TERRA DAILY EXPRESS - MAY 22, 2006
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24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
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NEWS AS OF 12:30 UTC - May 22, 2006


ENERGY TECH

Scientists say they have cleared technical hurdle in fusion research
Paris (AFP) May 21, 2006 - Physicists working in the United States believe they have cracked an important problem facing man-made nuclear fusion, touted as the cheap, safe, clean and almost limitless energy source of the future.

China reaches milestone with completion of Three Gorges dam
Beijing (AFP) May 20, 2006 - After 13 years of immense physical effort and technical ingenuity, China Saturday put the finishing touches to its controversial Three Gorges dam, the world's largest hydropower project.

Critics say price of China's Three Gorges dam too high

China mine flooding traps 44, management arrested

EPIDEMICS

Finding Cures For The Disease Of Neglect
Washington (UPI) May 22, 2006 - Neglected diseases -- diseases that are widespread and destructive but affect primarily the world's poor and thus attract little research investment in cures -- kill and sicken millions every year.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Putting The Puzzle Of Life Together
Uniontown PA (SPX) May 22, 2006 - Two laboratories at Penn State set out to show how an obscure undersea microbe metabolizes carbon monoxide into methane and vinegar. What they found was not merely a previously unknown biochemical process--their discovery also became the inspiration for a fundamental new theory of the origin of life on Earth, reconciling a long-contentious pair of prevailing theories.

WATER WORLD

Nanotube Membranes Offer Possibility Of Cheaper Desalination
Livermore CA (SPX) May 22, 2006 - A nanotube membrane on a silicon chip the size of a quarter may offer a cheaper way to remove salt from water. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have created a membrane made of carbon nanotubes and silicon that may offer, among many possible applications, a less expensive desalinization.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

CapRock Expands Disaster Satellite Services in Preparation For Hurricane Season
Houston (SPX) May 22, 2006 - Building on the success of its DR-250 disaster recovery service launched last year, CapRock Communications, a leading global satellite communications provider, is significantly expanding its disaster recovery product line for 2006. The new service packages will be available under two different programs, Broadband DR-VSAT and Private Line DR-VSAT.

New Network Needed to Solve First Responder Communications Crisis

WOOD PILE

Scientific Group Endorses Radical Plan To Save Rainforests
Washington DC (SPX) May 22, 2006 - The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC), the world's largest scientific organization devoted to the study and wise use of tropical ecosystems, has formally endorsed a bold new proposal to help save tropical forests.

Smithsonian Helps To Plan For Panama's Coiba National Park

CLIMATE SCIENCE

Al Gore issues global warming wake-up call at Cannes
Cannes, France (AFP) May 20, 2006 - After years of failing to persuade the world's most powerful politicians to take the issue seriously, former US vice president Al Gore Saturday took his personal crusade against global warming to Cannes.

Canada wants Kyoto climate-change deal scrapped: report

WEATHER REPORT

Fresh Light Cast On Sandstorm Origins
Beijing (XNA) May 22, 2006 - A 10-year study on sandstorms has cast new light on the origins and movements of the dusty phenomenon. The storms are closely related to Siberian cold fronts, and come along three different routes, said Kang Ling, deputy director of the Observatory of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Extreme Events Challenge Chinese Weather Forecasters

SHAKE AND BLOW

More seek shelter from simmering Indonesian volcano
Mount Merapi, Indonesia (AFP) May 21, 2006 - More people have fled the slopes of Indonesia's simmering Mount Merapi, unsure whether the volcano is set to erupt because of thick cloud blanketing its peak, officials said Sunday.

Asian countries count the cost of Typhoon Chanchu
Hanoi (AFP) May 19, 2006 - Asian countries were left counting the cost of Typhoon Chanchu on Saturday after it swept through the Philippines, Vietnam and southern China leaving at least 90 people dead and hundreds more missing.

For many, a Merapi eruption is cause to rejoice

CIVIL NUCLEAR

Canada, Australia seek to protect uranium exports
Ottawa (AFP) May 19, 2006 - Canada and Australia, which hold the world's largest uranium reserves, agreed Friday to work together to protect their nuclear exports which may be threatened by US energy security proposals.

Sevmash Wins Tender For Floating Nuclear Reactor

FROTH AND BUBBLE

Finland hopes to clean up Russian shipping in Baltic
Helsinki (AFP) May 21, 2006 - Finland will use its upcoming presidency of the European Union to draw Russia's attention to pollution in the Baltic Sea, which is seeing unprecedented traffic as a result of rising oil exports and growing regional economic activity.

WATER WORLD

Zanzibar passes law to punish misuse of water amid drought
Zanzibar, Tanzania (AFP) May 21, 2006 - The president of Zanzibar passed a law to punish people convicted of misusing or polluting water, in a bid to save water in the parched Tanzanian island, officials said on Sunday.

SUPERPOWERS

New Tests For Sino-Russian Ties
Beijing (UPI) May 22, 2006 - The strategic partnership forged between China and Russia as a counterweight to American predominance on the world stage a decade ago is gaining momentum.

Germany's Merkel to push China to play larger international role

Chinese filmmaker risks five-year ban over Cannes entry: report

POLITICAL ECONOMY

The Global Roulette Wheel Could Spin The Economy Out
Washington (UPI) May 22, 2006 - American gross domestic product is $10 trillion a year. A staggering amount when you realize that one trillion seconds ago was 29,000 years before Jesus Christ. A billion hours ago, human beings and their ancestors were in the Middle Paleolithic Age, or the Stone Age.

FLOATING STEEL

RIT Students Design Deep-Sea Explorer To Search For Lake Ontario Shipwrecks
Rochester NY (SPX) May 22, 2006 - It's designed to explore the depths of large bodies of water—and one recent weekend, that's exactly where it was found: searching the depths of the deep end of Judson Pool in Rochester Institute of Technology's Gordon Field House and Activities Center. (As the adage goes, every journey begins with a single step.)

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TERRA DAILY EXPRESS - MAY 26, 2006
http://www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century


+ MIT Poet Develops 'Seeing Machine'

Cambridge MA (SPX) May 26, 2006 - An MIT poet has developed a small, relatively inexpensive "seeing machine" that can allow people who are blind, or visually challenged like her, to access the Internet, view the face of a friend, "previsit" unfamiliar buildings and more.

EPIDEMICS

+ New Vaccine Development Provides Potent Long-Lasting Immunity

Pittsburgh PA (SPX) May 26, 2006 - The field of vaccine development is getting a boost from new research that has identified a promising vaccine delivery approach, which in animal studies produced long-term immune protection after just one immunization.

+ Cure For Reading Glasses May Be In View
+ Orange Juice Could Be A Source Of Foodborne Disease
+ Robotic Joystick Reveals How Brain Controls Movement

CYBER WARS

+ When It Comes To Privacy, Gender Matters

Seattle WA (SPX) May 26, 2006 - A study aimed at assessing perspectives about privacy in a public place - particularly when surveillance is not related to security - suggests women are more concerned than men, both as watcher and the watched.

ENERGY TECH

+ Sweet Success For Pioneering Hydrogen Energy Project

Birmingham, UK (SPX) May 26, 2006 - In a feasibility study funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, bioscientists at the University of Birmingham have demonstrated that these bacteria give off hydrogen gas as they consume high-sugar waste produced by the confectionery industry.

+ Better Distillation Curve Apparatus Built

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ Radioactive Tritium Pollutes Groundwater

Chicago (UPI) May 26, 2006 - Officials at Illinois' Braidwood nuclear plant have reportedly been ordered to begin cleaning up groundwater contaminated with radioactive tritium. The preliminary injunction obtained by state and local officials also orders the plant's operator, the Exelon Corp., to monitor nearby private wells for contamination, The Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Ocean Useful In Hurricane Disaster Relief

Clemson SC (UPI) May 26, 2006 - U.S. scientists say the ocean might provide an important highway for use in a hurricane disaster. "The ocean is a natural highway, essentially unaffected by hurricane destruction," said Clemson University Emeritus Professor Clinton Whitehurs Jr., lead author of a study entitled "Hurricane Relief from the Sea.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Live Via Satellite: Scientists To Track Caspian Sea Sturgeons

Atyrau, Kazakhstan (SPX) May 26, 2006 - Scientists working in the Ural River, Kazakhstan, have successfully attached Pop-up Archival Transmitting (PAT) tags to four sturgeons and have released the animals into the Caspian Sea, hoping to get a clear picture of Caspian Sea sturgeon movement and behavior never before available.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Managing Indian E-Waste

New Delhi (UPI) May 26, 2006 - A combination of greater affordability and a constant turnover in new computer technology is contributing to an e-waste problem never before encountered in India, leading to some serious thinking on how to manage a solution, say experts.

SUPERPOWERS

+ Chinese And US Scientists To Cooperate

Beijing (UPI) May 26, 2006 - The U.S. National Science Foundation opened an office in Beijing Wednesday, aimed at encouraging greater collaboration between Chinese and U.S. scientists. The office hopes to stimulate ideas and programs in areas including physics, bioscience and information science, said the foundation's director, Arden L Bement.

+ China's Defense Challenge

NUKEWARS

+ 'Nukes breed nukes,' ElBaradei warns

Washington (AFP) May 25, 2006 - The head of the UN atomic watchdog warned Thursday that world powers must renounce nuclear arms or accept that more and more countries will manage to secure their own bombs.

+ World powers foreign ministers to meet on Iran next week: US
+ Blair: we don't want conflict with Iran, we're too busy
+ US lawmakers want Pakistan to reopen probe on illicit nuclear network
+ US envoy rules out new incentives to draw North Korea back to talks
+ Gulf States Fear Iran War
+ Qatar pours cold water on Gulf initiative on Iran

NANO TECH

+ Invisibility Through Nano

New York (UPI) May 26, 2006 - Invisibility cloaks that bend light might develop using nanotechnology, experts tell UPI's Nano World. "There are probably quite a number of useful things you could do with stealth for the military," said researcher John Pendry, a physicist at Imperial College London.

EPIDEMICS

+ Iran Bird Flu On UN Agenda

United Nations (UPI) May 24, 2006 - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on Vietnam to share knowledge gained in a successful campaign against bird flu, but warned the country to not let its guard down in the continuing fight against the disease.

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TERRA DAILY EXPRESS - MAY 29, 2006
http://www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Indonesia quake teams using tsunami experience, says UN chief

Washington (AFP) May 28, 2006 - International rescue teams helping victims of the Indonesia earthquake, which has killed over 4,600 people, gained valuable experience in the operation after the 2004 tsunami disaster, UN aid coordinator Jan Egeland said Sunday.

+ Hospitals overwhelmed in Indonesian quake zone

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ More quakes show power of Pacific 'Ring of Fire'

Jakarta (AFP) May 28, 2006 - The Pacific's volatile "Ring of Fire" unleashed two more earthquakes Sunday, a day after a temblor in Indonesia left more than 3,300 dead in one of the world's most seismically active regions.

+ Earthquakes and volcanoes, Indonesia's twin nightmares
+ Pacific 'Ring of Fire' unleashes another disaster
+ Earthquake in ocean near Tonga
+ Earthquake jolts northern Philippines, no damage or injuries
+ Strong earthquake hits Papua New Guinea

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ New Orleans again vulnerable as new hurricane season opens

New Orleans, Louisiana (AFP) May 28, 2006 - With a new storm season looming ominously, New Orleans remains vulnerable eight months after Hurricane Katrina wrecked thousands of homes and left much of the city under water.

WATER WORLD

+ Drought order leaves British clowns high and dry

London (AFP) May 27, 2006 - Circus clowns have fallen foul of a drought order granted to a British utility because of diminishing stocks of water, a number of newspapers reported Saturday.

WOOD PILE

+ Indonesia promises this year will be less hazy

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) May 28, 2006 - Indonesia has said the choking haze that annually blankets parts of Southeast Asia will be reduced this year as it cracks down on oil palm plantations that clear land by burning.

MONSOON SEASON

+ Monsoon hits India's south coast six days early, cheers farmers

Thiruvananthapuram, India (AFP) May 26, 2006 - India's annual monsoon rains hit India's southern state of Kerala on Friday, six days ahead of schedule, bringing cheer to farmers in the agriculture-dependent nation.

ENERGY TECH

+ US oil and gas industry heads into hurricane season still weak

New Orleans, Louisiana (AFP) May 28, 2006 - With exploration and production still struggling to catch up to last year's levels, the US's crucial Gulf of Mexico oil and gas industry is gearing up for what could be another dangerous hurricane season.

+ Oil giants turn to Arctic promised land
+ Oil prices firmer on Iran, US demand concerns
+ Strategic Russian pipeline to be re-routed 400 kilometres from Baikal
+ Bush hails House bill opening Alaska wildlife refuge to drilling

UNITED NATIONS

+ Japan makes UN pitch to Pacific islands

Nago, Japan (AFP) May 26, 2006 - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a pitch Friday to leaders of Pacific nations to support Japan's bid for the UN Security Council, a goal China has been working hard to block.

