Singer Liam Payne has welcomed his first child, a baby boy, with girlfriend Cheryl.

The 23-year-old former One Direction star shared the good news on Instagram by posting a photo of him snuggling his little bundle of joy close.

"I'm incredibly happy to welcome our new baby boy into the world, it's a moment that I will never forget for the rest of my life and my favourite memory I have so far," Payne captioned the photo.

"I'm completely in awe of his incredible mother and how she has been the whole way through this, she's really made my dreams come true," Payne said of Cheryl, 33.

"We haven't named him yet but he's already capturing hearts including mine. I feel very blessed." 

Cheryl shared the same picture of Payne and revealed that the baby was born on March 22.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik, who has consistently been amongst the runs in the domestic circuit, is now eyeing a batsman's slot in the national team, knowing all too well that it was far from easy to displace Wriddhiman Saha and Mahendra Singh Dhoni from their respective positions in Tests and limited overs cricket.

Karthik, who recently led Tamil Nadu to their fifth Vijay Hazare title by scoring 112 in the final against Bengal, finished the one-dayers as the top run-getter averaging 86.71, while amassing 607 runs in nine matches.

In the Ranji Trophy, the 31-year old totalled 704 runs in 10 matches at an average of 54.15.

Playing for India Blue in the Duleep Trophy, the right-hander scored 211 runs in the three games he played, averaging 52.75.

Next up is the Deodhar Trophy where Karthik will again lead Tamil Nadu against the likes of Harbhajan Singh's India A and Parthiv Patel's India B.

"This season has gone well for me and for the team (Tamil Nadu). We will look to continue the good form in the Deodhar Trophy as well," Karthik told IANS in a telephonic interview.

Karthik, who has played 23 Tests and 71 One-day Internationals (ODI) for India, last donned the hallowed blue in 2014 in a 50-over game against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup under Virat Kohli's captaincy.

"I see myself competing for a batsman's slot. I keep scoring runs and at the moment the team has six-seven places for batsmen. So I think I can contribute in the team in that way," Karthik said.

"I have been playing well for the last few seasons and my runs speak for themselves. I feel my batting skills are good enough to pick me solely as batsman," he said, dropping a hint to the national selectors ahead of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy in England in June.

The Vijay Hazare final century was his 10th List A century. For India, Karthik has seven half-centuries in both Tests and ODIs with only one ton in whites.

But at the moment it would be improbable to pencil Karthik in as a keeper with both Saha and Dhoni rubber-stamping their places.

While Saha's latest and perhaps his best knock of 117 in the third Test against Australia in Ranchi, coupled with his brilliant glove work, is another testament as to why the Bengal stumper will remain India's No. 1 choice behind the wicket in the longest format of the game; Dhoni, at 35, still walks into the limited overs XI.

Gujarat skipper Parthiv Patel also made a comeback during the England series, replacing an injured Saha.

Among the younger crop of keepers, Delhi's 19-year-old southpaw Rishabh Pant and Jharkhand's 18-year-old Ishan Kishan are also in line.

From his personal ambitions to the current India-Australia series, Karthik did not want to comment on off-field issues that have mired the battle somewhat, rather talking about the on-field duel which according to him has been intriguing.

"It's been a brilliant series to watch. The brand of cricket has been great. There have been lots of ups and downs for both teams. I feel it will be an excellent Test match at Dharamsala," he said.

Asked to comment on the Australian media taking a dig at Indian skipper Virat Kohli, Karthik, whose last game for India was under Kohli's leadership, preferred to remain coy.

"It will not be right for me to comment on this. I haven't seen the incidents on the field or read about them. I think India have played really well and have shown a lot of character."

In the upcoming 10th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), starting April 5, Karthik will feature for the Gujarat Lions, led by Suresh Raina.

Exuding confidence about his side, who will take on former champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Rajkot on April 7, Karthik said: "We have got a good set of all-rounders which gives us a lot of options. The team is well balanced and I am sure we will put up a good challenge."

Top al Qaeda leader Qari Yasin, who was involved in multiple deadly attacks in Pakistan which claimed dozens of innocent lives, has been killed in a US drone strike in eastern Afghanistan, the Pentagon has said.

