Student of Sikkim in Global Aero Designing Competition.

GANGTOK, March 23 – India’s Autobotix Group comprising 10 students participated in the Global Aero Designing Competition held in California, US, with three miniature Radio Control Aircraft projects on March 6. The team qualified for the competition out of 500 universities from around the world.

“A total of 500 universities from across the globe had been selected for the competition. Out of the 500, 64 were from Aerospace Engineering.

Sikkim’s Pukar Pandey-led team of Mechatronic Engineering from Engineering Institution of Punjab was the only team competing with aerospace engineers round the globe. They were placed in 12th position.

The competition was organised by SAE International at Van Nuys,California, from March 16-18 in collaboration with the Aero Builder giants like NASA, AIRBUS and Boeing.

Source: assamTribune.com

Will Einstein's 1905 theory of relativity be proved false?

Will Einstein's 1905 theory of relativity - one of the most fundamental pillars of physics - that underpins "nothing can travel faster than light-300,000 kms, or 186,000 miles, per second" be proved wrong?

The speculations started coming after scientists at the world's largest physics lab CERN claim to have clocked sub-atomic particles or neutrinos travelling faster than the speed of light.

European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN, near Geneva, says a neutrino beam shot off from a particle accelerator near Geneva to a lab 730 km away in Italy, whooshed 60 nanoseconds faster than light, with a speed of 186,282 miles per second.

But, how could the fact be ignored that Einstein's theory has been tested thousands of times over the past 106 years? And, only recently have here been just slight hints that the behaviour of some elementary particles of matter might not fit into it.

If the findings by the CERN are correct, it would force an overhaul of the fundamental laws of nature and how the universe works. These particles are 6 km/second faster than light, which is strange because 100 years ago, Einstein suggested nothing can go faster than light. If these scientists are right and Einstein was wrong, whatever we know about our Universe will soon be turned on its head.

"The feeling that most people have is this can't be right, this can't be real," reported IANS.

Earlier, the Chicago team had similar faster-than-light results in 2007, but then the giant margin of error undermined its scientific significance.

According to eminent cosmologist and astrophysicist Martin Rees "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and this is an extraordinary claim."

"It is premature to comment on this," said Professor Stephen Hawking, the world's most well-known physicist. "Further experiments and clarifications are needed," he added. Till other scientists do the same experiment and make similar observations, the new results will not be accepted. And that will take a few months.

The high level of caution is normal in science where anything that could be a breakthrough discovery, especially overturning well-established thinking, is in principle always checked and rechecked by other researchers.

"Only when the dust finally settles should we dare draw any firm conclusions," said Professor Jeff Forshaw, a professor of particle physics at Britain's Manchester University.

Scientists agree that if the results derived by CERN are confirmed, it would prompt a fundamental rethink of the laws of physics.

source : Internet

8 things to know about Windows 7 SP1

For those waiting to upgrade to Windows 7 until after the first 'service pack' (SP1) is released, the wait is almost over. Microsoft recently unveiled the release candidate of SP1, making it available for download, and the final release of SP1 is expected to be released soon.

So what can you expect from SP1, and should you run out and install the release candidate now?

Read on for some answers.

Q: How can I get SP1?

A: If you want to wait until the final release of SP1 later this month, you can simply get the service pack through the Windows Update feature. If you'd like to download the SP1 release candidate, available now, go to http://on-msn.com/dDzWyG.

Q: Is the release candidate of SP1 stable?

A: It is likely very stable because Microsoft has already made available to its Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers the full release of SP1 integrated into Windows 7 and Windows Server 2001 R2. In other words, Microsoft has already released the official SP1 to selected customers.

Q: Is the release candidate of SP1 stable?
A: It is likely very stable because Microsoft has already made available to its Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers the full release of SP1 integrated into Windows 7 and Windows Server 2001 R2. In other words, Microsoft has already released the official SP1 to selected customers.

Q: What's new in Windows 7 SP1?

A: The 'features' in Service Pack 1 of Windows 7 can be broken down into two categories: bug fixes and optimisations. Service Pack 1 rolls up all of the 'hotfixes,' security patches, and other updates released for Windows 7 up to now. There are well over 700 individual fixes listed in the Hotfixes and Security spreadsheet (http://on-msn.com/f1ItCB) that Microsoft has made available to document the changes in this release, although some of the fixes are specific to Windows Server 2008 R2, since the SP1 of that operating system is being released concurrently.

Even if you haven't experienced identifiable problems with Windows 7, a host of performance-sapping bugs have been zapped in SP1.

These include seemingly unexplainable system delays, compatibility woes when using the 64-bit version of Windows 7, freezes with Windows Media Player, poor printing performance, erroneous 'low battery' messages on laptops, poor file writing and copying performance, Internet Explorer 8 crashes, reduced network performance, and erratic Bluetooth connectivity.

