Category: Science & Technology

A small asteroid zoomed toward Earth and entered the atmosphere over northeastern Siberia on Tuesday, creating a bright fireball in the sky. This asteroid, called C0WEPC5, was first spotted by the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

On December 3, the European Space Agency (ESA) gave a heads up about the asteroid coming our way. They explained that it would not be dangerous. The asteroid was about 70 centimeters (27 inches) wide and was expected to light up the sky over northern Siberia around 16:15 UTC (17:15 CET), about seven hours after the alert.

Later that day, ESA confirmed that the asteroid did enter the atmosphere right on time, creating a spectacular fireball that was seen by many people in Yakutia. Astronomers had discovered the asteroid just 12 hours earlier, and their careful tracking helped predict the impact time very closely—within about 10 seconds!

This event marked the fourth detected asteroid strike on Earth this year, making it a notable event in space news. Also, another asteroid named 2020 XR is set to safely fly by Earth on Wednesday at 12:27 a.m. ET. It is much bigger at 1,200 feet wide but will pass by at a safe distance of 1.37 million miles from our planet. NASA considers any object that comes within 4.6 million miles of Earth to be potentially hazardous. Asteroid flybys happen a lot; NASA reports over 36,000 of these events, and since October 2023, 132 asteroids have passed closer than the Moon.

The wait is over! The Oppo Find X8 Series is now available in India, starting from December 3rd. You can buy these new phones from the Oppo online store, Flipkart, and many retail shops. These are the first phones in India to have the powerful MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset.

Meet the Amazing Oppo Find X8 Pro

The star of the launch is the Oppo Find X8 Pro. It comes with an incredible camera system, which includes four cameras—two of them can zoom in really well! Plus, it runs on the latest Android 15 with ColorOS 15.

Prices for Oppo Find X8 and X8 Pro

– Oppo Find X8 Pro: ₹99,999 for the 16GB + 512GB version.
– Oppo Find X8:
– 12GB + 256GB for ₹69,999
– 16GB + 512GB for ₹79,999

You can also get some great offers! If you buy through Oppo, Flipkart, or other trusted retailers using certain credit cards, you can get 10% cashback. They also have a no-cost EMI plan for up to 24 months!

What’s Special About the Phones?

Both the Find X8 Pro and Find X8 are powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset. The Pro version has a big 6.7-inch AMOLED screen, while the standard version has a 6.59-inch AMOLED display, but both have a smooth 120Hz refresh rate.

Camera Power!

Both phones have cameras tuned by Hasselblad. The Find X8 Pro features:
– Main Camera: 50MP
– Ultra-wide Camera: 50MP
– 3x Telephoto Lens: 50MP
– 6x Telephoto Lens: 50MP

The Find X8 has a simpler setup with a 50MP main camera, a 50MP ultra-wide camera, and a 50MP 3x telephoto lens. Both have a 32MP front camera for great selfies and cool AI features like Zoom and Blur remover!

Battery Life and Durability

The Find X8 Pro has a long-lasting 5,910mAh battery with super-fast 80W charging and 50W wireless charging. The Find X8 has a good 5,630mAh battery with similar charging speeds.

Both models keep your phone safe with IP68 and IP69 ratings against water and dust, ensuring they are durable. The Pro model comes with 5 years of software updates and 6 years of security patches, while the standard model gets 4 years of updates.

Amagi, a successful tech company based in Bangalore, has just bought Argoid AI, a company that specializes in using artificial intelligence (AI) to help streaming services recommend shows and schedule content automatically. This acquisition will help Amagi provide smarter tools for media companies to plan, share, and earn money from their content.

Argoid AI is famous for creating advanced AI tools that make finding and watching content easier for viewers. By combining their technology with Amagi’s existing services—like Amagi NOW and CLOUDPORT—Amagi hopes to offer better, faster, and more personalized choices for media companies.

Baskar Subramanian, Amagi’s CEO, said, “We’re excited to use Argoid’s AI technology to make our cloud solutions even better for our customers.” Together, the two companies plan to tackle common challenges in streaming, such as helping viewers find the content they want and keeping them engaged.

