor hit less than a day before the asteroid 2012 DA14 is to make the closest recorded pass of an asteroid — about 28,000 kilometers. There was no immediate demonstrable connection.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/meteor-shower-hits-russia-500-injured-by-blasts/1074796/

Now, charge your phone powered by a hot cup of coffee or a cold beer

Researchers have developed a mobile phone charger that can be powered by either a cold beer or a hot coffee.

The Epiphany One Puck, which doubles as a drinks coaster, connects to a phone with a USB cable. It has two sides, one red, one blue, the Daily Mail reported.

Owners use the red side as a drinks coaster to place a hot drink on it, and the blue side as for a cooling drink such as a beer.

It uses something called a Stirling engine to turn heat into energy.

US company Epiphany Labs, based in New Castle, Pennsylvania, has built a working prototype and hopes to have it on the market early in 2014.

The company is still vague on just how long it takes for the device to charge up a phone because there are a lot of variables at play, including how hot or cold the source is.

Any source of heat that can fit on the Puck will work.

It works best with something that’s very warm like a steaming cup of tea or coffee, or very cold like a well chilled beer or soft drink.

Epiphany is aiming to raise 63,000 pounds on fund raising website Kickstarter to turn the prototype into a gadget that can be mass-manufactured.

By Feb 8, more than 25,000 pounds had been raised, and early birds can still get in for a 62-pound pledge price.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/now-charge-your-phone-powered-by-a-hot-cup-of-coffee-or-a-cold-beer/1073078/

Is China’s Incoming Prez Relying On Microblogging Over State Media ?

Beijing: News coverage of China’s leaders has long been the exclusive domain of official media but the country’s incoming president Xi Jinping is changing all that relying more on the popular microblog to strike rapport with people leaving state media flustered.

The state media, which enjoyed absolute monopoly since Communist Party came to power in 1949 appeared peeved as a new account called ” Xuexifensituan” (Learning From Xi Fan Club) in Sina Weibo, akin to Chinese Twitter, is getting all firsthand information and pictures of Xi’s tours in the country.

Though the anonymous female blogger claimed she was only an admirer of Xi, the candid coverage raised eyebrows with people wondering whether Xi himself made a proxy debut to take advantage of the new microblog media whose numbers have crossed 300 million, overtaking official media in substance and content and in credibility.

The blog post has “raised eyebrows with its candid coverage”, state-run Xinhua news agency said in a report today.

“What’s going on? Why is it quicker and closer than we are?” read a post written by national broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) on Sina Weibo.

The posts are exclusive and always come ahead of reports from official media, the report said, an apparent attempt to popularize the blog.

The microblogger refers to Xi as ‘Xi Dada’, a term that translates as ‘Uncle Xi’ in some parts of China. ‘Pingping’, a dual-syllable nickname often used by intimate friends or relatives, is also used to describe China’s top leader.

The blog has attracted nearly five lakh followers since going online in November 2012. Although the information contained in the blog has interested the public, netizens are also curious about the real identity of the blog’s owner.

“The blog does not feature a ‘V’ emblem, a mark which indicates that the blog owner’s identity has been verified by Sina Weibo. The only clues are profile details stating that the blog’s owner is a female from northwest China’s Shaanxi province,” the report said.

Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/news/technology/Is-Chinas-Incoming-Prez-Relying-On-Microblogging-Over-State-Media–nid-140587-cid-2.html

India working on Agni-VI missile, to be in world’s elite nuclear club

India today said it is developing a long-range nuclear-capable Agni-VI ballistic missile that would carry multiple warheads allowing one weapon system to take out several targets at a time.

“Agni-V is a major strategic defence weapon. Now we want to make Agni-VI which would be a force multiplier,” DRDO chief V K Saraswat said here.

Refusing to divulge the range of the new under-development missile, he said the force multiplier capability of the missile would be because of its Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) capability.

The Agni-5 ballistic missile, which was test-fired in April last year, has a range of upto 5,500 kms and it is believed that the Agni-6 would have a range longer than its

predecessor.

“It will have force multiplier capability by the MIRV approach which would enable us to deliver many payloads at the same time using only one missile. Work is on in this area and designs have been completed. We are now in the hardware realisation phase,” he said.

DRDO officials said once the Agni-6 is developed, it would propel India into the elite club of nations with such a capability including the US and Russia.

The DRDO chief said his organisation was also working towards developing a cruise missile defence programme which would enable the armed forces to defend against low-flying cruise missiles and enemy aircraft.

Source:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-working-on-agnivi-missile-to-be-in-worlds-elite-nuclear-club/1071407/

US satellite lost in failed launch from Pacific

Sea Launch AG says a US communications satellite was lost after a booster rocket carrying it into space failed shortly after its launch from a floating platform in the Pacific.

The company said in a statement today the Intelsat 27 satellite was lost 40 seconds after the launch due to the failure of the Zenit-3SL rocket. The Boeing. Co-built spacecraft was launched yesterday from the Odyssey ocean platform.

Sea Launch AG President Kjell Karlsen said the cause of the failure is unknown and the company is working to evaluate it.

An affiliate of Russia’s RKK Energia state-controlled rocket manufacturer owns 95 per cent of stock in Sea Launch,

with the remainder being held indirectly by Boeing Co. and Norwegian Aker ASA. The Zenit booster is manufactured by Ukraine’s Yuzhmash rocket plant.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/us-satellite-lost-in-failed-launch-from-pacific/1067974/