+ Search for sushi draining Mediterranean's red tuna stocks

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ India admits more work to be done on nuclear deal with US

New Delhi (AFP) May 26, 2006 - More work has to be done on the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal before it goes through Congress, according to New Delhi's top diplomat.

TERRA DAILY EXPRESS - MAY 30, 2006
http://www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century


TODAY'S NEWS IN BRIEF

BLUE SKY

+ Faster Warming In Subtropics Pushes Jet Streams Toward Poles

Tacoma WA (SPX) May 30, 2006
The atmosphere is warming faster in subtropical areas, around 30 degrees north and south latitude, than it is elsewhere, University of Washington-led research shows. But scientists examining more than 25 years of satellite data also found that each hemisphere's jet stream has moved toward the pole by about 1 degree of latitude, or 70 miles.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Indonesia races to cope with quake survivors

Bantul, Indonesia (AFP) May 29, 2006
Indonesia raced to cope with thousands of injured and homeless earthquake survivors Monday as the United Nations vowed help would come faster than after the 2004 Asian tsunami. As the death toll from Saturday's powerful quake jumped to more than 5,100 people, relief officials urged nations to rush in badly needed field hospitals, medicines, tents and supplies.

+ UN says Indonesia quake aid faster than post-tsunami
+ Hospitals, tents must be raced to Indonesia quake victims: UN
+ Aid flies in for Indonesia quake victims

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Volcano near Indonesian quake zone shows increased activity

Mount Merapi, Indonesia (AFP) May 29, 2006
Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano, located near the epicentre of a strong weekend earthquake, showed increased activity Monday, belching more lava and heat clouds, scientists said.

+ Villagers see Indonesia quake as warning
+ Study Outlines Eruption At Undersea Volcano
+ Lava bubbles in Comoros volcano, little risk seen

INNER EARTH

+ Minerals Go Dark Near Core Of Earth

Washington DC (SPX) May 30, 2006
Minerals crunched by intense pressure near the Earth's core lose much of their ability to conduct infrared light, according to a new study from the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory.

WATER WORLD

+ What Lies On The Gulf Floor

Baton Rouge LO (SPX) May 30, 2006
When most people think of Louisiana as being unique, they think of Mardi Gras, crawfish and Cajun culture. Few realize that what lies beneath the Gulf of Mexico along Louisiana's coast is also unique, from the terrain and habitat to the animals living there. And two LSU researchers are diving down some 3,000 meters to explore it.

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Cutting Energy Waste Crucial To Forestalling Climate Change

Roskilde, Denmark (SPX) May 30, 2006
With world energy prices and climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions ballooning in tandem with a surge in energy demand from the hot economies of China, India and Brazil, the world has a major stake in the success of energy reduction efforts, particularly in those three countries, warn experts concluding a four-year international project.

ENERGY TECH

+ For The Future Hydrogen Economy, A Tiny, Self-Powered Sensor

Gainesville FL (SPX) May 30, 2006
Hydrogen has been called "the fuel of the future." But the gas is invisible, odorless and explosive at high concentrations, posing a safety problem for hydrogen-powered cars, filling stations and other aspects of the so-called hydrogen economy.

+ EU offers tips on cutting greenhouse gases
+ Amid tension, Japan, China talk about energy-saving
+ GE to invest 50 mln dlrs in environment-related R and D in China

EPIDEMICS

+ UAB Researchers Discover HIV-1 Originated in Wild Chimpanzees

Birmingham AL (SPX) May 30, 2006
An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), has discovered a crucial missing link in the search for the origin of HIV-1, the virus responsible for human AIDS. That missing link is the natural reservoir of the virus, which the team has found in wild-living chimpanzees in southern Cameroon.

+ World must do more to provide drugs for children with AIDS: report
+ UN conference to assess HIV-AIDS programs worldwide

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Overfishing Puts Southern California Kelp Forest Ecosystems At Risk

Santa Barbara CA (SPX) May 30, 2006
Kelp forest ecosystems that span the West Coast -- from Alaska to Mexico's Baja Peninsula -- are at greater risk from overfishing than from the effects of run-off from fertilizers or sewage on the shore, say scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The findings have important implications for the design of California's Marine Protected Areas.

+ Super-Sized Cassava Plants May Help Fight Hunger In Africa

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Commercial Remote Sensing Satellite Market Stabilizing

Newtown CN (SPX) May 30, 2006
In a new study, "The Market for Civil & Commercial Remote Sensing Satellites," Forecast International is projecting deliveries of approximately 139 imaging satellites worth $16.3 billion over the next 10 years. The first half of the period will be more active than the second, with 97 spacecraft slated for production within the next five years.

+ Digital Globe and Getty Images To Supply Satellite Images To News Media
+ Intermap Technologies Receives Radar Mapping Contract
+ Smiths Detection To Supply Next-Gen Meteorological System

UAV NEWS

+ UAV Development Will Drive Advanced Aerospace Technologies

London UK, (SPX) May 30, 2006
In 2000, the world market for UAVs represented only approximately $2.4 billion, but in the next decade, that figure is expected to top $15 billion, according to a new visiongain report.

+ LM Wins USAF Contract To Upgrade Sniper
+ Delivery Of The First Contractual Step Of The nEUROn Program

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SPACE DAILY EXPRESS - May 30, 2006
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24/7 Coverage Of Space in the 21st Century
MARSDAILY

+ Spirit Continues Studies of Martian Winter Haven

Pasadena CA (JPL) May 30, 2006
Spirit continued to collect images for the 360-degree panorama, now under construction, of the rover's "Winter Haven" on Mars.

+ Study Shows Similar Solar Effects On Earth And Mars

ECLIPLES

+ Two APL-built Instruments Observe Recent Total Solar Eclipse

Laurel MD (SPX) May 30, 2006
Space scientists from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Md., got a first-hand look at what happens to Earth's atmosphere when the sun was abruptly "turned off" during the March 29, 2006, total solar eclipse.

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Commercial Remote Sensing Satellite Market Stabilizing

Newtown CN (SPX) May 30, 2006
In a new study, "The Market for Civil & Commercial Remote Sensing Satellites," Forecast International is projecting deliveries of approximately 139 imaging satellites worth $16.3 billion over the next 10 years. The first half of the period will be more active than the second, with 97 spacecraft slated for production within the next five years.

+ Digital Globe and Getty Images To Supply Satellite Images To News Media
+ Intermap Technologies Receives Radar Mapping Contract
+ Smiths Detection To Supply Next-Gen Meteorological System

GPS NEWS

+ Satelinx To Equip Seniors With Location Base Devices

Montreal, Canada (SPX) May 29, 2006
Satelinx announced Monday it will supply 2,000 personal tracking units to GPS Guardian under a $500,000 contract to help keep track of the elderly and disabled, as well as provide training support services and tracking and dispatching software.

LAUNCH PAD

+ Volvo Aero Components Powering Large Number Of Ariane 5 Launches

Stockholm, Sweden (SPX) May 29, 2006
Volvo Aero's components have helped to lift the Ariane 5 ECA into space on two successful launches in 2006 – including last Saturday's record-breaking satellite payload.

EXO LIFE

+ Astrobiologist Meet In Sweden

Moffett Field CA (SPX) May 30, 2006
In early May, astrobiologists gathered in Sweden to sample smorgasbord and to discuss planetary, space, and life sciences.

SPACEMART

+ AGS To Supply Services For FTI-SAT Program

Washington DC (SPX) May 29, 2006
Americom Government Services announced Monday it is partnering with prime contractor Harris Corp. to support the FTI Satellite program on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration.

+ Comtech Wins US Govt. Contract For Satcom Products
+ ND SatCom Introduces New 2.4m Transportable Ground Terminals
+ Carbon-Based Quantum Dots Could Mean 'Greener,' Safer Technology

MILPLEX

+ Pentagon seeking non-nuclear submarine missile: report

New York (AFP) May 29, 2006
The Pentagon is pressing Congress to approve the development of a new weapon that would enable the United States to carry out non-nuclear missile strikes against distant targets within an hour, The New York Times reported in its Monday edition.

+ NATO Lacks Muscle To Help US
+ EADS And Terma Join Forces In Defence Business
+ SOSTAR-X Released To Service As Test Campaign Starts
+ Rafael Selected For Short-Range Ballistic Missile Interceptor
+ Lockheed Martin Demonstrates Revolutionary Tactical Vehicle Armor
+ Foster-Miller Receives Large Contract For Military Robot Parts And Service

UAV NEWS

+ UAV Development Will Drive Advanced Aerospace Technologies

London UK, (SPX) May 30, 2006
In 2000, the world market for UAVs represented only approximately $2.4 billion, but in the next decade, that figure is expected to top $15 billion, according to a new visiongain report.

+ Lockheed Receives USAF Contract To Upgrade Sniper
+ Delivery Of The First Contractual Step Of The nEUROn Program

NUKEWARS

+ Russia to remove enriched uranium from satellite states by 2013

Moscow (AFP) May 29, 2006
Russia announced on Monday that it would repatriate by 2013 the enriched uranium from reactors the USSR set up in 17 countries, as part of the Global Threat Reduction Inititative (GTRI).

+ World powers weigh nuclear 'guarantee' for Iran
+ US, Japan prepare for controversial smuggling drill
+ US, allies hold WMD-seizing drills in Mediterranean

BLUE SKY

+ Faster Warming In Subtropics Pushes Jet Streams Toward Poles

Tacoma WA (SPX) May 30, 2006
The atmosphere is warming faster in subtropical areas, around 30 degrees north and south latitude, than it is elsewhere, University of Washington-led research shows. But scientists examining more than 25 years of satellite data also found that each hemisphere's jet stream has moved toward the pole by about 1 degree of latitude, or 70 miles.

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Indonesia races to cope with quake survivors

Bantul, Indonesia (AFP) May 29, 2006
Indonesia raced to cope with thousands of injured and homeless earthquake survivors Monday as the United Nations vowed help would come faster than after the 2004 Asian tsunami. As the death toll from Saturday's powerful quake jumped to more than 5,100 people, relief officials urged nations to rush in badly needed field hospitals, medicines, tents and supplies.

+ UN says Indonesia quake aid faster than post-tsunami
+ Hospitals, tents must be raced to Indonesia quake victims: UN
+ Aid flies in for Indonesia quake victims
+ Volcano near Indonesian quake zone shows increased activity
+ Villagers see Indonesia quake as warning
+ Study Outlines Eruption At Undersea Volcano
+ Lava bubbles in Comoros volcano, little risk seen

INNER EARTH

+ Minerals Go Dark Near Core Of Earth

Washington DC (SPX) May 30, 2006
Minerals crunched by intense pressure near the Earth's core lose much of their ability to conduct infrared light, according to a new study from the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory.

WATER WORLD

+ What Lies On The Gulf Floor

Baton Rouge LO (SPX) May 30, 2006
When most people think of Louisiana as being unique, they think of Mardi Gras, crawfish and Cajun culture. Few realize that what lies beneath the Gulf of Mexico along Louisiana's coast is also unique, from the terrain and habitat to the animals living there. And two LSU researchers are diving down some 3,000 meters to explore it.

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Cutting Energy Waste Crucial To Forestalling Climate Change

Roskilde, Denmark (SPX) May 30, 2006
With world energy prices and climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions ballooning in tandem with a surge in energy demand from the hot economies of China, India and Brazil, the world has a major stake in the success of energy reduction efforts, particularly in those three countries, warn experts concluding a four-year international project.

+ For The Future Hydrogen Economy, A Tiny, Self-Powered Sensor
+ GE to invest 50 mln dlrs in environment-related R and D in China
+ Amid tension, Japan, China talk about energy-saving
+ EU offers tips on cutting greenhouse gases

TERRA DAILY EXPRESS - MAY 31, 2006
http://www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ China growth unsustainable on all counts, must change: economist

Beijing (AFP) May 30, 2006
China's growth model, based on the West's economic model with its massive appetite for resources and increasing environmental degradation is unsustainable and will have to change, a leading environmentalist said Tuesday.

+ Pollution turning China's Yangtze river "cancerous"
+ 'Mercury Sponge' Technology Goes From Lab To Market

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Indonesia quake death toll nearly 5,700: official

Jakarta (AFP) May 30, 2006
The death toll from the earthquake that rocked Indonesia's main island of Java at the weekend has risen to at least 5,698, the social affairs ministry said late Tuesday.

+ Deaths Mount In Indonesia

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Geologists warn Indonesia quake could awaken nearby volcano

Jakarta (AFP) May 30, 2006
Geologists warned Tuesday that simmering Mount Merapi volcano could blow its top in the wake of the powerful quake that devastated swathes of Indonesia's main island of Java.

+ Indonesia's Merapi spews heat clouds and lava
+ Comoros on alert as volcano simmers

FLOOD CONTROL

+ Netherlands must boost flood defences: forecasts

The Hague (AFP) May 30, 2006
Dutch authorities will have to boost their already significant flood protection measures to cope with increasingly warmer, wetter winters and summer droughts, according to forecasts released Tuesday.

