New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Signalling the growing importance of India for the South Korean giant, Jong-Hee (JH) Han, Vice Chairman, CEO and Head of the Device eXperience (DX) Division at Samsung Electronics, said on Tuesday that the country is one of the biggest and fastest-growing markets globally and offers a huge opportunity for the company.

Han also visited the company’s Noida factory where Samsung manufactures smartphones, tablets and refrigerators, said they are among the first companies to invest in India.

“I am happy that the Noida factory has emerged as one of our biggest facilities, manufacturing not only for India, but for the world,” Han noted.

Han said that India has a large population of tech-savvy young consumers that inspire us to innovate.

“I am proud that many young, enterprising engineers who are playing an important role in the development of AI are working at our R&D centres in India,” he added.

Samsung unveiled its “AI for All” vision — which aims to improve the lives of consumers by bringing artificial intelligence and hyper-connectivity through open collaboration — at the start of the year.

This year, Samsung’s Galaxy AI-powered premium smartphones and Bespoke AI home appliances — such as refrigerators, ACs and washing machines — have together created a unique connected devices ecosystem.

While Samsung is deeply dedicated to its commitment to “Make in India” through its two state-of-the-art manufacturing plants at Noida and Sriperumbudur, it is equally invested in a design centre in Noida and three R&D facilities.

Of the three R&D facilities, which drive innovation for both local and global products, two are located in Noida and one in Bengaluru.

–IANS

na/

New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Over the past 500-plus million years, the interactions between the Earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and life have created favourable conditions for early organisms.

An interdisciplinary team of scientists has explored this co-evolutionary history in a perspective article published in the National Science Review.

The team from Syracuse University, Oxford University, and Stanford University focussed on the Phanerozoic Eon, which began around 540 million years ago.

At that time, high carbon dioxide and low oxygen levels in the atmosphere posed challenges for life.

However, ocean algae played a crucial role in transforming these conditions by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen through photosynthesis.

“One of our tasks was to summarise the most important discoveries about carbon dioxide and oxygen in the atmosphere and ocean over the past 500 million years,” said Zunli Lu, a Syracuse University geochemistry professor and the paper’s lead author.

“We reviewed how those physical changes affected the evolution of life in the ocean. But it’s a two-way street. The evolution of life also impacted the chemical environment.”

The study highlighted how these changes influenced animal life in the ocean.

“The ability of animals to live in an ocean environment was affected by oxygen levels,” noted Jonathan Payne, a co-author and professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Stanford University.

Payne examined ancient animals’ metabolic requirements and their survival patterns in the fossil record.

As photosynthetic algae adapted to changing environmental conditions, they developed more efficient ways to perform photosynthesis, creating internal compartments to control the chemistry.

“For algae, it is changes in the environmental ratio of O2/CO2 that seems to be key to driving improved photosynthetic efficiency,” explained co-author Rosalind Rickaby, a professor of geology at Oxford University.

The study emphasises the need for future research to map spatial patterns of ocean oxygen, biomarkers for photosynthesis, and metabolic tolerance in the fossil record to understand the interplay between life and the environment.

–IANS

ts/rad

Bengaluru, July 30 (IANS) Rapid global advancement in artificial intelligence has spurred demand for office space, and AI and robotics companies accounted for 21 per cent of the city’s absorption in the April-June quarter, a report said on Tuesday.

Overall, the IT-ITeS sector, including AI and robotics, accounted for 69 per cent of the city’s absorption in the second quarter (Q2) this year, according to the report by Vestian, an occupier-focused workplace solutions firm.

Bengaluru contributed the highest to pan-India absorption with a 25 per cent share in Q2, followed by Hyderabad and Mumbai at 20 per cent each.

“Despite global geopolitical challenges, India’s office markets reported robust real estate activities during Q2 2024. The quarter has already set the tone for robust leasing and construction activities for the current calendar year,” said Shrinivas Rao, FRICS, CEO, Vestian.

“Flex spaces are also likely to play a pivotal role in the growth of office markets in India,” Rao added.

Pune reported the highest quarterly growth, around 307 per cent, in value terms whereas absorption declined by 48 per cent in Chennai during Q2 2024.

All the cities, except Chennai and Delhi-NCR, reported an increase in absorption on quarter and on year, the report mentioned.

The first half of this year witnessed absorption of over 30 million square feet, registering an uptick of 18 per cent compared to H1 2023.

Bengaluru dominated new completions with a 28 per cent share, closely followed by Mumbai with 27 per cent.

Southern cities (Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad) accounted for 57 per cent of the total new completions reported in Q2 2024.

“Real estate activities are anticipated to increase further on the back of strengthened demand from IT-ITeS and BFSI sectors,” said Rao.

–IANS

na/svn

Seoul, July 30 (IANS) SK hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker, said on Tuesday it plans to begin full-fledged production of its next-generation GDDR7 graphics memory chip in the third quarter.

The company said the GDDR7 boasts industry-leading qualities, with an operating speed of 32 gigabits per second, a 60 percent improvement from the previous generation.

When adopted for high-end graphics cards, the product can process data of more than 1.5 terabytes, equivalent to around 300 full-HD movies, in a second, reports Yonhap news agency.

The new chip also comes with improved power efficiency, by more than 50 percent compared with the previous generation, by adopting new packaging technology that addresses heat issues resulting from its ultra-fast data processing.

Lee Sang-kwon, head of the DRAM product planning division at SK hynix, said that GDDR7 is expected to be adopted by a wider range of applications, such as high-specification 3D graphics, AI, high-performance computing and autonomous driving.

“We will continue to work toward enhancing our position as the most trusted AI memory solution provider by strengthening the premium memory lineup further,” Lee said.

Meanwhile, SK Group will secure 80 trillion won ($58 billion) by 2026 for investments, mainly in artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

SK Telecom, the country’s leading wireless services providers, and telecommunications firm SK Broadband will invest 3.4 trillion won in establishing AI data centres by 2028, it said.

–IANS

na/

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Japanese scientists on Monday revealed an association between cord blood fatty acid metabolites and autism spectrum disorder symptoms in children.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects the learning capability and social behaviour of people.

While the exact causes of ASD remain unclear, evidence points to neuroinflammation as a major risk factor.

Several mice studies have linked polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and their metabolites during pregnancy with ASD risk.

PUFA metabolites regulated by the cytochrome P450 (CYP) affect foetal development in mice causing impairments closely linked to ASD symptoms. However, it is still unclear if the same is true for humans and needs further investigation.

The team from the University of Fukui in Japan hypothesised that the dynamics of CYP-PUFA metabolites during the foetal period would influence ASD symptoms and difficulties with daily functioning in children after birth.

“CYP metabolism forms both epoxy fatty acids (EpFAs), which have anti-inflammatory effects, and dihydroxy fatty acids, or ‘diols,’ which have inflammatory properties,” Professor Hideo Matsuzaki from the Research Center for Child Mental Development, University of Fukui.

The study, published in the journal Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, analysed the CYP-PUFA levels in 200 neonatal umbilical cord blood samples. They identified one compound in cord blood with strong implications for ASD severity, namely 11,12- dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids (diHETrE).

“The levels of diHETrE — an arachidonic acid-derived diol — in cord blood at birth significantly impacted subsequent ASD symptoms in children and were also associated with impaired adaptive functioning,” Matsuzaki said, adding that inhibiting diHETrE metabolism during pregnancy might be a promising avenue for preventing ASD traits in children, although more research will be needed in this regard.

–IANS

rvt/vd