Last Night’s Solar Eclipse Looks Stunning in These Captivating Images

Last Night’s Solar Eclipse Looks Stunning in These Captivating Images

A few hours ago the rare astronomical event that is the total solar eclipse was witnessed in Indonesia, while other parts of Asia experienced a partial eclipse. Because you probably missed it, here’s a quick photo roundup so you can start the day in awe.

The narrow path of our Moon’s shadow-and the total eclipse with it-stretched across 12 Indonesian provinces, crossed three times zones, and could be seen by about 40 million. In other parts of the Indonesian archipelago, and in several Asian countries-such as India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Singapore-a partial eclipse was visible.

Air Asia passenger plane flies as a partial solar eclipse occurs Wednesday, March 9, 2016 as seen from Taguig city, east of Manila, Philippines. Phot Bullit Marquez/AP
A partial solar eclipse is seen behind a passenger capsule of the Singapore Flyer. Phot Wong Maye-E/AP

Carbon Dioxide Levels Just Hit Another Disturbing Milestone

Carbon Dioxide Levels Just Hit Another Disturbing Milestone

Global temperatures aren’t the only thing rising faster than anyone can remember . The same goes for the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, according to the latest dispatch from the Mauna Loa Climate Observatory in Hawaii. It’s almost as if the two phenomena are related or something.
From February 2015 to February 2016, the atmospheric carbon concentration at Mauna Loa-long held as the benchmark for global CO2 levels-rose 3.76 parts per million, marking the largest increase in a 12-month period since the famous Keeling Curve began in 1958. The previous record for a 12-month CO2 increase was made in 1997-1998, when atmospheric carbon concentrations rose 2.82 ppm. That was also the only year in history with an El Niño event that can measure up to this year’s Godzilla Niño.

CO2 concentrations at Mauna Loa over the past year. Image Credit: NOAA
In 2013, global atmospheric CO2 concentrations rose above 400 ppm for the first time in approximately 3 million years. Since then, we’ve been hitting that 400 ppm milestone earlier with each passing year.
One could argue that 400 ppm, as well as the 2 degree Celsius warming milestone we recently surpassed in the northern hemisphere, are just that: milestones. They are. Soon, the days when CO2 concentrations ever fall below 400 ppm will be behind us, marking a fundamental shift in our atmosphere that will persist for thousands of years to come. What’s scary is the future these milestones represent-and how quickly we seem to be blowing past them with very few people taking note.

Medicity plot allotment in SAS Nagar from Tuesday

Medicity plot allotment in SAS Nagar from Tuesday

Hoping to cash in on medical tourism, the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) will start allotment of land to various health institutes at the upcoming Medicity in Mullanpur from March 8 (Tuesday). The scheme will remain open till all plots are allotted on a lease-hold basis. In total, GMADA is offering 258 acre (one acre is 43,560 square foot or about the area of a football field) in Medicity Phases 1 and 2. Of this, around 50 acre has already been allotted to Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (under the department of atomic energy in the Centre) through the department of health and family welfare, Punjab.
At the Medicity, the Punjab government plans to have one medical university, one medical college-cum-hospital, one multispecialty hospital and 11 hospitals. “This is our ongoing allotment scheme, wherein all medical institutes would be allotted land. It would be on leasehold basis as per the policy of the Punjab government,” said Rajdeep Kaur estate officer GMADA.
“Hospitals in SAS Nagar have been getting patients from Pakistan and Afghanistan — for heart surgery, liver transplant, orthopaedics expertise and medical care. We are hopeful that the scheme would do well based purely on the business and commercial aspect of the project,” said GMADA sources.
“Punjab is linked with land route to neighbouring countries is hoping to make the most of the opportunity that the Medicity presents.”
PGI satellite centre planned on 10 acre
PGIMER’s satellite centre is also planned to come up in Mullanpur where it would provide out-patient department (OPD) screening facility that shall refer only tertiary care patients ( those in need of hospital and advanced investigation) to the PGI. The ` 500-crore project was approved by the central government after Punjab offered 10 acre to the institute for its expansion. In 2013, the PGI had approached GMADA and the Punjab government to seek 25 acre reserved for Medicity project in Mullanpur

How About A Business Card That Can Also Read Your Pulse?

How About A Business Card That Can Also Read Your Pulse?

Business cards are designed to give people an idea of your profession and designation at a given company, along with the contact details and other information of course. But if you work at an innovative company like MobilECG, a standard business card just won’t cut it.

The brains behind the company have come up with a business card that comes with a built-in ECG that can read your pulse within a few seconds. However, the company has made it abundantly clear that this is merely a toy and not a substitute to the real thing. But it’s good fun to be able to have something like this in your wallet, especially if you work in the medical profession.

MobilECG mentions that this works on a tiny button cell (also known as watch battery) which can last up to 1 hour if it’s being used continuously. The company however mentions that the battery is only used if both the thumbs are on the sensors, so if you keep the card as it is, you should be able to use it for a week or two at least.

MobilECG aims to make electrocardiograms accessible and affordable to all. They have come up with mobile units that serve this purpose. So keeping their principles in mind, this seems like an apt way to showcase their products to the world. If you want one of these business cards for yourself, the company lets you sign up for it from their dedicated page here. It is currently priced at $29, which roughly translates

Windows 10 Is Trying Really Hard to Kill Extra Antivirus

Windows 10 Is Trying Really Hard to Kill Extra Antivirus
Windows 10 might be the “most secure Windows ever”, but the unfortunate reality is that companies and hospitals far and wide are getting hacked faster than ever. As a result, Microsoft is bulking up its enterprise-level defenses.

Windows already ships with some built-in antivirus called Windows Defender. Currently, it’s a defensive program that looks at websites and downloads to try and stop you from getting hacked. Unfortunately, in the day and age of social engineering and spear-phishing, antivirus needs to be a little more proactive.

Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (shortened to WDATP, because there’s no way I’m typing that out more than once) is supposed to be that protection for large, company-wide networks. WDATP move the focus from monitoring individual files to the machine’s behaviour as a whole-rather than searching for the actual virus, it keeps an eye on symptoms.

If your machine starts connecting to weird ports or executing unusual PowerShell commands-behavior that’s out of the ordinary for the vast majority of users-WDAPT will flag it to administrators, providing an overview of current and past behavior for admins to look at.

Microsoft’s also trying to take advantage of the vast Windows install base to kickstart its antivirus program. Millions of suspicious files found on machines worldwide will be run on the cloud, building a giant centralized database of malicious files, but also malicious behavior.

WDAPT will launch later this year as an optional service for companies. But if the benefits of networked antivirus works out-and Microsoft can figure a way to make it work without needing trained IT professionals in the loop-it’s easy to see it make its way to consumers in the future. Hopefully, there’ll be enough time to come up with a better name.