+ Monsoon leads to flooding, rough seas in south India

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Sea-Surface Warming Linked to Worse Tropical Storms Activity

Washington DC (SPX) May 31, 2006
Climate researchers said Tuesday they may have found a connection between rising sea-surface temperatures over the past 40 years and more intense tropical storm activity across the globe.

+ China, neighbours vow to tackle sandstorm menace

WATER WORLD

+ Historic Colorado River Streamflows Reconstructed Back To 1490

Tuscon AZ (SPX) May 31, 2006
A new tree-ring-based reconstruction of 508 years of Colorado River streamflow confirms that droughts more severe than the 2000-2004 drought occurred before stream gages were installed on the river.

+ Algeria can expect regular water in summer: ministry

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Ancient City Reveals Life In Desert 2,200 Years Ago

Urumqi, China (XNA) May 31, 2006
Chinese and French archaeologists claim to have discovered the ruins of an ancient city which disappeared in the desert in Northwest China more than 2,200 years ago.

WOOD PILE

+ Tropical Forests Reveal Improvements in Sustainable Management

Mexico City (SPX) May 31, 2006
The most comprehensive analysis of the status of tropical forest management ever conducted has documented a significant increase in the "sustainable management" of tropical forests worldwide since 1988.

EPIDEMICS

+ Microbe Labs Proposed For California

Livermore CA (UPI) May 31, 2006
The University of California and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are pushing for approval of two California research centers to study virulent diseases. Opponents of the laboratories say research centers that study fatal diseases should not be located near a high population center like San Francisco.

+ Malaria, Potato Famine Pathogen Share Surprising Trait

WHALES AHOY

+ Australia lobbies Pacific states amid new push for commercial whaling

Sydney (AFP) May 30, 2006
Australia's environment minister began a last-minute lobbying tour of Pacific island states Tuesday in hopes of halting a bid by Japan and other whaling states to end a 20-year ban on commercial whaling.

ABOUT US

+ Ancient Etruscans Unlikely Ancestors Of Modern Tuscans

Stanford CA (SPX) May 31, 2006
For the first time, Stanford researchers have used novel statistical computer modeling to simulate demographic processes affecting the population of Tuscany over a 2,500-year time span. Rigorous tests used by the researchers have ruled out a genetic link between ancient Etruscans, the early inhabitants of central Italy, and the region's modern day residents.

TERRA DAILY EXPRESS - June 1, 2006
http://www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

VOLCANIC NEWS

+ Indonesia's Merapi spews longer trails of lava

Jakarta (AFP) May 31, 2006 - Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano maintained a high level of activity for a fifth consecutive day Wednesday, spewing heat clouds and longer trails of lava down its slopes, geologists said.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Indonesia quake survivors face another wet night outside

Yogyakarta, Indonesia (AFP) May 30, 2006 - Tens of thousands of homeless earthquake survivors in central Indonesia faced another wet night in the open, with rain beginning to fall over the zone at dusk on Wednesday.

+ Pleas for help as Indonesia defends quake aid

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ US weather experts forecast above-normal hurricane threat

Miami (AFP) May 31, 2006 - Caribbean and US coastlines are under greater threat in this year's tropical storm season with five out of nine projected hurricanes expected to rank as intense storms, US climatologists said Wednesday.

+ Powerful hurricane season looms in Atlantic
+ Saffir-Simpson scale ranks hurricane intensity
+ US develops hurricane evacuation plans for pets
+ Subsidence in New Orleans abetted hurricane disaster: study
+ Sprint Nextel Network Strengthened As Hurricane Season Looms

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Climate change: Arctic went from greenhouse to icehouse

Paris (AFP) May 31, 2006 - Dramatic shifts in Earth's climate system drove the sea at the North Pole from sub-tropical temperatures to icy chill in the relatively brief span of 10 million years, a series of studies published on Thursday says.


+ Climate change could fuel fiercer hurricane cycles: researchers

Washington (AFP) May 31, 2006 - Human-induced climate change could be fueling increasingly active and deadly hurricane cycles, US researchers said, a day ahead of the official Atlantic hurricane season's start on Thursday.

WHALES AHOY

+ Australia frustrated in bid to woo Pacific nations to anti-whaling side

Sydney (AFP) May 31, 2006 - A senior Australian delegation lobbying Pacific island nations not to back Japan's campaign to resume commercial whaling has failed to get any guarantees from the tiny states, officials said Wednesday.

FARM NEWS

+ Duck-And-Goose Lock-Up

Le Bugue, France (UPI) Jun 01, 2006 - The Périgord pastures are strangely empty this year. In this corner of South West France, devoted almost exclusively to the goose and duck liver trade, the view along the roadside fields usually presents a wing-to-wing waddle of earthbound birds.


CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ Iran Calls For Tenders On Two New Reactors

Washington (UPI) Jun 01, 2006 - The deputy chief Iran's Organization for Atomic Energy, Mohammad Saeedi, announced on May 30 that Iran intends to build two new nuclear reactors.

+ Ex-French nuclear chief charged over Chernobyl cover-up

ICE WORLD

+ Belgium to build biosphere in Antarctic

Brussels (AFP) May 31, 2006 - Belgium unveiled plans Wednesday to build the first eco-friendly scientific base in Antarctica, as part of an internationally-organized year of polar activity.

ENERGY TECH

+ Oil prices retreat as US offers talks with Iran

New York (AFP) May 31, 2006 - Crude oil futures fell on global markets Wednesday after the United States offered to hold direct talks with Iran over the Islamic republic's disputed nuclear program.

+ Bottom Line: Shot Commodities

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Marauding monkeys wreak havoc on Zanzibar isle

Zanzibar, Tanzania (AFP) May 31, 2006 - Thousands of rampaging monkeys are wreaking havoc on an island in Tanzania's Zanzibar archipelago where locals have appealed for help to exterminate the simians, officials said Wednesday.

EPIDEMICS

+ UN Reports AIDS Progress, But

United Nations (UPI) Jun 01, 2006 - As the AIDS pandemic enters its 25th year, a United Nations report issued this year sees important progress in HIV prevention and treatment in fighting the epidemic. However, the U.N. calls for a significant acceleration of the AIDS response it says continues to be outpaced by the disease.

APPLIED SPACE TECHNOLOGIES

+ Gilat Provides Cellular Backhaul Infrastructure for Angola Telecom

Petah Tikva, Israel (SPX) Jun 01, 2006
Jun 01, 2006--Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. has announced that it will provide communications equipment and services to Angola Telecom, one of the largest operators in Sub-Saharan Africa.

+ Mobile Satellite Ventures Awarded Two New US Patents
+ QinetiQ Joins Galileo Development

.

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VOLCANIC NEWS

+ Indonesian volcano active for sixth day

Jakarta (AFP) Jun 1, 2006
Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano spilled lava and heat clouds for a sixth consecutive day Thursday, sending trails of molten rock down its western slope for the first time, scientists said.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Indonesia quake toll soars as hospitals strained

Bantul, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 1, 2006
The number of casualties from the Indonesian quake soared Thursday as the United Nations said hospitals were overcrowded and still lacked basic supplies to treat the mass of injured.

+ VP wants quake relief delivered monthly, not daily

MONSOON SEASON

+ Storms kill 36 in India, wreak havoc in financial capital

Mumbai (AFP) Jun 1, 2006
Lightning storms and monsoon rains lashing parts of India have killed at least 36 people and wrought havoc in the country's commercial capital Mumbai, officials and witnesses said Thursday.

ENERGY TECH

+ Physicists Persevere In Quest For Inexhaustible Energy Source

Madison WI (SPX) Jun 02, 2006
As gas prices soar and greenhouse gases continue to blanket the atmosphere, the need for a clean, safe and cheap source of energy has never seemed more pressing. Scientists have long worked to meet that need, exploring alternative energy technologies such as wind and solar power.

+ Biodiversity Key To Sustainable Biofuel
+ Ditch the tie, Japan tells workers as "Cool Biz" drive begins

WHALES AHOY

+ Japan to call for separate forum on whaling outside IWC

Tokyo (AFP) Jun 1, 2006
Japan will propose a separate forum to the International Whaling Commission annual meeting to try to sideline "hardliners" opposed to an end to the ban on commercial whaling, officials said Thursday.

+ Marshall Islands undecided on whaling ban

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ US wary as Atlantic hurricane season starts

New Orleans (AFP) Jun 1, 2006
The Atlantic hurricane season started Thursday with experts predicting more storm misery on Caribbean and US coasts while New Orleans is still battling to get over the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

ABC SOLAR

+ Market heats up for solar in Europe

Paris (AFP) Jun 1, 2006
The market for solar water heaters in Europe grew by 18 percent in 2005 compared with 2004 measured by installed equipment, according to provisional figures published on Thursday by Tecsol, a French consultancy that monitors the solar energy market.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Hebrew University Researchers Uncover Eight Previously Unknown Species

In cave near Ramle (SPX) Jun 02, 2006
Discovery of eight previously unknown, ancient animal species within "a new and unique underground ecosystem" in Israel was revealed today by Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers.

+ It Takes Energy To Make A Species

NUKEWARS

+ World powers agree breakthrough on Iran nuclear program

Vienna (AFP) Jun 1, 2006 - A day after the United States said it could join talks on Iran's disputed nuclear program, world powers agreed Thursday on a breakthrough package of incentives and sanctions to get Iran to suspend nuclear fuel work that has raised fears of weapons development.

+ Iran will not negotiate nuclear program with US: minister
+ Text of British foreign secretary's statement on Iran's nuclear program

KOREAN NUKES

+ US pours cold water on North Korean invite for direct talks

Washington (AFP) Jun 1, 2006
The United States poured cold water Thursday on a proposal by North Korea for direct talks to end a nuclear standoff.

+ US rejects North Korean overture
+ Blix commission cautions against regime change in Iran, N. Korea

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TECTONIC FORCES

+ Scientists say no big Indonesia quake again soon

Yogyakarta, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 4, 2006
There is little danger of another strong earthquake on Indonesia's Java island in the near future, scientists said Sunday, as jittery survivors endured more aftershocks.

+ Red alert still in effect at Indonesian volcano

+ Volcano fears? Indonesians turn to rice cakes

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Indonesia to make community grants for quake reconstruction

Jakarta (AFP) Jun 4, 2006
The Indonesian government will disburse reconstruction aid to quake survivors in the form of community grants to encourage collective rebuilding, reports said here Sunday.

+ Injured and alone, disabled quake survivor returns home

+ Tough start for Indonesia's quake babies

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Future Hurricane Disasters May Become More Costly

Cullowhee NC (SPX) Jun 05, 2006 - As the 2006 hurricane season gets under way, nationally known hurricane impact researcher Rob Young, associate professor of geosciences at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C, says the manner in which the federal government responded to last year's hurricane disasters will make future disasters even more costly.

+ Sinking Levees

+ Climate Change Responsible For Increased Hurricanes

MONSOON NEWS

+ Early monsoon death toll tops 100 in India

New Delhi (AFP) Jun 3, 2006
The death toll from lightning strikes and powerful storms rose to 105 Saturday as annual summer monsoon rains tore through India earlier than usual, authorities said.

+ 29 dead, 100,000 evacuated as rains drench southern China
+ Pakistan to relocate 55,000 earthquake survivors

DEEP IMPACT

+ Possible Extinction Crater Found Under Antarctica

Columbus OH (SPX) Jun 3, 2006
Planetary scientists have found evidence of a meteor impact much larger and earlier than the one thought to have killed the dinosaurs - an impact they think caused the biggest mass extinction in Earth's history.

ENERGY TECH

+ Ultrasonics Boosts Release Rates Of Corn Sugars For Ethanol Production

Ames IO (SPX) Jun 05, 2006
David Grewell flipped a switch and one of the ultrasonic machines in his Iowa State University laboratory pumped out high-frequency sound waves.

+ Turning Corn Fiber Into Ethanol
+ New US fuel standards give hope to diesel industry
+ China looks to harness wind power
+ Air pollution rife in India's villages: report

DARWIN TODAY

+ Electric Fish May Be A Species Diverging

Ithaca NY (UPI) Jun 05, 2006 - U.S. scientists say some electric fish in Africa might be living examples of a species diverging into separate species.

+ In cod we trust -- with a little help from the lab

AFRICA NEWS

+ China given monopoly to work Gabon's untapped iron ore resources

Libreville (AFP) Jun 2, 2006
Gabon has granted China sole rights to exploit huge untapped iron ore reserves and build costly rail links needed to reach them in the tropical forest, a government statement announced on Friday.

PILLAGING PIRATES

+ India ready to help protect Malacca Strait

Singapore (AFP) Jun 3, 2006
India is ready to do its part to ensure peace and stability in East Asia including helping protect the busy Strait of Malacca, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Saturday.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Fourth Slovenian bear released in Pyrenees

Bagneres-De-Luchon, France (AFP) Jun 2, 2006
A fourth brown bear from Slovenia was released in France's southern Pyrenees mountains Friday as part of a programme to ensure the species' survival, the environment ministry said.