Yasin, who is said to be responsible for plotting the September 20, 2008 bombing on a Marriott Hotel in Islamabad and attack on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in 2009 in Lahore, was killed on March 19 in Paktika Province of Afghanistan.

“The death of Qari Yasin is evidence that terrorists who defame Islam and deliberately target innocent people will not escape justice,” US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on March 25.

Pentagon said Yasin was killed in a US counter terrorism strike and the senior leader was responsible for the deaths of dozens of innocent people, including two American service members.

The senior terrorist figure from Balochistan had ties with Tehrik-e Taliban and had plotted multiple al Qaeda terror attacks, including the Marriott Hotel bombing in Islamabad in which US Air Force Maj Rodolfo I Rodriguez and Navy Cryptologic Technician Third Class Petty Officer Matthew J O'Bryant were killed, it said in a statement.

Yasin was also responsible for the 2009 attack on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore. Six Pakistani policemen and two civilians were killed and six members of the team injured, the Pentagon said.

The Pentagon's confirmation comes a few days after the Pakistan Taliban confirmed that Yasin had been killed in a US drone strike.
Describing Yasin as a “close assistant” of the Pakistani Taliban, spokesman of the outfit Mohammad Khurasani said the senior al Qaeda leader was a “trainer of Mujahideen.”

Three of Yasin's “companions” were also killed in the US drone strike, he said.

The US had been hunting Yasin for at least four years, according to Long War Journal.

Veteran actor Anupam Kher, who grew up in Himachal Pradesh, on Sunday bought his first ever house here and gifted it to his mother.

Kher said he always wanted to own a property in Shimla as he has spent all his childhood here.

The actor shared the happy news on Twitter by sharing a video with fans and followers.

"We Indians want to have our own home in a place where we grew up. Happy to share, we have our 1st ever home in Shimla.

Presented it to Mom," Kher captioned the clip.

Sharing his mother's feelings, Kher said in the clip, "My father was a clerk in the Forest Department here. All our life we have lived in government quarters and rented houses and due to some reasons I could not buy a property here.

"Today I've come to Shimla. I've bought a small house here which I want to gift to my mother. And she is really happy.

She has been teary-eyed since yesterday. She said this is the most beautiful thing that could have happened. I wish my dad was here.

Kher, 62, was born on March 1955 in Shimla in a Kashmiri Pandit family. He received education at D A V School. He had also performed various plays at the Himachal Pradesh University.

The Centre is considering slapping import duty of not less than 25 per cent on chana (gram) to curb shipments and protect local farmers from possible price crash in the wake of record output.

India is all set to harvest a record 22 million tonnes of pulses including all-time high chana output of 9 million tonnes this year on good monsoon and sharp rise in prices.

According to sources, the Agriculture Ministry has moved a proposal to impose import duty on chana as it fears that the prices of this rabi crop could fall sharply to the disadvantage of farmers.

The Ministry is of the view that imports need to be controlled for at least chana to protect farmers' interest and has proposed import duty of not less than 25 per cent.

The government does not want to impose import duty on other varieties of pulses as the country will still have to depend on other countries in spite of record output this year.

Wholesale prices of some of the pulses varieties like tur grown in the kharif season of this year have already fallen and the government fears that chana prices could also fall.

Similarly, the retail pulses prices have dropped by about 30 per cent in the last one year and rates of chana dal are likely to fall on bumper production, the government had said last week.

After retail prices skyrocketed to Rs.200 per kg last year, the government took several steps to boost domestic production and reduce import dependence.

Now, that the output has increased sharply by 6 million tonnes, it wants to ensure that farmers get right price for their produce and continue sowing pulses in the coming years.

The annual domestic demand of pulses is around 25 million tonnes. The country had imported about 5.8 million tonnes last fiscal and the shipments are likely to be around same level in the current 2016-17 financial year.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt does not want his comeback film Bhoomi to release on the same day when Aamir Khan's home production Secret Superstar hits the screens.

