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:: Google introduces Flight Search in India :::

Users can search directly for flights on Google or access google.co.in/flights to find, compare and book flights. The service works on mobile devices, tablets and PCs.

The flight search gives users options to search for round trip, one way and multi-city flights. When users click on the departure date field, the service also offers a calendar with the lowest fares for the route highlighted for each day. It also lets users use the lowest fares graph below the calendar to see how prices may fluctuate based on the season, holidays or other events.

After selecting the departure and return dates, users get a list of 'Best flights', which shortlists flights based on the best combination of convenience and price. It lets users view other flights by scrolling through the summary list or selecting, "Show longer or more expensive flights."

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NASA develops instrument to measure moisture on Earth’s Soil

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have developed an instrument that is capable to measure moisture on Earth’s Soil with unquestionable accuracy.
The instrument is named ‘Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP)’ and it will be launched on January 29, 2015. This is the fifth NASA Earth Science Mission launched within the last 12 months.

This remote sensing instrument in space has three main parts; a powerful radiometer, a radar and the largest rotating mesh antenna ever deployed in space.

The dish used in this instrument is 19.7 feet in diameter. The sensor in the instrument will help us to procure the most accurate measurement of Earth’s soil moisture.

The moisture in the Earth’s soil plays a crucial role in determining changes in environment, and understanding it in the most accurate manner will surely fetch benign benefits.

Wendy Edelstein, the instrument manager of ‘Soil Moisture Active Passive’ said that launch of instrument demands careful engineering. Edelstein said that the team should ensure that the mesh doesn’t hang up on the supports and tear when it’s deploying. He also added that they have a very stable and robust system now.

The radar in the ‘Soil Moisture Active Passive’ makes use of the antenna to transmit microwaves towards the earth, and receive the signals which will bounce back.

Changes which happen in the electrical properties of the returning microwaves indicate variations in soil moisture. It will also tell us whether the soil is frozen or not.

With the help of Synthetic aperture radar processing, the radar is capable to produce Ultra Sharp images with a resolution of one to three kilometers.