WHALES AHOY

+ Finland, Sweden urge Norway to lower whaling quota

Helsinki (AFP) Jun 2, 2006
Finland and Sweden on Friday urged Norway to reduce its whaling quota for this year, arguing that Oslo's annual quota hikes could hurt chances of finding a solution to an international dispute over its whale hunt practice.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Air pollution rife in India's villages: report

New Delhi (AFP) Jun 3, 2006
India's cities are among some of the world's most polluted, but an environmental report released Saturday found its rural areas are also suffering.

SUPERPOWERS

+ Rumsfeld urges China to come clean on military spending

Singapore (AFP) Jun 3, 2006
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urged China Saturday to explain its increased military spending to the world, saying it was in its interest to demystify actions that others find potentially threatening.

+ Moscow Facing A Complex Chinese Challenge
+ G8, China, India and others pledge to boost education standards
+ US scientist, once suspected China spy, settles lawsuits

NUKEWARS

+ India Pulls The Plug On The Agni 3 ICBM Project

Washington (UPI) Jun 05, 2006
The Agni III ICBM, the pride of India's strategic deterrent force, has been shot down before it could even conduct its first test flight. Why did the Indian government pull the plug?


+ Iran Intransigence Threat To NPT

Washington (UPI) Jun 05, 2006
A top State Department official said if the international community fails convince Iran to give up its uranium enrichment program, it will dramatically undermine the 40-year-old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, an international agreement credited with preventing new states from developing nuclear weapons.

+ Iran will not discuss its right to enrichment: Ahmadinejad
+ Iran's supreme leader stands by nuclear programme
+ Rice brushes aside Iran threat on oil supplies
+ Rumsfeld plays down Ahmadinejad statement on nuclear proposal
+ US echoes Gulf fears of pollution from Iran's nuclear program
+ US sweetens offer to Iran: diplomats
+ What About Israel And Iran

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FARM NEWS

+ Waxing And Waning Over Better Tasting Cows

Le Bugue, France (UPI) Jun 06, 2006
A key figure in the farmers markets that move daily around villages and towns of the Dordogne in southwest France is a butcher known fondly and with respect as Monsieur Le Boucher Bio.

+ Towards A Cleaner And Greener Rice Industry

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Global Greenhouse Cooked Up A Hot Stew Of Life

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (SPX) Jun 06, 2006
New scientific results for the Late Cretaceous greenhouse indicate radically different climatic mechanisms operating about 75-90 million years ago compared to the ones that control today's climate.

+ Researcher Offers Insights On Development Of Arid Semiarid Landscapes

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Decades Of Acid Rain Is Causing Loss Of Valuable Northeast Sugar Maples

Ithaca NY (SPX) Jun 06, 2006
Acid rain, the environmental consequence of burning fossil fuels, running factories and driving cars, has altered soils and reduced the number of sugar maple trees growing in the Northeast, according to a new study led by Cornell University researchers.

ENERGY TECH

+ UW-Madison Professor To Coordinate US Fusion Science Effort

Madison WI (SPX) Jun 06, 2006
A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor will be the liaison between United States plasma and fusion science researchers and a group that is building the U.S. share of ITER, an international fusion experiment that eventually could lead to an abundant, economical and environmentally benign energy source.


+ Wind Energy Research Reaps Rewards

+ Iran To Build Oil Refinery In Venezuela

+ Security And The Energy End Game

+ Global Clean Water Scarcity A Failure Of Public Policy

ROBO SPACE

+ A Better Wetware Interface

Martinsried, Germany (SPX) Jun 06, 2006
For the first time, scientists at the Max-Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried near Munich coupled living brain tissue to a chip equivalent to the chips that run computers. The researchers under Peter Fromherz have reported this news in the online edition of the Journal of Neurophysiology (May 10, 2006).

+ IEDs Influencing Robotic Warfare Concepts
RESOURCE WARS

+ Global Clean Water Scarcity A Failure Of Public Policy

Albuquerque NM (SPX) Jun 06, 2006 - Now is the time to address the devastating effects of increasing water scarcity and declining water quality around the world, according to a recently released white paper written jointly by Sandia National Laboratories and the Washington think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).


+ Security And The Energy End Game

POLITICAL ECONOMY

+ South Korea US Face FTA Showdown

Seoul (UPI) Jun 06, 2006
With the opening of formal free trade talks with the United States on Monday, South Korean officials expressed hopes that a free trade deal with the world's biggest economy would help the country jump on the free trade bandwagon that could ensure great benefits to its export-driven economy.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ How Does A Lowly Member Of The Bacterium World Sense Its Environment

Ithaca NY (SPX) Jun 06, 2006
When humans taste or smell, receptors unique to each nerve cell detect the chemical and send signals to the brain, where many cells process the message to understand what we are smelling or tasting. But a bacterium is just a single cell, and it must use many different receptors to sense and interpret everything around it.

IRAQ WARS

+ Southern Iraq Marshes Show Progress Toward Recovery

Washington DC (SPX) Jun 06, 2006
Reflooding of Iraq's destroyed Mesopotamian marshes since 2003 has resulted in a "remarkable rate of reestablishment" of native invertebrates, plants, fish, and birds, according to an article in the June issue of BioScience.

TIME AND SPACE

+ 666 On A Fake Calendar Causes Confusion Across Datelines

Buffalo NY (SPX) Jun 06, 2006
The number 666 -- the "number of the beast," according to the Book of Revelation -- conjures devilish images for many, so forecasts of evil, even doom, are rampant regarding dates or places where the number occurs, including this Tuesday, June 6, or 6-6-06.

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SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Aid Effort Hits Full Tilt In Java As Eruption Fears Grow

Yogyakarta, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 07, 2006
Relief operations launched after the Java earthquake have hit full stride, UN officials said Tuesday, but fears grew of an impending volcanic eruption on the Indonesian island. Simmering Mount Merapi was put on red alert on May 13 and looms over a plain already devastated by the quake which hit two weeks later, killing nearly 5,800 people and leaving 340,000 people homeless.

+ Indonesian Farmers Devastated By Earthquake
+ Thousands More Evacuate As Merapi Menaces Tectonic Battered Indonesia
SINO DAILY

+ Environment Across China Getting Worse

Beijing (AFP) Jun 07, 2006
China's environmental woes are steadily growing and costing the economy around 200 billion dollars each year, the government said Monday. "The trend of increasing environmental degradation has not been effectively controlled," the State Environmental Protection Administration said in its first China Ecological Protection report.

EPIDEMICS

+ Plant Diseases Threaten Chocolate Production Worldwide

St Paul MN (SPX) Jun 07, 2006
Chocolate lovers, beware. Each year 20 percent of the cacao beans that are used to make chocolate are lost to plant diseases, but even greater losses would occur if important diseases spread.
ENERGY-TECH

+ New China Mega Dam Avoids Building 50 Nuclear Reactors

Beijing (AFP) Jun 07, 2006
China has given the go-ahead for its third-largest dam, as part of its Herculean endeavor to control the waters of the Yangtze river and generate electricity, state media said Tuesday.

+ China Blasts Away Huge Wall At Three Gorges Dam
CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Annan Warns Of Poverty And Conflict As Deserts Expand

Algiers (AFP) Jun 07, 2006
UN chief Kofi Annan warned Monday of worsening poverty and conflict if nothing is done quickly to save the world's drylands from desertification, especially in Africa.
DARWIN TODAY

+ Study Shows Our Ancestors Survived Snowball Earth

Seattle WA (SPX) Jun 07, 2006
It has been 2.3 billion years since Earth's atmosphere became infused with enough oxygen to support life as we know it. About the same time, the planet became encased in ice that some scientists speculate was more than a half-mile deep.


+ Same Species Responds Differently To Warming
+ Ancient DNA Sequence Allows New Look At Neandertals Diversity
+ Chaco Canyon: A Place Of Kings And Palaces
+ Beaver Dams Create Healthy Downstream Ecosystems
EARTH OBSERVATION

+ First CloudSat Images Wowing Scientists

Washington DC (SPX) Jun 07, 2006
The first images from NASA's new CloudSat satellite already are revealing never-before-seen 3-D details about clouds. Mission managers tested the flight and ground system performance of the satellite's Cloud-Profiling Radar in late May, and they found it to be working perfectly.

+ UAE To Monitor Construction Sites Via Satellite
NUKEWARS

+ Nuclear Suppliers Group Urges Iran To Cooperate With IAEA

Brasilia (AFP) Jun 07, 2006 - The 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group has urged Iran to "cooperate fully" with the UN nuclear watchdog agency IAEA and seek a diplomatic solution to the dispute over its nuclear program. A meeting last week of the NSG, which sets guidelines for the export of nuclear-related equipment, material and technology, focused particularly on Iran, the Brazilian foreign ministry said.

+ Iran Sees Positives In Nuclear Proposal
+ Iranian Response To Nuclear Offer Gives Hope To Major Powers

SUPERPOWERS

+ Growing Sino-India Military Ties

New Delhi (UPI) Jun 07, 2006 - Indian defense minister Pranab Mukherjee's recent visit to Japan, China and Singapore indicates the emergence of a creative regional security strategy that boosts New Delhi's global image, Indian defense analysts said Tuesday.

+ Senior US General Holds Talks With Top Brass Of India Military

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CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ Scientists Tackle Long-Standing Questions About Plutonium

Livermore CA (SPX) Jun 08, 2006
Scientists have gone a long way to solving a question about the nature of plutonium that has remained a mystery since the Manhattan Project. Plutonium behaves like no other element in nature.

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ Greenpeace Protests Third-Generation Nuclear Plant In Finland

Helsinki (AFP) Jun 08, 2006
Greenpeace activists protested Monday in Helsinki against the construction of a third-generation EPR nuclear power station in Finland as French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin visited the site.

ENERGY TECH

+ Environment Agency Rejects Gorgon Natural Gas Project

Sydney (AFP) Jun 08, 2006
Western Australia's environment agency on Tuesday rejected plans to develop a massive natural gas field off the country's northwest coast, fearing the project could threaten a rare species of turtle.

TECH SPACE

+ Chemists Look Through Glass To Find Secrets That Are Less Clear

Princeton NJ (SPX) Jun 08, 2006
A new understanding of how glass is formed may assist with our understanding of everything from the design of golf club heads to the structure of the early universe. Princeton chemists have found that the formation of glass -- a familiar substance that nonetheless retains some elusive scientific mysteries -- always occurs differently depending on how quickly a liquid substance is cooled into its solid form.

FARM NEWS

+ More Than Drought Affecting Wheat Yields

Amarillo TX (SPX) Jun 08, 2006
Wheat producers have more than the drought cutting into their yields this year, said two Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researchers.

TRADE WARS

+ UK's Brown Warns Against Protectionism

London (UPI) Jun 08, 2006
British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown struck a blow for free trade in a key speech Monday night, warning that the current wave of protectionism sweeping industrialized nations would have devastating consequences for the global economy.

EPIDEMICS

+ H5N1 Signature May Help Detection

Oxford, England (UPI) Jun 08, 2006
Biotechnology research and development company BioWarn LLC this week announced that its SmartSense biological substance detection system can instantly detect the presence of the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza.

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Indian Bookies Raking In Millions Thanks To Heavy Monsoons

New Delhi (AFP) Jun 08, 2006
Bountiful early monsoon rains are raking in millions of dollars for Indian bookies taking bets on the amount of rain that will drench the country between June and September, a report said Monday.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ India Court Allows Toxic Ship Into Territorial Waters

New Delhi (AFP) Jun 08, 2006
India's Supreme Court Monday gave permission for a ship believed laden with asbestos and toxic materials to enter Indian waters but said it could not be broken up until its contents have been accurately determined.

NANO TECH

+ Nano World: Water Harvesting Surfaces

New York (UPI) Jun 08, 2006
Beetles that harvest water from desert air have inspired the creation of printable surfaces that improve on nature with the aid of glass nanoparticles. These surfaces could also help control the flow of microscopic amounts of fluid in labs on microchips, experts tell UPI's Nano World.

WATER WORLD

+ Second Part Of Desalination Plan Completed

Albuquerque NM (UPI) Jun 08, 2006
U.S. government scientists say they will soon release an updated Desalination and Water Purification Roadm U.S. government scientists say they will soon release an updated Desalination and Water Purification Roadmap -- "Roadmap 2."

ABOUT US

+ Ancient Human Fossils Find Modern Virtual Home

Mettmann, Germany (SPX) Jun 08, 2006
First discovered 150 years ago, Neanderthals have been studied more widely than any other form of human. Thanks to a new interactive inventory and online catalogue developed in Europe, scientists worldwide can now probe the secrets of this primitive relative from the comfort of their computer.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Endangered Colombian Frogs Found Alive

El Dorado Nature Reserve, Colombia (SPX) Jun 08, 2006
The rediscovery of two frog species feared extinct has made a new Colombian protected area the focal point for efforts to save amphibians from a deadly fungus decimating their populations in Central and South America.