Bhoomi was slated for a released on August 4 along with Aamir's home production Secret Superstar, starring Zaira Wasim.

Dutt has requested his producers Bhushan Kumar of T-series and Sandeep Singh to change the release date of his film.

"I know the kind of hard work and effort that goes into making a film. I believe, after all the work being put in, it can't be reduced to a clash at the box office," Dutt said in a statement.

"Aamir is a dear friend and I wouldn't want my comeback film to be pitted against his. In this industry, we should all make an effort to help each other." 

The final decision on the release date will be taken by T-Series and Legend Studios.

Directed by Omung Kumar, Bhoomi is a revenge drama and it stars Aditi Rao Hydari as Dutt's daughter.

Secret Superstar, directed by Advait Chandan, narrates the story of a child who aspires to be a singer.

American Venus Williams and Germany's Angelique Kerber both advanced in windy conditions at the Miami Open tennis tournament, earning victories in second-round matches that ended in the wee hours of Saturday.

With strong gusts making every rally an adventure and forcing her to play more defensively than usual, the 11th-seeded Williams leveraged her experience and greater consistency to secure a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia, reports Efe.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion went up an early break only to hand it back when she sent a forehand sailing well over the baseline.

Venus committed nine double faults in the match and looked tentative because of the conditions, yet she notched a crucial service hold to go up 5-4 and then finished off the first set with a forehand winner in the next game.

In the second set, Venus went up 4-2 when Haddad sent a backhand long and then held for 5-2 with a swinging volley winner.

Serving at 5-3, Venus went down 0-30 but she battled back and earned a match point with an unreturnable serve and then sealed the victory with a curling ace that clipped the line.

"It wasn't easy out there. The wind felt like a gale force," Williams said before praising her 166th-ranked opponent. "I'm very impressed with her game and determination, and that will take her very far."

Next up for Venus in the third round will be Romanian qualifier Patricia Maria Tig, who upset 22nd-ranked Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 on Friday.

Just minutes after Venus' match finished, German world No. 1 and top seed Angelique Kerber wrapped up a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory over China's Duan Ying-ying.

Kerber's consistency was also the key factor as she dominated the baseline rallies that ensued when Duan missed her first serve, winning 19 of the Chinese player's 24 second-serve points.

Kerber also commented on the difficult conditions.

"It is windy and it's really late, actually," she said in her on-court interview. "I'm very happy about my win. It's always tough to play your first match here, especially with these conditions."

Kerber will square off in the third round against American Shelby Rogers, who topped Russian No. 31 seed Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 5-7, 6-0.

In men's singles action Friday, Spain's Rafael Nadal began his quest for his first Miami Open title by defeating Israel's Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-4.

Automation is the new norm across sectors and will affect the bottom of pyramid so much so that four out of every 10 jobs globally would be lost due to this by 2021, experts say.

Automation is the new normal in sectors like engineering, manufacturing, automobiles, IT and banking. As automation adoption increases, all high transaction and labour intensive jobs will take a hit.

According to PeopleStrong CEO and Founder Pankaj Bansal, there will be a visible change in the next 3-4 years, first major effects will be seen in the sectors like manufacturing, IT and ITeS and security services and agriculture.

"We predict that by 2021, 4 out of every 10 jobs globally would be lost because of automation. And of these, one in every 4 will be from India. That sums up to 23 per cent of job loss in India," Bansal said.

India produces 5.5 million jobs (across levels) every year, but this number falls short of jobs needed to employ available talent and automation is further increasing the gap.

"If five years ago, there were 1,500 jobs in the assembly line, it has been reduced to 500 jobs now as focus has moved away from skilling to automation," said Francis Padamadan, Country Director KellyOCG India, a talent management solutions provider.

Experts said low skill and high transaction jobs will be affected as automation takes away their jobs. Hiring for short term projects, flexi hiring would be the way forward in these areas for roles that cannot be automated.

To cater to this fallout, government needs to focus on two key areas strengthening the mid-market segment and reskilling the workforce to take up new jobs which will emerge post automation, PeopleStrong's Bansal said.