The deal brings Argoid AI’s talented engineers and creators into Amagi. The founders—Gokul Muralidharan, Soundararajan Velu, and Chackaravarthy E—will help guide the future direction of Amagi’s technology. Gokul Muralidharan stated, “We’re excited to join Amagi, a leader in media technology. This partnership will help us deliver even better solutions for our customers.”

Amagi helps various famous brands like A+E Networks UK, NBCUniversal, and more to create, distribute, and profit from their channels more easily.

Deloitte is planning to open a new center called the Global AI Simulation Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, India. This center will focus on new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), especially a type called generative AI. In an interview, Nitin Mittal, who leads Deloitte’s global generative AI, explained why India was chosen for this exciting project.

Why Did Deloitte Pick India?
Deloitte decided on India for a few important reasons. First, India has a lot of skilled workers in the field, not just in Deloitte but also in startups and schools. Second, many big companies, like those on the Fortune 500 list, operate here. In Bengaluru alone, 38% of these companies are located. Other places, like the Nordic countries, may have talent but not at the same level or price. India offers unique benefits that help both global and local clients.

How Much Money is Deloitte Investing?
Deloitte is investing between $5 to $10 million in this new AI center and some related initiatives. This money will be used for things like technology, software, and other resources.

Will Generative AI Make Services Cheaper?
While it might seem like costs will go down, generative AI is actually helping create more business opportunities. More clients are interested in working with Deloitte, which means more projects and new areas of advice.

What Will Change with Generative AI?
Old methods of giving advice, like creating presentations, are changing. Now, Deloitte uses generative AI to gather insights first and then adds expert opinions. This approach helps clients visualize and interact with information in new ways, leading to more successful deals with new clients.

Will Deloitte Use Generative AI in Services?
Yes! In the past 18 months, Deloitte has worked with over 700 clients using generative AI. Currently, about one-third of their clients want to see this type of AI in their projects. In the next 18 months, this number is expected to grow to about two-thirds.

The Indian government plans to start giving out a huge fund of Rs 1000 crore (about $120 million) to help space companies. This money is part of a special program to support people and businesses working in the space sector. Pawan Goenka, a top official, said that this funding is likely to be available starting in the first part of the financial year 2026 (FY26).

This initiative will help new space companies grow and create new technologies. It is also important for improving India’s position in the global space market. The fund is designed to encourage innovation and help startups turn their ideas into successful businesses.

If you are interested in the space industry or have ideas for space technology, this could be a great opportunity for you!

The Indian government has exciting plans to support farmers by giving them digital identity cards. This initiative is part of a larger project called the ‘Digital Agriculture Mission.’ The mission aims to improve different digital farming efforts, such as gathering reliable information about crops and helping farmers access government support more easily.

What are Farmer IDs?

A key part of this plan is the ‘Farmer ID.’ Think of it like an Aadhaar card for farmers, which acts as a safe and simple way to identify them. Each ID will be created and managed by the State Governments and will include important information about farmers, like the land they own, the animals they keep, the crops they grow, and the benefits they receive from the government.

So far, 19 states have joined forces with the Ministry of Agriculture to make this happen. Six states—Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu—are testing Farmer IDs to see how they work and gather data about crops.

Big Goals Ahead

The government plans to create digital identities for 11 crore farmers over the next three years. This means 6 crore farmers in 2024-25, 3 crore in 2025-26, and 2 crore in 2026-27. In the recent budget, funds were allocated for better information systems for agriculture, ensuring farmers have up-to-date information about various topics, such as livestock and soil health.

What’s the Government’s Aim?

Once farmers are registered, they will receive a unique ID, just like Aadhaar. This ID will make it easier for them to access important government programs, like the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and Kisan Credit Card programs. Currently, farmers often face long and troublesome verification processes each time they need help, which can be stressful and costly. The new registration plan aims to simplify this process.

The Secretary of Agriculture, Devesh Chaturvedi, highlighted that the new farmer registry would gather more thorough information than ever before. While current data focuses on just the land and crops, the new system will look at individual farmers in more detail.

Chaturvedi also encouraged farmers, scientists, and companies to help raise awareness about the registration process. Camps will be set up nationwide to assist farmers in signing up.

In addition to these steps, the government is developing new technology, like an AI chatbox for farmers, to improve support and services.