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ABOUT US

+ Evidence Human Activities Have Shaped Large-Scale Ecological Patterns

Las Cruces NM (SPX) Jun 09, 2006
A new study published in the Journal of Biogeography provides some of the first evidence that ecological patterns at large spatial scales have been significantly altered within recent human history suggesting a role for human activities as potential drivers.

ENERGY TECH

+ Producing Bio-Ethanol From Agricultural Waste A Step Closer

Delft, The Netherlands (SPX) Jun 09, 2006
Research conducted by Delft University of Technology has brought the efficient production of the environmentally-friendly fuel bio-ethanol a great deal closer to fruition. The work of Delft researcher Marko Kuyper was an important factor in this. His research in recent years has greatly improved the conversion of certain sugars from agricultural waste to ethanol.

+ Policy Makers Draw Up List Of 'Top 100' Ecological Questions

EPIDEMICS

+ Genomics Project Will Hunt Genes Behind Common Childhood Diseases

Philidelphia PA (SPX) Jun 09, 2006
Children's hospital goals: Use gene knowledge to guide therapy, devise new tests and treatments The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is launching an ambitious program to identify the genes responsible for common childhood diseases.

VOLCANIC NEWS

+ Indonesia's Merapi Roars Back To Life

Mount Merapi, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 09, 2006
Indonesia's Mount Merapi roared back to life Thursday, belching its largest clouds of hot gas and ash yet and sparking panic among residents already jittery from last month's quake. Television footage showed stunning clouds spewing from the volcano's crater against a clear blue sky just after 9:00 am (0200 GMT).

+ Indonesia's Merapi Shoots Out Largest Cloud Of Volcanic Gas So Far

TECTONIC FORCES

+ New Study Shows Earthquake Shaking Triggers Aftershocks

Santa Cruz CA (SPX) Jun 09, 2006
A new analysis of earthquake data indicates that aftershocks are triggered by the shaking associated with the mainshock, rather than by the added stress on nearby faults resulting from rearrangement of the Earth's crust.

+ Homeless Indonesian Family Not Chickening Out After Quake

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Brain Region Linked To Fly Slumber

Evanston IL (SPX) Jun 09, 2006
Researchers at Northwestern University have pinpointed a brain area in flies that is crucial to sleep, raising interesting speculation over the purpose of sleep and its possible link with learning and memory.

+ French Farm Offers Hope For Endangered Asian Crocs
+ Female Birds Boost Up Their Eggs When Hearing Sexy Song

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Sandia Tool Speeds Up Environmental Cleanup

Livermore CA (SPX) Jun 09, 2006
A software-based tool developed by Sandia National Laboratories for managing the collection, visualization, and analysis of environmental sampling data is now available to potential licensing partners.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Emergency Communications Service For 2006 Hurricane Season

Germantown MD (SPX) Jun 09, 2006
In anticipation of the upcoming hurricane season, Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), announced today that it is making available emergency communications offerings during this hurricane season, designed for rapid service restoral.

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ EarthData Wins 16 Million Contract To Map Papua New Guinea

Frederick MD (SPX) Jun 09, 2006
EarthData International announced Thursday it has been awarded a $16 million contract by the Australian government to produce the first-ever high-resolution image and terrain maps of Papua New Guinea. The Australian government is funding the project under a memorandum of understanding with the government of Papua New Guinea.

+ ESA Picks SSTL To Develop Atmospheric CO2 Detector

SUPERPOWERS

+ China, US Hold Military Talks Following Heated Exchanges

Beijing (AFP) Jun 09, 2006
China and the United States held high-level talks here Thursday aimed at improving military ties, officials said, following recent heated exchanges between the two world powers over defense issues.

NUKEWARS

+ UN Watchdog Says Iran Accelerated Uranium Enrichment

Vienna (AFP) Jun 09, 2006
Iran accelerated uranium enrichment on the same day this week that world powers asked it to halt the work and open talks to guarantee it will not make nuclear weapons, the UN atomic agency said Thursday in a report obtained by AFP.

+ UN Finds Highly Enriched Uranium Traces In Iran
+ SKorean FM 'Deeply Concerned' Over NKorean Missile Activity

NEWS AS OF 12:30 UTC - June 12, 2006

FIRE AND ICE


+ Early Life Was Abundant


<img src="http://www.terradaily.com/images/modern-reef-colonies-sharks-bay-western-australia-sm.jpg" hspace=5 vspace=2 align=right border=1>
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Jun 12, 2006

Life on Earth may well have flourished on Earth 3.43 billion years ago in an environment not too different to the warm little pond that Darwin imagined: a quiet shallow marine environment sandwiched in time between two active volcanic periods.


+ Surviving Snowball Earth

+ Much Of The World Emerged From Last Ice Age Together

VOLCANIC NEWS

+ Merapi Spews Lava As Authorities Remain On Alert

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Mount Merapi, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 12, 2006

Indonesia's Mount Merapi continued to spew lava and searing clouds of gas and ash Sunday as geologists maintained the top danger alert on the smoldering volcano. Despite losing Friday a huge chunk of the lava dome forming at its peak which lessened the danger of a major eruption, geologists said the volcano - whose name means "Mountain of Fire" - still posed a threat.

+ Indonesian Woman Braves Volcano Threat To Make A Living

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Tropical Depression One Kicks Up In Caribbean Sea

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Miami (AFP) Jun 12, 2006

The first tropical depression of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season has formed in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, US forecasters said Saturday. They warned of heavy rainfall, potential flash floods and mudslides in western Cuba, the Cayman Islands and western Florida, as the system moves north, then curves east, according to predictions, over the next two days.

+ New Forecast Sees Bad Hurricane Season But Milder Than 2005

DARWIN TODAY

+ Climate Change Driving Evolution Of Animal Species

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Eugene, OR (SPX) Jun 12, 2006

Rapid climate changes over the past several decades have led to heritable, genetic changes in animals as diverse as squirrels, birds and mosquitoes, according to University of Oregon evolutionary geneticists.

+ China Dam Blamed For Surge In Jellyfish

ENERGY TECH

+ Japan To Give Asia Coal Liquefaction Technology

<img src="http://www.terradaily.com/images/china-coal-power-plant-sm.jpg" hspace=5 vspace=2 align=right border=1>
Tokyo (AFP) Jun 12, 2006

Japan plans to provide Asian nations, particularly China, with the technology to liquefy coal as part of a broader effort to reduce global dependence on crude oil, a report said Saturday. In coal liquefaction, petroleum fuels such as gasoline and kerosene are produced from powdered coal by applying heat and pressure.

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ India And US To Work Out Details Of Nuclear Energy Trade This Week

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New Delhi (AFP) Jun 12, 2006

Diplomats from India and the United States will hold talks this week to outline the practical steps needed under a deal to increase cooperation in civilian nuclear energy, officials said Sunday. A team from the US State and Energy departments and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will arrive in New Delhi late Sunday, a US embassy spokesman said.

EPIDEMICS

+ US Approves Wild Bird Avian Flu Surveillance Network

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New York NY (SPX) Jun 12, 2006

In an effort to improve the tracking of avian influenza, the United States Agency for International Development has awarded $5 million in support for a new initiative that will monitor wild bird populations for the disease around the globe, according to the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

SPACEWAR

+ How Can Russia Respond To US Military Space Developments

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Moscow (RIAN) Jun 12, 2006

This summer the United States plans to publish its new space doctrine stipulating the deployment of weapons in circumterrestrial space. Colonel Anthony Russo, head of the U.S. Strategic Command's space division, said the new policy would remove any ambiguity about official responsibility for figuring out who was behind any attack on U.S.-owned commercial satellites.

+ The Western Challenge Facing Moscow

+ US To Revise Laws To Boost High-Tech Trade With China

+ Air Force Space Command Delivers Capability For Direct Zarqawi Hit

+ New Ops Planned In Wake Of Zarqawi Hunt

+ Land-Based ABM Market Continues As Most Profitable Sector

+ Ballistic Missile Defense Key To Defending Taiwan

+ Trident 2's Targets

+ India Successfully Test-Fires Nuclear-Capable Missile

+ Iran Strike Easier Than Iraq Mission In 1981

+ Iran Studying Nuclear Proposal But Will Not Compromise Over Nuclear Rights

+ Successful Test Flights Of New Armed UAV

SPACE DAILY

+ NPOESS Findings Leave Questions Unanswered On State of US Weather Satellites

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Washington DC (SPX) Jun 12, 2006

The House Science Committee has heard from agencies involved in the construction of a vital U.S. weather forecasting satellite that has fallen severely behind schedule and is vastly over budget. This is not the first hearing the Committee has held on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program, and it certainly will not be the last.

+ NASA Firm On Discovery Launch In July

+ JAXA And DLR Conduct Orbit To Ground Optical Communication Experiment

+ Opportunity On The Road Again

+ Stationary Spirit Progressing On Long-Term Experiments

+ Corkscrew Asteroid About To Leave The Local Earth Neighborhood

+ Venus Express Commissioning Phase Completed

Terra Daily Express - June 13, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

ENERGY TECH

+ China Moves Ahead For More Yangtze River Hydro Power

Beijing (AFP) Jun 13, 2006
China plans to build a dozen hydroelectric power plants in the next 20 years with an installed capacity totalling 90.2 million kilowatts, state media reported Monday. The projects will be built on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, known as the Jinsha River, and on two upstream Yangtze River tributaries, known as the Yalong and Dadu Rivers, Xinhua news agency reported.

+ Joint European Strategy For Industrial Biotechnology

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Activity At Merapi Slows

Mount Merapi, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 13, 2006
Indonesia's Mount Merapi has slowed its threatening activity, spewing less lava and fewer clouds of gas and ash but a top alert on the volcano is being maintained, scientists said Monday.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Indonesia To Ask Creditors For Yogya Quake Loans

Jakarta (AFP) Jun 13, 2006
Indonesia is expected to ask its main international creditors to redirect loans to help rebuild quake-devastated central Java, the World Bank said Monday. Plans for the reconstruction of the quake zone in the provinces of Yogyakarta and Central Java, will be major topics when Jakarta meets them at the World Bank-chaired Consultative Group for Indonesia (CGI) on Wednesday.

+ Florida Gets First Hurricane Warning Of 2006 Season

WHALES AHOY

+ Japan Tipped To Wrest Control Of Whaling Commission

Washington (AFP) Jun 13, 2006
Japan looks poised this week to seize a dominant grip on the world body frustrating its commercial whaling ambitions, and to deal a sickening blow to the global Green movement.

TIME AND SPACE

+ Physical Laws Are Constantly Changing

Stockholm, Sweden (SPX) Jun 13, 2006
Physical quantities such as the speed of light, the gravitational constant and the electron mass are believed to be the same independent of where and when they appear in the universe.

AFRICA NEWS

+ Migration Can Help Alleviate Poverty In Africa

Wageningen, The Netherlands (SPX) Jun 13, 2006
Poor Africans often choose to move. Households that can afford to send someone to Europe, mostly become wealthier. Households with people who move within Africa, experience less stress because there are less mouths to feed. These are the conclusions of Dutch researcher Fleur Wouterse.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Researchers Take the Pulse of a Gene in Living Cells

Bronx NY (SPX) Jun 13, 2006
Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have observed for the first time that gene expression can occur in the form of discrete "pulses" of gene activity.

+ Germany Establishes First Biodiversity Exploratories
+ Gazelles Shrink Liver And Heart To Reduce Oxygen Consumption During Drought

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ CALIPSO All Set To Collect Most Detailed Atmospheric Data Yet

Seattle WA (SPX) Jun 13, 2006
NASA's Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation spacecraft has begun gathering data from the Earth's atmosphere that are expected to become a key tool in unraveling just how much effect the reflectivity of clouds and tiny particles called aerosols are having on the planet's changing climate.

+ NASA Detector Sees Infrared Light In Colors
+ Land Use Mapped In Philippines
+ NASA To Help US Forest Service Test UAV For Wildfire Capabilities

NUKEWARS

+ India And US Hold Talks On Landmark Nuclear Energy Pact

New Delhi (AFP) Jun 12, 2006
Diplomats from India and the United States met in New Delhi Monday for their first high-level talks on the details of a landmark but controversial nuclear cooperation deal. "The talks, which were detailed and comprehensive, are over for the day and now the two sides will meet again on Tuesday," a US embassy official told AFP after Monday's discussions.

+ Iran Will Not Join Shanghai Cooperation Organization
+ North Korea Flexes Missile Muscle To Grab US Attention

MISSILE NEWS

+ RTI Selected Lockheed Martin Team For The Aegis Open Architecture Weapon System

Santa Clara CA (SPX) Jun 13, 2006
Real-Time Innovations, The Real Time Middleware Company, announced today that middleware provided by RTI was selected by a U.S. Navy's Lockheed Martin team to provide the real time data distribution infrastructure for Aegis Open Architecture, the next generation of the Aegis Weapon System. AOA will be deployed by the US Navy beginning in 2008.