KellyOCG India's Padamadan believes "automation will not take away all the jobs because you still need someone to build and monitor the robots. So, while jobs mostly at the bottom of pyramid will be affected, new jobs will get added".

The 2017 F1 season got off to a brilliant start with the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, as Ferrari announced their reemergence as major contenders with Sebastian Vettel comfortably easing past the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas to take the season opening race. 

Ferrari, who hadn't won a race since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix, looked impressive in pre-season but the real deal is whether you can live up to the promise on race day. And over the course of 57 laps at Albert Park, the Maranello-based team showed they have what it takes to push Mercedes all the way.

The Australian Grand Prix isn't renowned for many overtaking possibilities so it was going to be a tactical affair of timing your pit stops perfectly and that is exactly what Ferrari did with Vettel.
For Hamilton had started the race on pole and initially looked to be stretching his lead over the four-time world champion Vettel. But once Mercedes called him to pit on Lap 17 to switch to the soft tyres from the ultra soft he had started on, the real race began. For Hamilton was fifth, behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who wasn’t making life easy for the triple world champ.

Ferrari held out for another seven laps, as Vettel looked to put daylight between him and the rest of the chasing pack and when he finally made a pit stop on Lap 24, he came out ahead of fourth-placed Verstappen and more importantly, ahead of Hamilton.

From then on, the German exuded calm and, as the rest of the front-runners made their customary pit stops, continued to extend his advantage over his British rival and with tyres that were clearly fresher.

For once, Ferrari had their pit-stop strategy spot-on and as the chequered flag was waved, a huge cheer went up as F’1s most iconic team celebrated their top-dog status after an extended period of severe underperformance. In fact, Ferrari’s last win at the Australian GP came in 2007, when Vettel’s current teammate, Kimi Raikkonen won the race enroute to his 2007 Championship title.

There were plenty of positives for some teams, not least Sahara Force India as Sergio Perez finished a creditable 7th but it was Sebastian Ocon who stole the show for the team with the pink livery with a 10th place finish, earning his first-ever points in F1 in the process.

And while Mercedes had to settle for second place, the fact that Bottas got his first-ever podium on his Silver Arrows debut,  suggests they are still favourites for the constructors championship.

There were seven retirements however, and the biggest disappointment day had to be Daniel Ricciardo’s power unit failure on Lap 29. While chances of a top-10 finish were effectively over since he started two laps later from the pits, the fact that he couldn’t even complete the race was a big blow for the home fans. Apart from him, Romain Grosjean was the first retirement in the race, his Haas catching fire as it entered the pits on Lap 15, ending his race prematurely after showing some promising signs during qualifying and the early stages of the race.

The year 2016’s bad form continued for McLaren and Fernando Alonso, as the Spaniard was forced to cut his race short, with reliability issues coming to the fore for the Honda-powered team yet again.

The next race is scheduled for April 7-9, when the world’s fastest motorsport makes the long haul to China.

The top 10 drivers after 57 laps:

1. Sebastian Vettel     Ferrari

2. Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes

3. Valterri Bottas    Mercedes

4. Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari

5. Max Verstappen    Red Bull

6. Felipe Massa    Williams

7. Sergio Perez     Force India

8. Carlos Sainz     Toro Rosso

9. Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso

10. Esteban Ocon    Force India

The 2017 F1 season got off to a brilliant start with the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, as Ferrari announced their reemergence as major contenders with Sebastian Vettel comfortably easing past the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas to take the season opening race. 

Ferrari, who hadn't won a race since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix, looked impressive in pre-season but the real deal is whether you can live up to the promise on race day. And over the course of 57 laps at Albert Park, the Maranello-based team showed they have what it takes to push Mercedes all the way.

The Australian Grand Prix isn't renowned for many overtaking possibilities so it was going to be a tactical affair of timing your pit stops perfectly and that is exactly what Ferrari did with Vettel.
For Hamilton had started the race on pole and initially looked to be stretching his lead over the four-time world champion Vettel. But once Mercedes called him to pit on Lap 17 to switch to the soft tyres from the ultra soft he had started on, the real race began. For Hamilton was fifth, behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who wasn’t making life easy for the triple world champ.