NASA is conducting exciting experiments to make artificial clouds high in the sky! These clouds are made by releasing special chemicals like trimethyl aluminum (TMA) from rockets. They help scientists learn more about Earth’s atmosphere, which is the area surrounding our planet.

When these chemicals are released between 80 to 400 kilometers up in the air, they create glowing trails. These bright trails allow scientists to see how air moves and changes in the atmosphere. NASA says that these substances are safe for the environment and are only released in small amounts, much higher than where airplanes fly.

The main purpose of these experiments is to understand important things like how energy moves in the air, what happens between different gases, and how these things can affect space weather. This is key information for knowing how solar activity can impact satellites and technology on Earth.

NASA is also doing related research, like studying gamma rays during thunderstorms, to improve our understanding of Earth’s atmosphere. They carry out these experiments all over the world, launching special rockets from different locations suited for each study. Recently, they did some cloud experiments over Norway, but they have no plans to do any over France soon.

NASA is careful about being transparent and ensures that their experiments do not harm the environment. If they changed the natural conditions too much, it would mess up their research. While some people are worried and think these clouds might be harmful or that NASA is changing the weather, the agency is focused on understanding the mysteries above us.

The Proba-3 mission is an amazing example of teamwork in space technology and international cooperation. It will launch from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 4:08 PM IST and is a joint effort by Isro (the Indian Space Research Organisation) and ESA (the European Space Agency).

Proba-3 consists of two special satellites: the Coronagraph and the Occulter. They will fly close together, just 150 meters apart, to create artificial solar eclipses. This will help scientists observe the Sun’s corona, which is the outer layer of the Sun’s atmosphere. Understanding the corona is crucial because it influences space weather, affecting satellite communications and electricity on Earth.

The Coronagraph satellite has a 5 cm telescope that will take clear pictures of the corona while staying in the shadow of the Occulter satellite, which has a 1.4-meter-wide disc. This setup allows for continuous observations for six hours each time they orbit the Earth, making it 100 times better than previous methods.

To get the satellites into space, Isro will use its PSLV-XL rocket. This rocket is known for being reliable and cost-effective. It can carry the 550 kg mission payload into a special orbit that is higher than normal, which is perfect for this task.

Proba-3 is the fourth mission in the Proba series, which started in 2001. This mission is unique because it will use formation flying, where both satellites will stay in line with each other very precisely. This amazing technology will help with future space missions that need teamwork among satellites.

The satellites will operate in a high orbit, over 60,000 km away from Earth, where gravity is weaker. This makes it easier for them to stay in formation without using too much fuel. The Occulter will cast a precise shadow just 8 cm wide on the Coronagraph to capture high-quality images of the Sun.

This mission showcases Isro’s expanding role in international space adventures. By working with ESA, Isro strengthens scientific and technological connections. This launch also shows that India is a dependable and affordable partner for space missions, paving the way for more global projects in the future.

Today, people are making new friends through AI (artificial intelligence). You can find virtual girlfriends, boyfriends, and even friendly chatbots that feel almost real! Apps like Character.ai, Replika, Candy.ai, and Urvashi (a popular AI girlfriend in India) are becoming super popular, with millions of downloads. In fact, romantic chatbots have been downloaded over 100 million times on the Google Play Store!

These apps help users create their own digital partners that can chat, share pictures, and even talk about grown-up topics if desired. Some apps, like Character.ai, allow you to chat with digital versions of different characters, like a helpful language teacher, job interviewer, or even a friend. Character AI has over 25 million active users and a wide variety of characters to choose from.

There’s also a cool gadget called FRIEND, created by Avi Schiffman. It’s a small pendant necklace that uses AI to help fight loneliness and costs around $99.

AI companionship is exciting but not without warnings. Experts say that while these AI friends can help with feelings of loneliness, people might start to expect too much from real-life relationships. Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, expressed concern that relying too much on AI friends could actually make people feel lonelier. Radhika Mohta, a matchmaker in Bengaluru, noted that AI companions can help those who feel shy or misunderstood, especially in safe, judgment-free spaces.

The AI friendship industry is booming and could potentially be worth $150 billion a year by 2030. So, while having an AI partner can be fun and helpful, it’s important to remember to balance that with real human connections.