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Ham, still wearing his flying gear, reaches out to accept his reward, a big red apple, after his historic space flight inside the Mercury capsule.

Ham's 16 minutes of fame

On January 31, 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham became the first hominid in space. During his brief spaceflight, which lasted a little over 16 minutes, Ham experienced weightlessness for around six-and-a-half minutes and proved that human beings could work and live in space. A.S.Ganesh revisits Ham’s claim to fame...

With riders: In an agreement with the Brazilian public research body Fiocruz, AstraZeneca walked back on its promise when the company said it has ‘right under contract to declare pandemic over by July 2021’.

Reneging on the ‘no-profit pledge’ to supply Oxford vaccine

Weak but significant: Most of the energy of the supernova is carried away by neutrinos.

How neutrinos aid in the death of massive stars

Shubashree Desikan Many stars, towards the end of their lifetimes, form supernovas - massive explosions that send their outer layers shooting into the surrounding space. Most of the energy of the supernova is carried away by neutrinos – tiny particles with no charge and which interact weakly with matter. Researching the mechanisms of the so called Type II supernovas, a team from IIT Guwahati has come up with new insights into the part played by neutrinos in this dramatic death of massive stars. The collaboration

Leading the way: At 1.82 lakh vaccinations as on January 22, Karnataka has the most number in the country, followed by Andhra Pradesh (1.27 lakh) and Odisha (1.21 lakh).

Coronavirus | CoWIN glitches also responsible for low vaccine uptake

R. Prasad Registration of health-care workers on CoWIN is incomplete, many practising alternative medicine are not included

Health

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Medical board on abortion ‘unfeasible’, says study

Jagriti Chandra 82% of obstetrics-gynaecology, paediatric and other specialist posts vacant

Workers, wearing PPE, sanitise a classroom, ahead of reopening of educational institutions after a gap of over 10 months owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, in Jammu on January 30, 2021.

COVID-19: India records 13,052 new cases, 127 fatalities

PTI The total COVID-19 active cases remained below 2 lakh for the 12th consecutive day

Technology

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The gaming industry has soared, boosted by demand from users stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

EU to rule on Microsoft's $7.5 bln ZeniMax deal by March 5

Reuters The EU competition enforcer can clear the deal with or without concessions during its preliminary review or it can open a full-scale investigation if it has serious concerns.

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Bitcoin last traded up 3.7% at $34,390, having surged over 300% in 2020.

Elon Musk says bitcoin "on the verge" of being more widely accepted

Reuters Musk last week tweeted "Gamestonk!!," which many in the market interpreted as an apparent show of support for small investors. "Stonks" is a tongue-in-cheek term for stocks widely used on social media.

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Chip sales into the United States were $94.15 billion, up 19.8% from the previous year.

Chip sales rose 6.5% globally in 2020 after year-end rush

Reuters While U.S.-based companies represented nearly half of semiconductor sales, they represented only about 12% of chip manufacturing capacity in 2020. That is down from 37% in 1990, as most U.S. companies now source their chips from factories in Asia.

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Environment

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Chasing the Cantor’s giant softshell Turtle

PRIYADERSHINI S

Conservation biologist Ayushi Jain managed to sight the rare reptile, Cantor’s Giant Soft Shell Turtle and is working with riverside communities to create awareness about it

Watch some rare butterflies up-close in a guided tour at Visakhapatnam zoo

Nivedita Ganguly Indira Gandhi Zoological Park initiates a series of public engagement programmes to redefine the zoo experience as a conservation education centre

Members of the Western Ghats Plant Specialist Group in Udhagamandalam.

Expert group to assess threats to plant species in the Nilgiris

Rohan Premkumar Threats to endemic flora in the Western Ghats will be assessed by experts comprising the Western Ghats Plant Specialist Group (WGPSG). Members of the WGPSG of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) met here recently, to chart a future course of study of endemic plant species in the Nigiris and across the Western Ghats. “The study of these species will include documentation, assessing the threats they face as well as understanding their

Agriculture

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Farmers shout slogans at Delhi Uttar Pradesh border at Ghazipur, in Delhi in the early hours on Thursday.