Ferrari held out for another seven laps, as Vettel looked to put daylight between him and the rest of the chasing pack and when he finally made a pit stop on Lap 24, he came out ahead of fourth-placed Verstappen and more importantly, ahead of Hamilton.

From then on, the German exuded calm and, as the rest of the front-runners made their customary pit stops, continued to extend his advantage over his British rival and with tyres that were clearly fresher.

For once, Ferrari had their pit-stop strategy spot-on and as the chequered flag was waved, a huge cheer went up as F’1s most iconic team celebrated their top-dog status after an extended period of severe underperformance. In fact, Ferrari’s last win at the Australian GP came in 2007, when Vettel’s current teammate, Kimi Raikkonen won the race enroute to his 2007 Championship title.

There were plenty of positives for some teams, not least Sahara Force India as Sergio Perez finished a creditable 7th but it was Sebastian Ocon who stole the show for the team with the pink livery with a 10th place finish, earning his first-ever points in F1 in the process.

And while Mercedes had to settle for second place, the fact that Bottas got his first-ever podium on his Silver Arrows debut,  suggests they are still favourites for the constructors championship.

There were seven retirements however, and the biggest disappointment day had to be Daniel Ricciardo’s power unit failure on Lap 29. While chances of a top-10 finish were effectively over since he started two laps later from the pits, the fact that he couldn’t even complete the race was a big blow for the home fans. Apart from him, Romain Grosjean was the first retirement in the race, his Haas catching fire as it entered the pits on Lap 15, ending his race prematurely after showing some promising signs during qualifying and the early stages of the race.

The year 2016’s bad form continued for McLaren and Fernando Alonso, as the Spaniard was forced to cut his race short, with reliability issues coming to the fore for the Honda-powered team yet again.

The next race is scheduled for April 7-9, when the world’s fastest motorsport makes the long haul to China.

The top 10 drivers after 57 laps:

1. Sebastian Vettel     Ferrari

2. Lewis Hamilton     Mercedes

3. Valterri Bottas    Mercedes

4. Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari

5. Max Verstappen    Red Bull

6. Felipe Massa    Williams

7. Sergio Perez     Force India

8. Carlos Sainz     Toro Rosso

9. Daniil Kvyat        Toro Rosso

10. Esteban Ocon    Force India

Opener Lokesh Rahul looked in fine nick as India made a cautious start, reaching 64-1 in their first innings at lunch on the second day of the fourth and final cricket Test here on Sunday.

Rahul was unbeaten on 31 in company of another in-form batsman Cheteshwar Pujara (22 batting) adding 43 runs for the unbroken second wicket stand. The only batsman to be dismissed was Murali Vijay (11).

The Indian team began slowly during the first hour but courtesy Rahul picked up the tempo during the second hour as they ran well between the wickets and also punished the loose deliveries.

Rahul, who hit five boundaries in 75 balls during the session, was at his elegant best once again. The first boundary was an inside out cover drive off Nathan Lyon. He did survive a nasty Pat Cummins delivery that flew past the slip cordon.

After initial period of caution, he did take some risks uppishly sweeping Lyon for a boundary as run flow was stopped by the Australian bowlers.

When Cummins bowled one into his ribs, he nicely tucked one off his hips to fine leg boundary. The shot off the day was an on-drive off Cummins that raced to the fence.

Pujara was solid as ever at the other end not taking any undue risks. He teed off with a cover driven boundary off Josh Hazlewood and took singles at will.

When Steve O'Keefe was brought into the attack, he came down the track to hit a cover drive.

Hazlewood (1/16 in 8 overs) and Cummins (0/22 in 10 overs) bowled an impeccable line in the first hour. Especially Hazlewood, who bowled the perfect length on the off-stump getting it to move a shade away.

Vijay hit a flowing cover drive off Hazlewood and got another off the bowler even though it wasn't a controlled shot.

But Hazlewood had found his channel by then and was able to hit a few visible cracks from which the deliveries were deviating away. A faint nick was gobbled up by Matthew Wade with Hazlewood getting his first wicket.

