DRDO Develops Near-isothermal Forging Technology for Aero-Engines
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) announced a modest step towards achieving the ultimate aeronautical challenge, one that even resource-rich China is struggling to achieve: Developing a jet engine with the thrust to power a fighter in combat.
This technological breakthrough, which involves developing complex titanium and nickel-based alloys that can withstand temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius, was achieved by the DRDO's premier metallurgical laboratory, the Hyderabad-based Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL).
With this development, India has joined the league of limited global engine developers to have the manufacturing capabilities of such critical aero-engine components.
May 25, 2021
Oldest Spiral Galaxy in the Universe
Astronomers have identified the oldest known spiral galaxy in the universe, which was formed around 12.4 billion years ago, after rediscovering a fuzzy, forgotten photo taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
The new galaxy, named BRI 1335-0417, measures 15,000 light-years across making it a third as big as our spiral-shaped home galaxy, the Milky Way. The galaxy formed around 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang, making it the earliest example of a spiral galaxy. It beats the previous oldest spiral, detected in 2019, by around 1.1 billion years. The oldest known galaxy in existence remains GN-z11, which formed around 400 million years after the Big Bang.
Researchers discovered the ancient galaxy after finding a photo of it in the ALMA archive. To the untrained eye the image may look blurry, but it actually contains a surprising amount of detail for such a distant galaxy.
May 24, 2021
Record-breaking Light has more than a Quadrillion Electron Volts of Energy
Extremely energetic light from space is an unexplained wonder of astrophysics, and now scientists have spotted this light, called gamma ray, at higher energies than ever before.
The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory, LHAASO, spotted more than 530 gamma rays with energies above 0.1 quadrillion electron volts. The highest-energy gamma ray detected was about 1.4 quadrillion electron volts. For comparison, protons in the largest accelerator on Earth, the Large Hadron Collider, reach mere trillions of electron volts. Previously, the most energetic gamma ray known had just under a quadrillion electron volts.
In all, the scientists spotted 12 gamma ray hot spots, hinting that the Milky Way harbors powerful cosmic particle accelerators. In order for gamma rays to reach such energies, electromagnetic fields must first rev up charged particles, namely protons or electrons, to immense speeds. Those particles can then produce energetic gamma rays, for example, when protons interact with other matter in space.
May 23, 2021
China Observatory Detects Sources of Gamma Rays
Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) of China detected dozen sources of ultra-high-energy gamma rays.
LHAASO cosmic ray observatory has discovered 12 sources of ultrahigh-energy photons. It has also detected a photon with energy level of 1.4 peta-electron volt. All these sources are located at positions in milky way galaxy and it can be measured with an accuracy of greater than 0.3°. They are the brightest Milky Way gamma ray sources discovered till date.
LHAASO is a gamma-ray and cosmic-ray observatory located at Daocheng in Sichuan province of China. The observatory has been designed to observe air showers that are triggered by gamma rays and cosmic rays. It has been set at the altitude of 4,410 metres above sea level. It started observation in April 2019 over an area of 145 hectares.
May 21, 2021
Microsoft to Retire Iconic Internet Explorer Browser in 2022
Microsoft has announced to retire its iconic Internet Explorer (IE) browser in June 2022, as it envisions the future of Internet Explorer, which was launched in 1995, on Windows 10 in Microsoft Edge.
Over the last year, Microsoft is moving away from Internet Explorer support, such as an announcement of the end of IE support by Microsoft 365 online services.
With Microsoft Edge capable of assuming this responsibility and more, the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10.
Internet Explorer was once the most widely used web browser, attaining a peak of about 95 per cent usage share by 2003.