New farm laws herald new era of market freedom: Economic Survey

PTI ‘These legislations were designed "primarily" for the benefit of "small and marginal farmers", which constitute around 85% of the total number of farmers’

Parna hydroponic farm

Coimbatore’s hydroponic farm delivers fresh greens within three hours of harvest

K Jeshi Sustainable farming and fresh, zero-carbon food are the philosophy behind the city’s first urban hydroponic farm, located inside an industrial building campus. To know more, MetroPlus makes a visit

Multimedia

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Watch | Inside the world's biggest vaccine production hub

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Union Budget 2021 | Is Nirmala sending a message to agitating farmers?

Chip sales rose 6.5% globally in 2020 after year-end rush

Elon Musk says bitcoin "on the verge" of being more widely accepted

Studying e-cigarette using pattern with sensors and AI

EU to rule on Microsoft's $7.5 bln ZeniMax deal by March 5

Microsoft Teams gets Approvals, Tasks publishing features

Padma Shri at 105, meet the Coimbatore grandma who is giving a leg up to organic farming

She is 105 years old and still wakes up before the sun to head to the fields. Meet R Pappammal, an organic farmer from Coimbatore who was awarded the Padma Shri for agriculture this year

Apple iMessage gets new security protection in iOS 14 update

Named ‘BlastDoor’, the system is a sandbox mode that aims to prevent attacks carried out on the messages app.

Here’s how you can transfer WhatsApp chats to Telegram

Telegram has made it easy to move chats from WhatsApp for both Android and iOS users. It also introduced new features like new stickers and animations.

‘FAU-G’ game review: Is this a battle royale, with added masala?

The wait is over, and the much-hyped FAU-G is finally here, in the form of its first campaign mode — and it offers a mixed experience

Scientists decode how coronavirus quickly damages lung cells

They found that when SARS-CoV-2 takes over, it completely changes the cells' metabolic processes. The virus even damages the cells' nuclear membranes within three to six hours after infection.

Google allows gambling apps in 15 countries; India not included

Earlier, the gambling games were restricted only to four countries namely, Brazil, Ireland, France and the UK.

What GameStop's surge says about online mobs

In the world of pseudonymous internet message boards, pranks-gone-wild and logic turned upside down amid a global pandemic, revolts come in all shapes, sizes and aims. Last week they gave us the Great GameStop Stock Uprising. Who knows what this week will bring.

Russian hack brings changes, uncertainty to US court system

The new rules for filing sensitive documents are one of the clearest ways the hack has affected the court system. But the full impact remains unknown.

Taiwan to discuss supply chains with U.S. next week amid auto shortage

Car factories around the world are shutting assembly lines because of the chip shortages, which in some cases have been exacerbated by the former U.S. administration's actions against Chinese chip factories.

Facebook’s Zuckerberg reached out to Australian lawmakers over new media rules

Australia intends to introduce a law that would force Facebook, the world's largest social media platform, and internet search giant Google Inc to negotiate payments to media companies whose content drives traffic to their websites.

As Google eyes Australia exit, Microsoft talks Bing with PM Morrison

Big Tech firms have called the new Australian laws, that would force internet giant Google and Facebook to negotiate payments to domestic media outlets, as ‘unworkable’.

Medical board on abortion ‘unfeasible’, says study

82% of obstetrics-gynaecology, paediatric and other specialist posts vacant

Coronavirus | India fought COVID-19 pandemic much better than other nations: Harsh Vardhan

India was the first country to respond within an hour when WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic

Watch | Inside the world's biggest vaccine production hub

A video taking about Pune-based vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India

Marine heat waves may become more intense, frequent: study

As the climate continues to warm and the mixed layer continues to thin, scientists might lose the ability to predict annual ocean surface temperatures.

Many Northeast wildlife habitats understaffed, says report

‘Extremely poor’ infrastructure in all evaluated wildlife sanctuaries in Assam is adversely affecting their management.

Coronavirus | How the N439K variant escapes immune system’s antibodies

While the mutation did not change virus replication, the scientists said it significantly diminished binding of a proportion of both clinical antibodies and serum samples.

Coronavirus | India records 13,052 new COVID-19 cases, 127 fatalities

The total COVID-19 active cases remained below 2 lakh for the 12th consecutive day

The Hindu Explains | What does ‘green tax’ mean for vehicle owners?