Opener Lokesh Rahul looked in fine nick as India made a cautious start, reaching 64-1 in their first innings at lunch on the second day of the fourth and final cricket Test here on Sunday.

Rahul was unbeaten on 31 in company of another in-form batsman Cheteshwar Pujara (22 batting) adding 43 runs for the unbroken second wicket stand. The only batsman to be dismissed was Murali Vijay (11).

The Indian team began slowly during the first hour but courtesy Rahul picked up the tempo during the second hour as they ran well between the wickets and also punished the loose deliveries.

Rahul, who hit five boundaries in 75 balls during the session, was at his elegant best once again. The first boundary was an inside out cover drive off Nathan Lyon. He did survive a nasty Pat Cummins delivery that flew past the slip cordon.

After initial period of caution, he did take some risks uppishly sweeping Lyon for a boundary as run flow was stopped by the Australian bowlers.

When Cummins bowled one into his ribs, he nicely tucked one off his hips to fine leg boundary. The shot off the day was an on-drive off Cummins that raced to the fence.

Pujara was solid as ever at the other end not taking any undue risks. He teed off with a cover driven boundary off Josh Hazlewood and took singles at will.

When Steve O'Keefe was brought into the attack, he came down the track to hit a cover drive.

Hazlewood (1/16 in 8 overs) and Cummins (0/22 in 10 overs) bowled an impeccable line in the first hour. Especially Hazlewood, who bowled the perfect length on the off-stump getting it to move a shade away.

Vijay hit a flowing cover drive off Hazlewood and got another off the bowler even though it wasn't a controlled shot.

But Hazlewood had found his channel by then and was able to hit a few visible cracks from which the deliveries were deviating away. A faint nick was gobbled up by Matthew Wade with Hazlewood getting his first wicket.

NASA said its Juno spacecraft will make its fifth flyby over Jupiter's mysterious cloud tops on March 27.

At the time of closest approach, Juno will be about 4,400 km above the planet's cloud tops, moving at a speed of about 57.8 km per second relative to the gas-giant planet. 

All of Juno's eight science instruments will be on and collecting data during the flyby.

"This will be our fourth science pass — the fifth close flyby of Jupiter of the mission — and we are excited to see what new discoveries Juno will reveal," said Scott Bolton, Principal Investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, US. 

"Every time we get near Jupiter's cloud tops, we learn new insights that help us understand this amazing giant planet," Bolton said in a statement.

Launched on August 5, 2011, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Juno arrived in orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016. 

During its mission of exploration, Juno soars low over the planet's cloud tops.

During these flybys, Juno probes beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and studying its auroras to learn more about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

The Juno science team continues to analyse returns from previous flybys. Scientists have discovered that Jupiter's magnetic fields are more complicated than originally thought, and that the belts and zones that give the planet's cloud tops their distinctive look extend deep into the its interior. 

Observations of the energetic particles that create the incandescent auroras suggest a complicated current system involving charged material lofted from volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io.

Peer-reviewed papers with more in-depth science results from Juno's first flybys are expected to be published within the next few months, NASA said.

NASA said its Juno spacecraft will make its fifth flyby over Jupiter's mysterious cloud tops on March 27.

At the time of closest approach, Juno will be about 4,400 km above the planet's cloud tops, moving at a speed of about 57.8 km per second relative to the gas-giant planet. 

All of Juno's eight science instruments will be on and collecting data during the flyby.

"This will be our fourth science pass — the fifth close flyby of Jupiter of the mission — and we are excited to see what new discoveries Juno will reveal," said Scott Bolton, Principal Investigator of Juno from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, US. 

"Every time we get near Jupiter's cloud tops, we learn new insights that help us understand this amazing giant planet," Bolton said in a statement.

Launched on August 5, 2011, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, Juno arrived in orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016. 

During its mission of exploration, Juno soars low over the planet's cloud tops.

During these flybys, Juno probes beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter and studying its auroras to learn more about the planet's origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

The Juno science team continues to analyse returns from previous flybys. Scientists have discovered that Jupiter's magnetic fields are more complicated than originally thought, and that the belts and zones that give the planet's cloud tops their distinctive look extend deep into the its interior. 

