Electricity consumption from the manufacture of artificial intelligence (AI) chips has soared by more than 350 percent worldwide between 2023 and 2024, according to new research from Greenpeace East Asia. In East Asia, the global hub for AI semiconductor production, growing electricity demand from AI chipmaking has been met primarily …
ALTHOUGH many believe that he was shortchanged by the mandarins of the Indian technological and scientific establishment, Sam Pitroda still retains a concern for Indian S&T.; He was at his avuncular best last fortnight at the 7th foundation day celebrations of the Pune-based Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), …
THE draft new technology policy (NTP), which the government circulated in 1993 for feedback, lacks clarity, sets some inappropriate priorities and does not adequately address how goals can be achieved, says a recent survey. Some 600 scientists and engineers responded to questionnaires sent out by the Delhi-based National Institute of …
FINANCE minister Manmohan Singh has turned his back on International Monetary Fund-imposed financial discipline and given India a growth-oriented budget that pushes for further globalisation of the economy. But, given the high fiscal deficit and inflationary trends, there may be many pitfalls ahead. The budget stresses rapid technological advancement, opens …
VITAL Signs responds to the need for information on the trends that are reshaping our world. It surveys 42 global indicators, such as the decline in per capita availability of food and water, economic recession over the past two years, increasing water scarcity and the population increase to outline the …
DR COMPUTER As scholars expounded on the significance of traditional sciences, a computer in the pandal outside prescribed lifestyles to the more practical-minded. The diagnostic system was a software called Prakruthi, devised by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). Based on the principles of Ayurveda, the system fires …
INDIA'S long history of excellence in science and technology is well known. There are several examples of Indian products -- not just textiles and spices -- that other civilisations admired for a long time. In AD 662, Syrian astronomer-monk Severus Sebokht wrote of the knowledge of the Hindus, "...of their …
WOMEN have craved for diamonds and men have killed for them. The industrial revolution and the early economic development of the world would not have been possible without coal. Now, fullerenes -- the third form of carbon discovered only in 1985 -- promise exciting new applications from catalysis to superconductors. …
Imagine a gear only three hairs wide. Difficult? Not for Paul Christensen, president of Potomac Photonics Inc of Maryland, USA, who carved a miniscule gear into a flat diamond surface using a laser (Science, Vol 261, No 5129). The gear is about 300 microns (three hair-widths) across with a dozen …
• Investors have been flocking to timber-based businesses in Malaysia, where timber related stocks are being traded at high prices. This is a result of a combination of strong timber prices and a comparative scarcity of timber-related listings on the Kuala Lumpur stock market. • Japanese electronics firms are looking …
TECHNOLOGY is essential for improved living and working conditions. However, women -- especially those in rural areas -- are often denied access to technology because of discrimination and lack of adequate information. For instance, rural women spend many hours away from home collecting firewood. If the women were provided energy …
During the release of a commemorative volume on 35 Years of Indo-US Collaboration in Science and Technology, Union minister for science and technology P R Kumaramangalam sprang a surprise. In the presence of US assistant secretary for oceans and scientific affairs Elinor Constable, he criticised the US for "denying high-technology …
BRAVO! No more burning bottoms. The next time you park your car in the sun, you needn't gingerly test the hot seat before getting in. Thanks to a new aerosol spray, which contains no ozone-destroying CFCs or alcohol, you can instantly cool off sun-baked vehicles, small spaces and even your …
AS SOON as our nationalist forefathers succeeded in achieving independence, they began looking afresh at good causes to pursue. They believed, rather naively, that industrialisation would raise productivity and standards of living. Since productivity enhancing innovations then originated largely from the machine tools industry, the need to promote this industry …
INDIA'S interest in petroleum has grown rapidly. Understandably so, because the investments made are large and the returns fair, and could be even more attractive if we priced it properly. But, despite the growing interest in the mechanics of petroleum, it is virtually impossible to find a book that is …
AUDIO compact discs (CDs) were only half the story. Electronic entertainment manufacturers are now getting ready to flood the market with high-resolution video CDs that can be played on an audio CD player by simply attaching an adaptor. They are also planning to launch video recorders that can record digital …
THE BELIEF that economic liberalisation and competition will motivate India's industry to upgrade its research and development has become almost axiomatic. However, a study of private sector R&D;, carried out by the Delhi-based Centre for Technology Services (CTS) and sponsored by the department of science and technology (DST), shows this …
You've been writing about environmental issues for a long time, but your writings are people-oriented. Is this due to your personal background? My personal background is almost horrid. I have been a writer and novelist and written more than 80 dramas. I have tried almost every conceivable medium of self-expression. …
JOINT implementation was the main point of discussion at the recent meeting of the intergovernmental committee on climate change in Geneva. The idea of joint implementation has been promoted primarily by industrialised countries seeking ways to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Unable to face the politically difficult choice of reducing …
NEVER in recent history has the world witnessed political and strategic changes as dramatic as those seen between 1986 and 1991. In this short span, a once proud and mighty superpower has not only gone -- quite literally -- to pieces, but has joined the queue of supplicants paying obeisance …
HUNDREDS of small voluntary organisations across the country have dedicated themselves to simplifying the mysteries of science for amateurs and giving them hands-on experience in the subject. NCSTC-Network, a voluntary organisation set up in 1991, has linked 50 such people's science organisations and some government bodies, including the computer section …
