Science and Tech Weekly Wrap

A weekly round-up of science and technology stories.

Hyderabad: Science and Tech stories of the week.

WhatsApp's New Privacy Policy 2021

WhatsApp's latest terms and privacy policy allows the popular messaging app to share a significant amount of user data with Facebook. If you’re confused and want to make sense of the details, Col. Inderjeet Singh, Cybersecurity Expert, Director General, Cyber Security Association of India has tried to answer all your questions. What’s notable is that WhatsApp is openly providing details around user data collection and storage for the first time. This spells some significant changes that you need to understand, and it’s mandatory to accept the policy by February 8, 2021, to continue using the messaging platform. Read More.

Features and specifications OPPO Reno5 Pro 5G, launched in India

Stepping into 2021, OPPO on Monday, Jan 18, launched the 'OPPO Reno5 Pro 5G' as the first 5G-ready smartphone from the Reno series in the Indian market. Some of the features include; 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a punch-hole on the left side, 4350mAh battery that supports up to 65W fast charging, powered by an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ processor, etc. Read More.

Buying Guide: Know all about Ghee

Also known as clarified butter, desi ghee is almost an inevitable ingredient in Indian households. Ghee is brushed generously over rotis and parathas (Indian bread), poured on rice and pulao(Indian dish made out of rice), and even used in dal(lentils) and other vegetables. A jar of desi ghee is almost a must in the kitchen. But which is the best one? Which brand of desi ghee will give you more value? Consumer Voice evaluated the various brands of desi ghee on various parameters such as; milk fat, R M value, BR Reading, Moisture, Peroxide value, etc.Read More.

Virgin 'Cosmic Girl' jet sends 10 NASA payloads into space

In a historic feat challenging SpaceX CEO Elon Musk who has built reusable rockets, Virgin Orbit which is the sister company of billionaire Sir Richard Branson's space tourism outfit Virgin Galactic, on Monday, Jan 18 successfully sent its LauncherOne rocket into space via air-launch -- not through a traditional one from a launch pad on the ground. The rocket, which had failed to reach orbit last year during the first test launch, successfully deployed 10 payloads for NASA's Launch Services Programme (LSP) this time, onboard a customized 747-400 jet dubbed as "Cosmic Girl". Read More.

Stadia players can enjoy Cyberpunk 2077 patch 1.06 update

The update improves driving mechanics for story NPCs. It fixes rare crashes upon loading near end-game saves and repaired some of the previously broken saves. However, some delay in the Stadia release of Cyberpunk 2077 patch 1.06 can of course be explained by the holidays, combined with the Stadia port being managed by another company, QLOC. Since its launch, players have observed numerous bugs and performance issues with 'Cyberpunk 2077' since its launch last week, especially on the 'Xbox One' and PlayStation 4. Read More.

Know all about Apple Lisa, first introduced on January 19, 1983

The Apple Lisa was a personal computer designed at Apple Computer, Inc. during the early 1980s. Officially, “Lisa” stood for “Local Integrated Software Architecture”, but it was also the name of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ daughter. The Lisa project was started at Apple in 1978 and evolved into a project to design a powerful personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI) that would be targeted toward business customers.Read More.

Features and specifications of Vivo Y20G, launched in India

Vivo Y20G launched in India with features like; a 6.51-inch Halo FullView display, Helio G80 octa-core processor, a massive 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charge technology, an AI Triple camera-setup, etc. The device will be available in two attractive colors, obsidian black, and purist blue. Like all Vivo devices, the Y20G follows Vivo's commitment to 'Make in India' and is manufactured at Vivo's Greater Noida facility. Read More.

Features and specifications of Mi Notebook 14 (IC) laptop, launched in India

Mi Notebook 14 (IC) launched in the Indian market and some of the features include; 14-inch full-HD, anti-glare display, 10th Gen Intel Core i5, 256GB/512GB SSD, in-built webcam, Nvidia GeForce MX250 graphics, 8GB of RAM as well as up to 512GB of SSD storage, etc. Read More.