Will the government proposal help to achieve the clean air objective? When is it scheduled to come into force?

The Hindu Explains | Can SARS-CoV-2 mutations undercut the efficacy of vaccines?

What are the latest studies showing?

The Hindu Explains | Why is Google irked with Australia’s proposed law on paying for news content?

Isn’t this a drastic departure from how platforms have worked with publishers?

The Hindu Explains | Who should not take COVID-19 vaccines?

What is the Health Ministry advisory on children, pregnant women and those on blood thinners?

Ham's 16 minutes of fame

On January 31, 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham became the first hominid in space. During his brief spaceflight, which lasted a little over 16 minutes, Ham experienced weightlessness for around six-and-a-half minutes and proved that human beings could work and live in space. A.S.Ganesh revisits Ham’s claim to fame...

Coronavirus | ‘7% of those aged 10 years or older exposed to virus by August 2020’

Sero-survey says the figures were higher in urban slums compared to rural areas

How neutrinos aid in the death of massive stars

Many stars, towards the end of their lifetimes, form supernovas - massive explosions that send their outer layers shooting into the surrounding space.

Question Corner: What caused the tilt to Saturn’s rotation axis?

Readers may send their questions/answers to questioncorner@thehindu.co.in

Reneging on the ‘no-profit pledge’ to supply Oxford vaccine

Oxford University and AstraZeneca committed on multiple occasions to supply the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis

COVID-19 pandemic: is it a decline after the peak?

The weekly number of cases worldwide show that the pandemic has begun to decline

Tropical cyclones move closer to land except for Atlantic hurricanes

Tropical cyclones across the globe, except Atlantic hurricanes, are moving closer to land in recent decades, a new study found.Tropical cyclones

India proposes law to ban cryptocurrencies, create official digital currency

The law will "create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India"

New Toyota tech unit promises world's safest drive

As traditional automakers face competition from the likes of Apple, Amazon and Sony, Toyota is looking to marry Woven Planet's Silicon Valley approach with its storied Toyota Production System manufacturing process to develop the next generation of cars.

Watch | This drone can smell obstacles using live moth antenna

A video about the "Smellicopter," an autonomous drone that uses live antennae from a moth to smell and avoid obstacles as it travels in the air.

Hundreds of dead pelicans in Senegal test positive for H5N1 bird flu

The sanctuary is a transit place for about 350 species of birds but only pelicans were found dead.

Weekly Bytes | WhatsApp Web’s biometric security, Tesla’s full automation, and more

Here's our curated list of important tech news from this week in byte size.

Inside LVMH Watch Week 2021

With zippy presentations and Zoom calls, Hublot, Bulgari and Zenith work as a team to impress watch aficionados

Musk’s SpaceX violated its launch license in explosive Starship test - the Verge

The Starship rocket destroyed in the accident was a 16-storey-tall prototype for the heavy-lift launch vehicle being developed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's private space company to carry humans and 100 tons of cargo on future missions to the moon and Mars.

Facebook to develop tools for advertisers to tackle harmful content

Facebook said in a blog post on Friday the controls would help advertisers define how their ads show on Facebook News Feed, adding that it would start testing out the controls with a small group of advertisers, a process which could take about a year to complete.

Oceanic sharks and rays have declined by over 70%: study

The researchers said 24 of the world's 31 oceanic shark and ray species are now classified as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Your data for cash: Indian lending apps force tough choice

Google said this month it had reviewed hundreds of lendingapps in India, and removed those that violated its terms on loantenure.

Still early days of AI, real potential to come in place in 10-20 years: Pichai

While there are countless examples of how AI was able to make sure people received the right information about COVID-19, this pandemic is a one-in-hundred-years global event and AI did not play a significant role in helping the world to navigate it, he said.

GameStop’s ‘Reddit rally’ puts scrutiny on social media forums

Social media companies are generally not liable for user activity under a statute commonly known as Section 230. Still, their rules bar illegal behavior like facilitating gun and drug transactions or distributing offensive content that could rile advertisers or generate calls for tighter regulation.

India’s total active COVID-19 caseload drops to less than 1.7 lakh

Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab register maximum deaths in past 24 hours

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