+ LockMart Completes Hellfire Flight Test Series on Tiger Helicopter
+ Raytheon Paveway II Wins Contract For Air Force Laser Guided Bomb

MILTECH

+ Elbit Systems 30mm Unmanned Turret Tested Successfully in Finland

Haifa, Israel (SPX) Jun 13, 2006
Elbit Systems recently announced that its 30mm Unmanned Turret system has successfully completed extensive field trials. The tests were conducted in Finland at a firing range belonging to the Finish Armed Forces.

+ Virtual Heavies Key To Northern Edge Simulations
+ Marines Want To Accelerate MV-22 Buy
+ Elbit Systems Adds New UAV System To Skylark Family
+ LM Begins Final Phase Of Integrated Wireless Network Competition

Terra Daily Express - June 14, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

HURRICANE ALERT

+ First Tropical Storm Of The Year Hits Western Florida

Miami (AFP) Jun 14, 2006
This year's first Atlantic tropical storm dumped rain on Florida Tuesday, but with memories still fresh of last year's killer storms, locals were relieved that it failed to become a hurricane. The center of Tropical Storm Alberto made landfall at 12:30 pm (1630 GMT) near Adam's Beach, a sparsely inhabited area of western Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC.)

+ ITT Prepares For US Hurricane Season
+ Iridium Partners Introduce Hurricane Equipment And Service Packages

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Indonesia Quake Reconstruction Cost Put At More Than 3 Billon Dollars

Jakarta (AFP) Jun 14, 2006
Rebuilding Indonesia's quake-hit central Java will cost more than three billion dollars, with the scale of residential destruction rivalling that of the tsunami in Aceh, an official said Tuesday.

+ Indonesia Downgrades Mount Merapi Alert

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Google Announces Major Update For Google Earth

Mountain View CA (SPX) Jun 14, 2006
Google has announced a series of updates to the company's mapping product suite, further illustrating Google's commitment to creating powerful tools for sharing geographic information. Announced live at Google's first Geo Developer Day, these innovations both connect users to information about the world around them, as well as address the growing needs of the developer community.

+ Harmful Algal Blooms Monitored From Space In Chile

ENERGY TECH

+ Compact tidal generator Lowers Cost Of Producing Electricity

Southampton, UK (SPX) Jun 14, 2006
What happens if you run an electric motor backwards? That is exactly what researchers Dr Steve Turnock and Dr Suleiman Abu-Sharkh from the University of Southampton asked themselves after they had successfully built an electric motor for tethered underwater vehicles, using funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

+ Europe Sets Up Task Force for Solar Energy

WHALES AHOY

+ Threat To Humpbacks Fuels Australian Anger Over Japanese Whaling

Sydney (AFP) Jun 14, 2006
The small dorsal fins on the huge, curving backs now regularly parting the winter seas just off Sydney symbolise a new front in the war against Japanese whaling. These are humpbacks on their annual breeding migration from the icy waters of the Antarctic, and Australians call them "our" whales.

+ New Zealand Hopeful Japan Can Be Beaten In Whaling Vote

DARWIN TODAY

+ Evolution Takes A Hot Bath As Archaea Migrate

Athens GA (SPX) Jun 14, 2006
Since their discovery in the late 1970s, microorganisms known as archaea have fascinated scientists with their ability to thrive where no other life can - in conditions that are extremely hot, acidic or salty.

+ Parallel Evolution Found To Exist At Protein Level

INTERNATIONAL SPACE

+ Mitsubishi Heavy To Invest In Next-Generation Rocket

Tokyo, Japan (AFX) Jun 14, 2006
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. plans to spend a total of 5 billion yen ($44 million) to prepare facilities for manufacturing the next-generation H-IIB domestic rocket, scheduled for launch in fiscal 2008, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported Tuesday.

+ Shanghai Lands Star Role In Satellite Mission
+ Malaysia To Work With India On Space Technology
+ Swales Delivers Final Micro-Satellite For NASA THEMIS Mission
+ Stephen Hawking Calls For Mankind To Reach For Stars
+ SES Americom Wins Long-Term Satellite Contract With Comsat Mexico

NUKEWARS

+ China Deploys New Dong Feng

Washington (UPI) Jun 14, 2006
China's new Dong Feng-31, or CSS-9, road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile is expected to enter service during 2006, Jane's Intelligence reported on its Web site janes.com on June 9. The DF-31 is expected to be followed by the extended-range DF-31A version in 2007, the Web site said.

+ US Cites Four Chinese Firms For Helping Iran WMDs
+ Japan Has No Knowledge Of Any Imminent NKorean Missile Launch
+ Iran Must Prove Nuclear Work Peaceful Say Nuclear Superpowers

MILPLEX

+ House Panel Backs 427 Billion Dollar Defense Budget

Washington (AFP) Jun 14, 2006
The House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved a 427-billion-dollar defense spending bill for the 2007 fiscal year, including some 50 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Terra Daily Express - June 15, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Highest Alert Raised Again For Mt Merapi

Mount Merapi, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 15, 2006
Indonesian scientists on Wednesday once again placed Mount Merapi on its highest alert level only a day after the volcano had been downgraded, meaning they believe an eruption is imminent. Potentially deadly heat clouds streaming from Merapi's peak caused panic among some villagers living around the volcano's slopes who had just begun returning to their homes after weeks of uncertainty.

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Living With Climate Variability And Change

New York NY (SPX) Jun 15, 2006
Recognizing the urgent need to integrate climate data and forecasting into humanitarian and development strategies, the Living with Climate Variability and Change conference from July 17 to 21, 2006, in Espoo, Finland, will bring together stakeholders from around the world to discuss opportunities and constraints in integrating climate risks and uncertainties into decision-making at international, national and local levels.

WATER WORLD

+ Alarm Bells Sound For European Water Supply As Hot Weather Looms

Paris (AFP) Jun 15, 2006
Summer has still to make its official start in Europe, yet many countries are sweating - and it has less to do with the immediate temperature than out of worry for their water supplies.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Hurricane Damage Mininized By Sticking To The Rules

Gaithersburg MD (SPX) Jun 15, 2006
Stricter adherence to existing building standards, model building codes and good building practices, and a greater recognition of the risks posed by storm surge, could minimize the kind of structural damage experienced in the Gulf Coast states hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced on June 9, 2006.

ICE WORLD

+ Arctic Expedition Will Investigate Alien-Like Glacier

Calgary, Canada (SPX) Jun 15, 2006
A scientific expedition to a remote glacier field in Canada's High Arctic may help researchers unlock the secrets about the beginning of life and provide insights for future exploration of our solar system.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Living Fossil Captured On Video

Tallahassee FL (SPX) Jun 15, 2006
The first images of a live specimen of a small, furry animal once believed to have gone extinct more than 11 million years ago have been captured during a Southeast Asian expedition led by a retired Florida State University researcher.

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Cloudsat Flexes Muscles With Alberto

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 15, 2006
NASA's new CloudSat satellite captured its first tropical storm, Alberto, as it spun over the Gulf of Mexico the morning of June 12. This image comparison shows how CloudSat can view such storms differently than conventional weather satellites.

EPIDEMICS

+ H5N1 Not In US Migratory Birds

Oxford, England (UPI) Jun 15, 2006
No birds carrying the H5N1 subtype of avian influenza have yet been found in the United States, although monitoring efforts have been stepped up. Thousands of samples collected from live and subsistence-hunted birds across the country have been sent to the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., for testing, yet none has shown any signs of carrying the infection it is feared could spark off a deadly pandemic.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Coal Tar Spillage Contaminates Northern Chinese River

Beijing (AFP) Jun 15, 2006
About 60 tons of coal tar has contaminated a river in northern China and is threatening to pollute a reservoir which supplies water to a city of 10 million, state media reported Wednesday. A truck carrying the chemical overturned on Monday afternoon in Shanxi province, causing the sticky liquid to spill into the Dasha River, Xinhua news agency reported.

WHALES AHOY

+ Deja Vu All Over Again For Whale Campaigners

Washington (AFP) Jun 15, 2006
Pardon veterans of the global environmental movement for feeling a sense of deja vu, as they set course on a new mission to "Save the Whales." The fabled campaign of the 1970s and 1980s was credited with saving whales from the verge of extinction, and led to a moratorium on commercial harpooning that has stood for nearly 20 years.

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ India And US Move Toward Finalising Landmark Nuclear Energy Pact

New Delhi (AFP) Jun 15, 2006
India and the United States have made progress at talks to finalise the details of a landmark but controversial nuclear cooperation deal, officials from both sides said Wednesday. The talks, which began on Monday, were "constructive and positive," US embassy spokesman David Kennedy told AFP.

+ British PM Blair Defends Support For Nuclear Energy

Terra Daily Express - June 16, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Blast At China Chemical Factory Raises Pollution Fears

Beijing (AFP) Jun 16, 2006
Explosions at a chemical plant in eastern China have left two people missing and released large amounts of toxic gas, sparking fears of pollution, state media reported late Thursday. The series of blasts at the Longxin Chemical Plant in Longquan city early on Thursday set two of its factories on fire and released large amounts of harmful gas, Xinhua news agency said, quoting firefighters.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Butterfly Farming to Help Save Rain Forest

Warwick UK (SPX) Jun 16, 2006
Researchers at the University of Warwick's plant research arm Warwick HRI have received a 295,000 pound Darwin initiative grant to develop a butterfly farming industry in Guyana that will help support 5000 people in 16 rainforest communities and help save the rainforest itself.

SINO DAILY

+ Chinese Man Beaten After Criticising Regime On German TV

Berlin (AFP) Jun 13, 2006
A Chinese man was severely beaten after criticising, in an interview with German television, the way Chinese authorities dealt with people displaced by the Three Gorges dam, the television station said on Tuesday. German foreign ministry spokesman Martin Jaeger said Berlin was concerned about the report and had asked the German embassy in Beijing to demand an explanation from the Chinese authorities.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Early Bird Caught The Fish

Philadelphia, PA (SPX) Jun 16, 2006
Five fossil specimens of a near-modern bird found in the Gansu Province of northwestern China show that early birds likely evolved in an aquatic environment, according to a study reported today in the journal Science. Their findings suggest that these early modern birds were much like the ducks or loons found today.

ENERGY TECH

+ France Boosts Purchase Rates To Spur Renewable Energy

Paris (AFP) Jun 16, 2006
France on Thursday announced major increases in rates for energy from renewable sources that has to be purchased by the state-owned electricity provider, EDF. Since February 2000, Electricite de France has been required to buy power from operators of renewable sources at a price set by the government, under a programme aimed at boosting clean energy.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Global Warming Pushes Polar Bears To Cannibalism

Chicago (AFP) Jun 16, 2006
Polar bears are resorting to cannibalism as global warming shrinks the arctic ice cap and makes foraging for food more difficult, a recent study has found. "It really took us by surprise," lead researcher Steven Armstrup of the US Geological Survey said in a telephone interview from his Anchorage, Alaska office.

EPIDEMICS

+ High Virulence Of HIV-1 Might Be An Accident Of Evolution

Ulm, Germany (SPX) Jun 16, 2006
The virulence characteristic of HIV-1--the virus predominantly responsible for human AIDS--might amount to an accident of evolution, new evidence reveals. A gene function lost during the course of viral evolution predisposed HIV-1 to spur the fatal immune system failures that are the hallmarks of AIDS, researchers report in the June 16, 2006 Cell.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Recreation Of Butterfly Speciation Event

Panama, Panama (SPX) Jun 16, 2006
In a matter of months, butterflies sporting the yellow and red wing color pattern of a wild species were created through simple laboratory crosses of two other wild species, researchers report in the June 15, 2006 edition of the journal Nature.

ENERGY TECH

+ Rural Kenyan Women On Vanguard Of African Solar Revolution

Kajiado, Kenya (AFP) Jun 16, 2006
Elizabeth Leshom may not know it, but she is among a legion of African women at the vanguard of what many hope will be a "solar revolution" that could empower them and help save the environment.

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Search For Two Believed Trapped On Indonesian Volcano Suspended

Mount Merapi, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 16, 2006
A search for two people believed trapped in a bunker at Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano was suspended Thursday as more searing clouds made work too dangerous for rescuers, an official said.
CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Thawing Permafrost Is A Significant Source Of Carbon

Fairbanks AL (SPX) Jun 16, 2006
Permafrost, permanently frozen soil, isn't staying frozen and a type of soil called loess contained deep within thawing permafrost may be releasing significant, and previously unaccounted for, amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, according to authors of a paper published this week in the journal Science.

ABOUT US

+ To Profit Or Explore Might Be The Meaning Of Life

London, UK (SPX) Jun 16, 2006
People are constantly pulled between profiting from the things they know will reap rewards and exploring new options - but it is exploration that uses high-level regions of the brain, according to a study by UCL (University College London) scientists published in Nature on 15th June.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ UN Launches Campaign For Disaster-Proof Schools

Geneva (AFP) Jun 16, 2006
The United Nations kicked off a new campaign Thursday aiming to reduce the impact on children of disasters like the Asian tsunami, the earthquake in Kashmir or the mudslide which wiped out a school in the Philippines.

