News

theregister NASA today unleashed its “squirting gun” by making bold claims about the presence of very liquid, very flowing water on Mars.

Photographs taken over the past seven years reveal changes in Mars’ landscape that seem to indicate the presence of an underground water supply. The subsurface “water” has crept up to feed two gullies clearly visibly in the Mars pictures. While NASA has already discussed the presence of ice and water vapor in the past, it is particularly thrilled about the prospect of liquid water given that it could foster microbial life.

Scientists have long pointed to evidence such as vast channels on Mars that water once flowed on the planet. Now, however, it seems that liquid water may have been on the move in just the last few years and even today.

“We have had this story of ancient water on Mars,” said Ken Edgett, a scientist with Malin Space Science Systems, during a press conference. “Today, we are talking about liquid water that is present on Mars right now.

“You have all heard of a smoking gun. (This) is a squirting gun.”

news.scotsman MAXINE Brooks confesses she never normally plays computer games, professing to find them “boring”.But after yesterday’s launch of Nintendo’s Wii console, the 25-year-old beauty therapist is reconsidering her view of virtual games - an entertainment form traditionally designed for and played by young men.
In front of a wide screen, Maxine, from Stockbridge, in Edinburgh spent several minutes pummelling a virtual opponent using a wireless wand in her hand.

“You could work up a sweat doing this”, she said. “I would normally feel guilty lazing about just sitting there playing a computer game.”

Maxine got her first taste of Wii - the name is Japanese for “everybody” - in the Gamestation store in Princes Street, as the much-hyped console went on sale in the UK.

MercuryNews November was a good month for Nintendo — and for the video game industry as a whole.The Japanese game maker’s new console, the Wii, got off to a strong start, its DS and Game Boy Advance dominated the portable market, and its new “Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess” game was a big hit, according to market research firm NPD.

Nintendo’s robust performance came amid a booming market, as U.S. retail sales of game hardware, software and accessories rose 34 percent in November from the same month a year earlier, according to NPD. The overall numbers were boosted by strong sales of consoles, which rose 103 percent year-over-year to $519 million.

Both Nintendo and Sony introduced new game consoles last month, the Wii and the PlayStation 3, respectively. But Sony’s aging PlayStation 2 led the console pack, as consumers bought 664,000 machines.

Sales of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 more than doubled from October to 511,000 units. But that only barely topped sales of the Wii, which reached 476,000 units. At $250, the Wii costs $50 to $100 less than either version of the Xbox 360. However, unlike Microsoft, Nintendo battled supply constraints with the Wii last month.

Sony’s new PlayStation 3 trailed far behind with just 197,000 units sold.

Indian Express MUNICIPAL Commissioner Nitin Kareer has forwarded a letter to the Pune Municipal Corporation’s standing committee to appoint Hindustan Prefab Limited for construction of houses under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission’s Slum Rehabilitation project at Hadapsar. Kareer has stated that the PMC would be undertaking a unique way of construction through ‘Aluform’ type of construction. Around 6,000 houses would be constructed at Hadapsar at the cost of Rs 108 crore.

Indian Express KOTHRUD’s problems centre around traffic congestion which road projects were supposed to ease. But with Karve Road’s slow progress, legal problems in the riverside roads, proposed elevated road, flyover and the sky bus project yet to take off the block, residents have a long wait before any of these problems are solved. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) plans to ease traffic congestion — construction of elevated roads, riverside roads and Balbharti-Paud Road — have all remained on paper so far.

Environmentalists have opposed the riverside road along the Mutha and the construction of Balbharti-Paud Road. However, residents feel the Balbharti-Paud Road should come up, as it would help ease the traffic towards Paud Phata.

Traffic signals are a major issue here. Mangal Waghole from Kothrud said there are no traffic signals near Karve statue. “Karve Road is extremely congested in the peak hours and the absence of traffic signals make matters worse,’’ she said. Residents have demanded installation of traffic signals near Hotel Kinara up to Chandni Chowk.

Indian Express Nanasaheb Jagtap, a farmer from Malegaon, is a happy man. His one-acre farm has registered a first-time yield of 13 quintals of soyabean during the kharif season (July-October). With soyabean being sold at Rs 1,000 per quintal, Jagtap has made a tidy sum. His eyes are now set on better yields and he is looking forward to city-based Agharkar Research Institute’s new varieties of soyabean to enhance production. Jagtap is not the only one cultivating soyabean in the ridges and furrows as advised by ARI researchers. ‘‘At least four lakh farmers in these parts have availed of this technology and are deriving benefits from the high-yielding and disease-resistant soyabean variety for the last few years,’’ said ARI director Dr V S Rao.

Indian Express THE Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will soon begin construction of a road along the Mutha right bank canal from Empress Botanical Garden to Hadapsar industrial estate. The canal road would be an alternative to the congested Pune-Solapur Road. Heavy vehicles will not be allowed to ply on this road. While the PMC was to construct a 7.65 km road from Empress Botanical Garden to Manjri, as of now it would only construct a 1.75 km stretch up to Hadapsar industrial estate. The PMC would have to construct a retaining wall on both sides of the canal road for safety and undertake levelling of the embankment at some places.

Indian Express AMONG all her trips abroad, Padmini Bapat picks out her recent Thailand trip as the best. Not because the 42-year-old resident of Sadashiv Peth para-sailed or splashed about in the water park, but because every experience was enhanced by the presence of her favourite television star Adesh Bandekar. Similarly, retired banker Vidyadhar Joshi (73) signed up for a senior citizens’ tour to Malaysia in January is because actor Dilip Prabhavalkar — Munnabhai’s Gandhi — will be accompanying them. ‘Finally, women can claim some space for themselves. This tour was amazing — we had women who had never stepped on an escalator but that did not stop them from riding the most scary roller-coaster rides. We had everyone from housewives to doctors to politicians’ wives in the tour and with age groups ranging from 14 to 72, each one had a ball. In fact, we even visited the Night Street in Bangkok and it was all taken in the right spirit,’’ said Bandekar.

The fun continued with games, dandiya nights and rangoli competitions too during the trip. Buoyed by the success, he has been signed for seven more tours to Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

Given the success, Patil is already talking to actor Shreyas Talpade for a teenagers’ tour.

Indian Express MADAN Joshi, a cotton farmer, desperately needs a loan of Rs 20,000 to tide over a cash flow problem. Going through normal channels, Joshi would have to make a few trips to the local talathi and cough up a hefty bribe to procure and alter his 7/12 land record document — a mandatory requirement — before his loan application gets processed. All this is set to change in January, as farmers across the State will get loans faster, thanks to a radical reform to make the 7/12 land record document freely available to lending institutions. The State land records department is in the process of introducing a unique digital talathi signature system to enable all farmer lending institutions to take out authenticated print outs of the 7/12 document for processing farmer loans.