Observations of the energetic particles that create the incandescent auroras suggest a complicated current system involving charged material lofted from volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io.

Peer-reviewed papers with more in-depth science results from Juno's first flybys are expected to be published within the next few months, NASA said.

Scientists have identified a record breaking brown dwarf with the 'purest' composition that is about 90 times as massive as Jupiter, located 750 light years away in the outermost reaches of our galaxy.

Brown dwarfs are intermediate between planets and fully-fledged stars. Their mass is too small for full nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium (with a consequent release of energy) to take place, but they are usually significantly more massive than planets.

The object, known as SDSS J0104+1535, is located 750 light years away in the constellation of Pisces, SDSS J0104+1535 is made of gas that is around 250 times purer than the Sun, so consists of more than 99.99 per cent hydrogen and helium.

Estimated to have formed about 10 billion years ago, measurements also suggest it has a mass equivalent to 90 times that of Jupiter, making it the most massive brown dwarf found to date.

It was previously not known if brown dwarfs could form from such primordial gas, and the discovery points the way to a larger undiscovered population of extremely pure brown dwarfs from our Galaxy's ancient past.

"We really didn't expect to see brown dwarfs that are this pure," said ZengHua Zhang of the Institute of Astrophysics in the Canary Islands.

"Having found one though often suggests a much larger hitherto undiscovered population, I'd be very surprised if there aren't many more similar objects out there waiting to be found," said Zhang.

SDSS J0104+1535 has been classified as an L type ultra-subdwarf using its optical and near-infrared spectrum, measured using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT).

The findings were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Scientists have identified a record breaking brown dwarf with the 'purest' composition that is about 90 times as massive as Jupiter, located 750 light years away in the outermost reaches of our galaxy.

Brown dwarfs are intermediate between planets and fully-fledged stars. Their mass is too small for full nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium (with a consequent release of energy) to take place, but they are usually significantly more massive than planets.

The object, known as SDSS J0104+1535, is located 750 light years away in the constellation of Pisces, SDSS J0104+1535 is made of gas that is around 250 times purer than the Sun, so consists of more than 99.99 per cent hydrogen and helium.

Estimated to have formed about 10 billion years ago, measurements also suggest it has a mass equivalent to 90 times that of Jupiter, making it the most massive brown dwarf found to date.

It was previously not known if brown dwarfs could form from such primordial gas, and the discovery points the way to a larger undiscovered population of extremely pure brown dwarfs from our Galaxy's ancient past.

"We really didn't expect to see brown dwarfs that are this pure," said ZengHua Zhang of the Institute of Astrophysics in the Canary Islands.

"Having found one though often suggests a much larger hitherto undiscovered population, I'd be very surprised if there aren't many more similar objects out there waiting to be found," said Zhang.

SDSS J0104+1535 has been classified as an L type ultra-subdwarf using its optical and near-infrared spectrum, measured using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT).

The findings were published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Apart from enhancing well-being, people who spend their time on spiritual, meditative and religious retreats are likely to have changes in the brains systems associated with mood and social behaviour, sleep, memory, says a study.

The findings showed that the changes in the dopamine — responsible for mediating cognition, emotion and movement — and serotonin — involved in emotional regulation and mood — systems in the brains may prime the brain for spiritual experiences.

The post-retreat scans revealed decreases in dopamine transporter (5-8 per cent) and serotonin transporter (6.5 per cent) binding, which could make more of the neurotransmitters available to the brain.

This is associated with positive emotions and spiritual feelings.

"Since serotonin and dopamine are part of the reward and emotional systems of the brain, it helps us understand why these practices result in powerful, positive emotional experiences," said Andrew Newberg, Director of Research at the Thomas Jefferson University in Pennsylvania, US.

In the study, post their retreats participants showed marked improvements in their perceived physical health, tension and fatigue.

They also reported increased feelings of self-transcendence which correlated to the change in dopamine binding.

"Our study raises questions about which aspects of the retreat caused the changes in the neurotransmitter systems and if different retreats would produce different results," Newberg said.