In the 'new features' category, there's not much to get excited about in SP1. The Remote Desktop applet of Windows 7 has been updated to coincide with some improvements to Windows Server 2008's virtualisation features. But otherwise, the main reason you'll want SP1 is to obtain better performance and stability.

Q: Can I get an integrated version with SP1?

A: Probably not. Microsoft generally will not re-issue you a DVD with SP1 integrated into Windows 7. You'll need to acquire the update through Windows Update or download it as a file and apply it offline. If you intend to purchase Windows 7 in the next few months, however, it does make sense to look out for retail copies with SP1 already integrated.

Installing the SP1 version of the operating system will save you download time later on.

Q: Can I install the final service after installing release candidate?
A: Yes. The installation of the final service pack can be done entirely through Windows Update, and the update service will take care of upgrading the release candidate to the final service pack.

Q: Can I prevent service pack from installing automatically?

A: Yes. Microsoft has released a 'service pack blocker tool kit' that essentially does what its name implies: prevents the service pack from being installed automatically through Windows Update.

The blocking tool will be effective for 12 months from the date of the service pack's release.


Q: Can I download the service pack directly?

A: Yes. The full installation file will be available from the Microsoft Download Center when the final SP1 is released, probably next week. The release candidate service pack is now available here: http://on-msn.com/dDzWyG.

The Electronic way to learning

(img src : learningchange.com)

Since the availability of the worldwide web to the mass, the education sector has also bloomed. Internet has helped to make education available to everyone in the world through something called E-Learning. Now a person can take courses and earn a degree sitting at home on personal computers. One example right before us is Sikkim Manipal University Distance Education.

Some of the advantages of online education are:

• It is available without any barriers or restrictions.
• Online education allows students to learn on their own time and plan their own education.
• This availability allows working adults to continue their jobs and home learners to pursue their studies without a break or leave their careers in pursuit of a degree.
• Even the ongoing cost are reduced to a great extent.
• E-learning can be fun, interesting, and inspiring. Learners have the opportunity to learn from multiple mediums (audio, videos, still images, and interactive activities).
• Interfaces and course materials can be specifically designed to appeal to learners' interests.
  

The availability of online education has been widely useful for those who do not earn enough to attend school or don't have enough time to do full time schooling. Because of the advent of online education, people are increasingly willing to take the next step in their lives and achieve a degree while continuing their employment. The growth of online education has been pragmatic in recent years. People who work at home and learners can obtain online associates degree to online masters degree in a wide range of areas at their own pace.

Although many educational opportunities are available on the Internet, it's very important that students do some research before they apply for some online courses.
A number of online schools offer many opportunities, but some are more recognized than others and are accredited.

People from around the world at any time in their lives, now have the opportunity to obtain an educational degree without putting their lives on hold. With the continued growth of online education, ability and willingness to pursue studies become easier and more convenient.

~ Amir Bhandari
Soreng, W/Sikkim

Why keyboard letters are not in alphabetical order ?

It is a very common question your friends can ask you anytime. When someone invented the typewriter, why didn't he put the A-Z keys in sequence? I believe it is certainly an obvious question for any computer/type writer noob. Infect when I started with my hands on computer keyboard, even I had this question. Lets find it out

Logic Behind the Reason

Initially in 1860s, the characters on the typewriters were arranged in alphabetical order. At that time a typewriter use to work using a set on the end of a metal bar which strikes the paper when its key was pressed. However, this procedure was not at all compatible to type faster. Still an operator had learned to type at speed by facing lot complications. Letters that placed close together on the keyboard became tangled with one another, forcing the typist to manually unstick the type bars. This also caused staining the document frequently and jams in typewriter machine. A business associate suggested using nice trick by splitting most commonly keys to speed up typing, so that they also don't get tangled very often. Rearrangement of keys introduced the word QWERTY, the most commonly used modern-day keyboard layout.

QWERTY keyboard layout

QWERTY is designed for English language. By all means the purpose was to rearrange the keys that were expected to be used in quick sequence were less expected to hold up with each other. The top row was planned to have all the letters for the word 'typewriter' hence a typist can easily type the most common words like 'typewriter' more quickly.

QWERTY was designed after spending a lot of time on research allowing one hand to move into position while the other hand strikes a key. Thousands of English words can be spelled using only the left hand and right hand separately. And therefore an unfortunate consequence of the layout goes to right-handed typists because more English words can be spelled using only the left hand. QWERTY layout is helpful for those who use their right hand primarily for the mouse leaving the left hand type.

Arrangement of keys under QWERTY layout may not sound completely sensible to many of us today as we are now many decades ahead to that time.