SPACE WAR EXPRESS

+ ATK Tests Advanced 155mm Projectile
+ Boost Phase Blues Impact Missile Shield Developments
+ Greece Orders Two Sperwer UAV Systems From Sagem Defense
+ Iran And Syria Sign Defense Agreement
+ Iran Supreme Leader Implicitly Rejects Nuclear Suspension
+ Japan Doubts North Korean Missile Test Imminent
+ New American Non-Nuclear ICBM Creates Global Dangers
+ Raytheon Tests Projectile with Semi-Active Laser Seeker
+ Raytheon To Support US Navy Satellite Communications System
+ Saab Lands Major New Camouflage Technology Deal
+ US And Europe Urge Iran To Heed Nuclear Call
+ US Military Death Toll In Iraq Hits 2500
+ White House Says There Will Be No Permanent Iraq Presence

SPACE DAILY EXPRESS

+ ESA Testing Main Vega Engine
+ Russia Launches New Remote Detection Satellite
+ Steve Cook At Marshall Leads Development Of New Launch Vehicle
+ Sea Launch Begins Galaxy 16 Countdown
+ Teachers To Learn About Mars-Earth Science
+ European Space Parliamentarians Meet In Brussels
+ Three Trojan Asteroids Share Neptune Orbit
+ SOFIA Passes New NASA Review
+ Atmel and u-blox Introduce Low Power Single-Chip GPS Receiver
+ Satellite Services Demand The Future in High Def
+ Hubble Sees Star Birth Gone Wild
+ NASA Spies Lunar Meteoroid Impact
+ Loral Skynet Launches New Satellite Services

Terra Daily Express - June 19, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
WHALES AHOY

+ Pro-Whaling Nations Pass Resolution Against Hunting Moratorium

Frigate Bay (AFP) Jun 19, 2006
Pro-whaling nations secured their first victory at world whaling talks Sunday by passing a resolution that labelled the 20-year moratorium on commercial hunts "no longer necessary."

+ Japan Refuses To Back Down At Whale Talks
+ Shadow Of Colonialism And Prejudice Hang Over Whale Meet

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Residents Run For Cover As Philippine Volcano Spews Ash

Manila (AFP) Jun 19, 2006
One of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines spewed a massive column of ash about two kilometres (more than a mile) into the sky Sunday, sending residents of surrounding areas fleeing for cover, radio reports said.

+ Indonesian Volcano Quietens Down

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ ESA And Spot Image Set Precedence With Data Sharing

Paris, France (ESA) Jun 19, 2006
ESA and Spot Image, the company that distributes data commercially from the French Space Agency's (CNES) Spot satellites, signed a multiyear agreement, which kicked off in January 2006, permitting ESA-accepted Category-1 projects to order more than 10 000 images per year from the Spot 1, 2, 3 and 4 satellites.

+ NASA Missions Help Dissect Sea Level Rise

+ NGOs Using Satellite Imagery To Plan Agriculture Relief Efforts
+ High-Flying Satellites Give Land Managers The Low-Down On Cheatgrass

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ US Not Prepared For Catastrophe Finds Official Report

Washington (AFP) Jun 19, 2006
The United States is not prepared to cope with a large-scale terrorist attack or a powerful hurricane, the US Department of Homeland Security said in a report published Friday. The Nationwide Plan Review, ordered by President George W. Bush and Congress, examined whether the emergency plans of cities and states were adequate to manage another tragedy.

ENERGY TECH

+ Looming Energy Crisis Requires New Manhattan Project

Los Angeles (AFP) Jun 19, 2006
The United States urgently needs an effort similar to the Manhattan Project or NASA's moon mission to confront a looming energy crisis, scientists said at a high-level energy conference here.

TECH SPACE

+ Bacterium Takes A Shine To Metals

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 19, 2006
Exposed metal surfaces are highly vulnerable to corrosion, but paint or other protective coatings can interfere with some uses, as well as add significant costs. Now, a comprehensive series of experiments suggests a new form of protection: bacteria.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Aromatic World

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jun 19, 2006
After years of investigation, scientists still struggle to understand how life began on our planet. While there are many hypotheses for life's origin, there is still no compelling evidence that suggests one scenario is more likely than any other.

SUPERPOWERS

+ Shanghai Pact Struts World Stage

Washington (UPI) Jun 19, 2006
When the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was formed on June 15, 2001, almost no one in the U.S. media took any notice of it. But they are starting to pay attention now. On Thursday, the fifth birthday of the SCO, which one of its founders, then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin liked to refer to as "the Shanghai Pact", leaders and senior representatives of more than half the world's population returned to Shanghai, the financial capital of China, for the meeting.

+ Chinese Military Delegation Departs For US War Games

NUKE WARS

+ US Expects North Korea To Return To Nuclear Talks

Washington (AFP) Jun 19, 2006
The United States expects North Korea to renew its moratorium on long-range missile tests and return to six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions, the White House said Sunday.

+ NKorea Accuses US Spy Plane Of Incursion
+ Japan Warns North Korea Over Any Missile Attack
+ North Korea Threatens To Wipe Out US Forces In South Korea
+ Iran Rejects Preconditions To Nuclear Talks
+ India Signs Up For UN Convention Against Nuclear Terrorism
+ Aerojet To Develop New ICBM Systems Technologies

SPACE DAILY

+ A Rock Nearly Knocked Off The Chart

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jun 19, 2006
Researchers are scratching their heads after unearthing a 25-centimeter-wide chondritic meteorite from the 145-million-year-old Morokweng impact crater in South Africa. The team found the meteorite within the crater's impact melt sheet about 770 meters (half a mile) down a drilling borehole.

+ Governments Accounted For Over Half Of New Satellite Business In 2005
+ Satellite Guidance For The Visually Impaired
+ Opportunity Hits Five-Mile Mark
+ Russian Mission To Martian Moon To Launch In 2009
+ NASA Sets Next Shuttle Launch For July 1
+ First ESA Long-Duration Mission Ready To Launch On Next Shuttle
+ First Kazakh Satellite Launched
+ Sea Launch Delivers Galaxy 16 Satellite to Orbit
+ ESA And Spot Image Set Precedence With Data Sharing
+ NASA Missions Help Dissect Sea Level Rise
+ NGOs Using Satellite Imagery To Plan Agriculture Relief Efforts
+ High-Flying Satellites Give Land Managers The Low-Down On Cheatgrass
+ China Satellite Launcher Rejects US Proliferation Accusations
+ The Next Generation Of Yuhangyuans
+ GMV To Provide Planning Software For Lunar Mission

Terra Daily Express - June 20, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century


FARM NEWS

+ Work On Biodiversity Doomsday Vault Begins In The Arctic

Oslo (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
A "doomsday vault" carved into the permafrost of a remote Arctic mountain will next year house samples of the world's most important seeds, with the goal of providing mankind with a Noah's Ark of food in the event of global catastrophe.

+ A Modern Day Noah Saving The Fruits Of A Green World

DARWIN TODAY

+ Researchers Offer Clues To How Leaves Patterns Are Formed

Alberta, Canada (SPX) Jun 20, 2006
Pick up a leaf and it is hard not to notice the pattern made by the veins. For years, biologists, mathematicians and even poets and philosophers have tried to decipher the rules and regulations behind those varied designs and now new research published in part at the University of Alberta offers a big clue to how those patterns are formed.

WHALES AHOY

+ Japan Takes The Helm At World Whale Talks

Frigate Bay (SPX) Jun 20, 2006
Japan pledged Monday not to use a new power base to destroy the International Whaling Commission (IWC) after pro-hunting states grabbed a majority in the body for the first time in 20 years.

+ Japan Charts Course For Commercial Whaling

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ National Guard To Return To New Orleans To Fight Crime

New Orleans (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
The National Guard will return to New Orleans to help control a flood of violent crime, Louisiana's governor said Monday, after the shooting deaths of five teenagers. "The situation is urgent," Governor Kathleen Blanco said in a statement.
AFRICA NEWS

+ China Says No Selfish Interests Behind Latest African Resource Deals

Brazzaville (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
China on Monday signed seven cooperation accords with the Republic of Congo as Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao insisted Beijing had no "selfish interests" in pursing deals in Africa. Wen was in the Congo on the third stop of a seven-nation swing around Africa.

+ Chinese Bank To Support Zimbabwean Recovery Plan

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Global Warming And Deserts Are A Double-Edged Sword

Paris (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
The desert is a special word, reflecting our dread and awe at vast, parched regions where a few plants, animals and hardy humans somehow survive in the emptiness. These conflicting emotions find resonance this Saturday in a UN day that celebrates the desert yet curses desertification and points to the impact of climate change on both.

+ Experts Call On World Leaders To Curb Advancing Deserts
+ Global Warming May Warrant New Approaches To Ecosystem Restoration

EPIDEMICS

+ China Reports New Bird Flu Outbreak

Beijing (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
China Monday announced a new bird flu outbreak, at poultry farms in its northern province of Shanxi. Samples taken after the chickens died in Changzi county tested positive for the H5N1 strain, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the agriculture ministry as saying.
SUPERPOWERS

+ Putin Has An Asian Vision For Growth And Cooperation

Moscow (UPI) Jun 20, 2006
In the run-up to the fifth Shanghai summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, and Iranian media published Russian President Vladimir Putin's essay on SCO, prompting new thoughts about what Putin had termed as the "Shanghai spirit."

NUKE WARS

+ Iran Prepares Nuclear Counter Proposal

Tehran (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
Iran said Monday it was preparing a counter-offer as officials rejected a key stipulation in a proposal by world powers for the Islamic republic to halt uranium enrichment ahead of nuclear talks.

+ US Policy Becoming Confused Over Iran Says Russia
+ US And Russian Nuclear Weapons Deal Extended
+ North Korea Missile Fueled For Launch
+ North Korea Plays A New Missile Card
+ North Korea Stirs Jitters With Missile Launch Boast
+ Patriot Missile Destroys Drone For Second Straight Hit

Terra Daily Express - June 21, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

WEATHER REPORT

+ Monsoon Nears Economic Capital Mumbai As Indian Farmers Await Rains

Mumbai (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
India's annual monsoon rains Tuesday approached the economic capital of Mumbai, hit by devastating floods last year, as farmers in the nation's agricultural belt waited anxiously for a downpour to sow their crops.

+ Goodrich Technology Aboard GOES-N

WHALES AHOY

+ Japan With The Momentum After World Whaling Talks

Frigate Bay (SPX) Jun 21, 2006
Japan will leave annual global whaling talks Tuesday after landing its heaviest ever blows against a 20-year moratorium on commercial whale hunts. Environmentalists and anti-whaling states entered the five days of annual talks in the Caribbean worried that Tokyo would finally wrest control of the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Military Police Arrive To Combat Crime In New Orleans

New Orleans (AFP) Jun 21, 2006
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco on Tuesday welcomed 100 military police officers and 60 state police troopers deployed to help New Orleans deal with a flood of violent crime as it struggles to recover from Hurricane Katrina.

+ Carmanah Unveils World's Most Versatile Solar Powered Airfield Light
+ Seismic Shock Absorbers For Woodframe Houses

ENERGY TECH

+ US And French Power Companies Sign MoU For Evolutionary Power Reactor

Baltimore MD (SPX)Jun 20, 2006
Constellation Energy and Electricite de France (EdF) today announced that the two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Specifically, EdF and Constellation Energy's subsidiary, Constellation Generation Group, have agreed to work together toward an agreement allowing EdF to provide assistance to Constellation Energy as part of the development of the U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR).

+ Innovative, Affordable Solar Energy Solution For Vineyards
+ Finding A Better Way To Make Biodiesel
+ Northwestern Team Develops MRI For Fuel Cells
MERAPI SIMMERS

+ Indonesia Volcano May Be At End Of Current Active Cycle

Mount Merapi (AFP) Jun 21, 2006
A new lava dome which began forming last week at Indonesia's Mount Merapi may signal that heightened activity is ending at the volcano, a scientist said Tuesday. Merapi has been on highest alert for most of the past five weeks, as clouds of hot gas and ash have erupted intermittently from its peak along with burning lava flows.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Panda Population Far Higher Than Expected Scientists

London (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
Scientists predicted Tuesday that there were many more giant pandas than previously thought, following a novel study examining the DNA of their faeces.
CAR TECH

+ Self-Powered Sensors To Watch Over Hydrogen Cars

New York (UPI) Jun 21, 2006
Nanotechnological, inexpensive sensors that can detect invisible, odorless hydrogen leaks and sound the alarm wirelessly could help safeguard future vehicles and refueling stations based on the gas, experts told UPI's Nano World.
WATER WORLD

+ Fourteen Die As Pakistan Tribes Clash Over Water

Peshawar, Pakistan (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
Pakistani authorities Tuesday negotiated a temporary truce after at least 14 people died and 35 were wounded in a gunbattle between two tribes over access to water, officials said. The rival groups left their hillside trenches after two days of fighting with assault rifles and rocket launchers near Parachinar, the main town in the Kurram tribal agency bordering Afghanistan, a government statement said.