Tesla arriving soon: What fans can expect in India

Your dream of owning a Tesla electric car will soon be a reality as the company is set to begin its Indian journey with its highest-selling Model 3, before the premium Model S and Model X, which would be available later in the year and in early 2022. Arriving in India via Tesla Motors Amsterdam will give the electric car-maker tax benefits related to dividend payments and capital gains, the Model 3 may start from around Rs.60 lakh. The base Standard Range Plus model now claims a driving range of 423 km per charge, while the Long-Range Model 3 can give you a 568 km range on one single charge. Read More.

Features and specifications of Vivo Y31, launched in India

Yet another 'Make in India' phone launched by Vivo in its youthful Y series. Vivo Y31 has been launched in India and some of the features include; a 6.58-inch FHD+ (2408X1080) resolution, 48MP AI Triple Rear Camera setup, Qualcomm Snapdragon 6-series processor, 5000mAh battery, etc. Read More.

Qualcomm unveiled boosted Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform

Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform delivers a high-end gaming experience. Building upon the success of Snapdragon 865 and 865 Plus, the new Snapdragon 870 was designed to address OEM and mobile industry requirements. It will power a selection of flagship devices from key customers including Motorola, iQOO, OnePlus, OPPO, and Xiaomi. Read More.

InSight’s heat probe has failed on Mars. Is the mission a failure?

For two years now, NASA’s InSight probe has sat on the surface of Mars, attempting to dig 5 meters (16 feet) deep in order to install the lander’s heat probe. The instrument was going to effectively take the planet’s temperature and tell scientists more about the internal thermal activity and geology of Mars. InSight never even got close to realizing that goal.Read More.

As per Qualcomm AI research team, AI can play an important role in analyzing videos

Qualcomm AI Research team developed ways and means to use AI to analyze videos in an efficient and effective manner. Video perception techniques that have been developed are centered around two key concepts: leveraging temporal redundancy and making early decisions. Leveraging temporal redundancy means taking advantage of the fact that video frames are heavily correlated. Making early decisions attempts to make easy decisions early by dynamically changing the network architecture per input frame. Read More.

Realme X7 and Realme X7 Pro to launch in India in the first week of February

Indian Realme fans can expect the Realme X7 series phones, X7 and X7 Pro with a punch-hole AMOLED display, 64MP quad-camera set up along with other exciting features. Realme X7 Pro features the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ SoC and the Realme X7 will house the Dimensity 800. Read More.

NASA administrator departs, Biden may pick a woman chief

NASA chief Jim Bridenstine has officially stepped down from his role as the administrator of the US space agency, as Joe Biden takes the president's office. A Trump appointee and a Republican himself, Bridenstine, spent his final days as administrator making last push for the ambitious Artemis programme, that will land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024. Read More.

JBL C115 true wireless earbuds launched in India

New JBL C115 true wireless earbuds come with ergonomic fit earbuds for comfort, autonomous connectivity, access to the phone's voice assistants like Google Echo or Alexa directly from the earbuds and a 5.88mm dynamic driver, etc. The company said that these earbuds have been specially designed for the youth. Read More.

Features and specifications of LG K42, available online from January 26

LG K42 has passed 9 categories of US Military defence standards including high temperature, low temperature, temperature shock, vibration, shock, and humidity. Some of the other features include; 6.6-inch HD+ display, quad-camera setup, 4000mAH battery, etc. Read More.

7 planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 may be made of similar stuff

TRAPPIST-1 is home to the largest group of roughly Earth-size planets ever found in a single stellar system. The seven TRAPPIST-1 planets possess similar densities -- the values differ by no more than three percent. This makes the system quite different from our own. One way to explain why the TRAPPIST-1 planets are less dense is that they have a similar composition to Earth, but with a lower percentage of iron - about 21 percent compared to Earth's 32 percent, according to the study. Read More.

Taming CRISPR

IMAGINE a technology that can tackle some of life's most pressing problems, from disease to malnutrition. It can fix medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia simply by changing a bit of genetic code. It can eliminate malaria by making male mosquitoes infertile. It can wipe out pests that destroy crops. And it can modify other organisms to increase their usefulness, helping to create foods that are tastier and more nutritious. This is the promise of CRISPR, a biochemical tool at the forefront of a gene-editing revolution. Read More.