SOLAR SCIENCE

+ Astronomers Discover Space Is Fizzing

Paris, France (SPX) Jun 21, 2006
Space is fizzing. In a place where Earth's magnetic field meets the constant stream of gas from the Sun, astronomers have found thousands of bubbles of superheated gas constantly growing and popping. The discovery could allow scientists finally to understand the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field.
TIME AND SPACE

+ Astronomers Observe High Energy Particles From Black Hole Jet

New Haven CT (SPX) Jun 21, 2006
An international team of astronomers has captured infrared observations that reveal the nature of high-energy quasar particle jets that originate just outside super-massive black holes at the center of galaxies and radiate across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to X-ray wavelengths.
SATURN DAILY

+ Uncovering Rhea

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 21, 2006
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured two Saturnian moons meeting in the sky: Dione departs after crossing the face of Rhea for several minutes. Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across), at right, has a notably smoother-looking surface than Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across), suggesting the former has been modified more recently.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GPS NEWS

+ Luxembourg Companies To Build Galileo Antenna System

Luxembourg (SPX) Jun 21, 2006
SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company, announced Tuesday its subsidiary SES ASTRA TechCom has been selected for a project of Europe's global satellite navigation system Galileo. Together with its Luxembourg partner, HITEC Luxembourg, SES ASTRA TechCom has been chosen as lead partner to provide two large telemetry, tracking and control antenna systems which will allow the ground control of the Galileo satellite fleet when it is in orbit.

MISSILE DEFENSE

+ US Missile Defenses Likely Activated For North Korean Test

Washington (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
The launch of a long-range North Korean missile would provide the first real test of a US missile defense system that has cost billions of dollars to build and is still in development, analysts said Tuesday. The Washington Times, citing US officials, said the system has been activated in the past two weeks amid signs North Korea is preparing to launch an intercontinental Taepodong-2 missile.

NUKEWARS

+ North Korea Missile Test Not A Sure Thing Says South Korea

Seoul (AFP) Jun 20, 2006
South Korea said Tuesday there was no certainty North Korea would test-fire a missile, amid mounting international concern over reports of launch preparations in the Stalinist state. "The reports say it may be imminent that North Koreans may test-fire a long-range missile but it is not quite sure they have put fuel in the rocket," said Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon.

+ US Says North Korea Moving Forward In Missile Launch
+ A Second Nuclear Front
+ US Considers Indian Nuclear Deal

MILTECH

+ Mid-Infrared Lasers Confuse Heat-Seeking Missiles

Sylmar CA (SPX) Jun 21, 2006
Quintessence Photonics has announced that it has won a US Government Contract to develop and deliver high-power Mid-Infrared Lasers. The Phase III award is a follow on to previous development activity funded by the US Army which culminates in the delivery of semiconductor lasers which emit light in the Mid-Infrared wavelength regime.

+ Exercise Highlights Raptor Synergy, Joint Capabilities
+ Precision-Guided Munitions Play Key Role
+ Heavyweight 'Cougars' Protect Marines in Iraq
+ Qinetiq Selects Riverbed To Optimize British Royal Navy Tactical Networks

SUPERPOWERS

+ Iraq Mission Sets Precedent For Japan To Play Greater Global Role

Tokyo (AFP) Jun 21, 2006
Japan's historic military mission to Iraq which was declared complete Tuesday has set a precedent for its expanding role overseas which remains deeply controversial, analysts said. The troops engaged in humanitarian assistance have suffered no casualties and not even fired their weapons, but their presence on dangerous turf shows a new image of a country known in recent times purely as an economic power.

Terra Daily Express - June 22, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

TECTONICS AND VOLCANOES

+ New Study Spells Bad News For Quake-Prone California

Paris (AFP) Jun 21, 2006
Southern California remains under the curse of an earthquake that may strike soon, according to a study which rules out hopes that stresses may have eased the peril posed by the notorious San Andreas fault. The San Andreas runs north-south along almost all of western California, passing through San Francisco and running just north of Los Angeles, before emerging in the far south in the San Jacinto fault.

+ Philippine Communists Offer Ceasefire Around Restive Volcano

WEATHER REPORT

+ Boeing Hands Over GOES-N Early To NASA

St Louis MO (SPX) Jun 21, 2006
Boeing announced Wednesday that GOES-N - the first of three Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites built for NASA and the NOAA - has reached its orbital slot 22,300 miles above the equator, and Boeing engineers have transferred control of the satellite to NASA.

+ Research Expedition Braves World's Worst Weather

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Experts Urge Better Management And Information About Desert Spread

Tunis (AFP) Jun 21, 2006
The United Nations called Wednesday for better management and a wider spreading of scientific knowledge to fight the creeping spread of deserts across the world. At a conference in Tunis organised by the UN educational, scientific and cultural organisation UNESCO some 300 scientists adopted a resolution calling on govermments to make the issue a "major priority".
ROBO SPACE

+ An Adaptive Interface For Controlling The Computer By Thought

Navarro, Spain (SPX) Jun 15, 2006
Controlling a computer just by thought is the aim of cerebral interfaces. The engineer from Pamplona, Carmen Vidaurre Arbizu, has designed a totally adaptive interface that improves the performance of currently existing devices in, reducing the time needed to become skilled in their operation and enhance the control that users have over the interface.

ENERGY TECH

+ Wildlife Conservation And Energy Development Seeking Balance In Rockies

Upper Green River Valley Basin WY (SPX) Jun 16, 2006
The Wildlife Conservation Society, with key support from leading energy producers in the Rockies, released first-year results from a study on how natural gas development in the Rockies might be influencing wildlife, particularly pronghorn antelope.

+ Chevron Pursues Opportunities in Emerging Biofuels Sector
FARM NEWS

+ Conservation Offers Financial Rewards For Cattle Ranchers

Stanford CA (SPX) Jun 14, 2006
About 10 million acres of private grazing land in the United States have been lost to commercial development in the last decade, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as suburban sprawl and rising real estate values induce more and more ranchers to sell or subdivide their property.
SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Hundreds Dead And Missing In Indonesia Floods

Sinjai, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 21, 2006
Floods and landslides triggered by torrential rain have killed at least 111 people in Indonesia's South Sulawesi province and left a further 101 missing, an official said Wednesday. The disaster, which has hit at least seven districts in the province after two days of torrential rain, is the latest in a series of similar tragedies to hit the world's biggest archipelago this year.
WHALES AHOY

+ Divided And Deadlocked Dark Days Loom For Whaling Body

Frigate Bay (AFP) Jun 21, 2006
About the only thing member countries of the polarized International Whaling Commission can agree on is that it doesn't work. A turbulent, often bad-tempered five days of annual talks in the Caribbean nation of St Kitts and Nevis only served to deepen divisions in the organization, and spark speculation over its future.

FLU NEWS

+ Indonesia Sees 39th Bird Flu Death

Oxford, England (UPI) Jun 22, 2006
An Indonesian teenager has died of avian influenza, marking that country's 39th death from the disease. Few details about the boy have been made public, other than the fact that he was 14 and came from south of Jakarta.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Coral Death Results From Bacteria Fed By Algae

Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Jun 14, 2006
Bacteria and algae are combining to kill coral - and human activities are compounding the problem. Scientists have discovered an indirect microbial mechanism whereby bacteria kill coral with the help of algae. Human activities are contributing to the growth of algae on coral reefs, setting the stage for the long-term continued decline of coral.

KOREA NEWS

+ Seoul Could Scrap Food Aid If North Korea Fires Missile

Seoul (AFP) Jun 21, 2006
South Korea said Wednesday it would consider scrapping food aid to impoverished North Korea if Pyongyang test-fired a missile. "South Korea could cut down or reject entirely the rice aid to North Korea, but we have not yet had detailed deliberations about this," Unification Ministry spokesman Yang Chang-Seok said.

INDIA NEWS

+ Even Rocket Scientists Work Out Technology Pays Better In India

Bangalore, India (AFP) Jun 21, 2006
After more than two decades as a scientist in India's premier space agency, 54-year-old Kalyan Raman has called it quits. His new job as a telecommunications specialist with a private firm, he says, pays double his previous salary and is more glamorous.

SPACE DAILY

+ Ariane 5 Receives Improved Upper Stage

Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) Jun 21, 2006
Assembly of the Ariane 5 ECA for Arianespace's next dual-satellite mission marked another milestone this week when the launcher received its cryogenic ESC-A upper stage. The upper stage, supplied by EADS Space Transportation, is an element of the upgraded propulsion system that provides increased lift capabilities for the Ariane 5 ECA.

+ NASA Announces CLV Support Contract
+ Deorbited Russian Progress Cargo Craft Dumped In Pacific
+ GeoEye Awarded Airport Mapping Database Contract
+ Chunghwa Telecom Mulling Second Taiwan Sat With SingTel
+ Microsoft Shows Off Software Kit For Robot Builders
+ An Adaptive Interface For Controlling The Computer By Thought
+ NASA To Orbit Fruit Flies To Test Immune System
+ Botanist To Study Seed Behavior Aboard Space Station

MILITARY SPACE NEWS

+ US To Conduct Missile Defense Test Off Hawaii

Washington (AFP) Jun 21, 2006
A US warship prepared to shoot down a mock warhead of a medium-range missile over the Pacific Wednesday in the latest of a series of tests of a sea-based missile defense system, a spokesman said. It comes amid tensions over North Korean preparations to launch a long-range missile, but a spokesman for the US Missile Defense Agency said the missile defense test had been planned for months.

+ Patriot GEM Has Second Test Flight Success
+ Brown Backs Britain Keeping Its Nuclear Deterrent
+ Weapons Experts Warn US Lawmakers On Indian Nuclear Deal
+ North Korea Again Hails 1998 Missile Launch
+ North Korea Must Keep Promise Not To Test Missile Says Bush
+ North Korean Missile Would Pull Japan Closer To US
+ World Powers Join US In Seeking Prompt Iran Answer

SUPERPOWERS

+ Stop The World

Washington (UPI) Jun 22, 2006
The United States is a greater threat to global stability than Iran or China? Clearly a preposterous suggestion, you would say. Well, think again because that's how our European allies have sized up the current state of geopolitical play. At least, those were the findings of a Harris poll conducted with the Financial Times, a newspaper regarded by most foreign policy cognoscente as the world's best English-language daily.

Terra Daily Express - June 23, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
ENERGY TECH

+ World Energy Consumption Could Be Cut By Half With Clean Technology

Paris (AFP) Jun 22, 2006
Oil and electricity consumption across the world could easily be cut by half, with major benefits for the environment, if clean energy technologies that are currently available were applied, an international watchdog said here Thursday.

+ China Offers Model For Sustainable City

WIND FARMS

+ Coast Guard Gets Wind Farm Power

Boston (UPI) Jun 22, 2006
Congress has reached an agreement concerning a proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm in Massachusetts, giving the U.S. Coast Guard oversight of the project. The bill would provide the Coast Guard, and not Gov. Mitt Romney, with the power to order changes to the Cape Wind project or even to kill the plan if it's found it would interfere with navigation, The Boston Globe reported.

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ Cheney Warns Congress Against Delaying Indian Nuclear Deal

Washington (AFP) Jun 22, 2006
US Vice President Dick Cheney warned Thursday that Congress would risk squandering a critical opportunity if it held up approval of a landmark civilian nuclear deal with India. "We hope Congress will be quick to enact legislation that enables our two nations to move forward on this important agreement without delay," Cheney said at a meeting of American and Indian business leaders in Washington.

EPIDEMICS

+ Chinese Scientists Ask US Journal To Withdraw Letter On Human Bird Flu

Washington (AFP) Jun 22, 2006
Eight Chinese scientists have asked a leading US medical journal to withdraw a letter published Thursday alleging that China knew about a human case of bird flu two years before the first case was officially announced.

CYBERWARS

+ Sri Lanka To Register Satellite Phone Users And Regulate Satellite TV

Colombo (AFP) Jun 22, 2006
Sri Lanka Thursday announced plans to register users of satellite telephones and regulate satellite television broadcasts amid the worsening unrest on the island. Telecommunications Regulator Kanchana Ratwatte said President Mahinda Rajapakse has ordered the formulation of laws to regulate all satellite-based television broadcasters and phone service providers, including widely available Thuraya phones.

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Flood Toll Hits 198 As Rescue Efforts Continue In Indonesia

Sinjai, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 22, 2006
The death toll after floods and landslides in Indonesia's South Sulawesi hit 198 Thursday as workers trawled through mud and scoured nearby islands for more bodies and survivors.

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ End Of 20th Century Warmest In 400 Years Finds US Report

Washington (AFP) Jun 22, 2006
Human activity has made Earth hotter now than at any point in 400 and possibly more than 1000 years, a US Congress commissioned report said Thursday.

+ EU Fails To Meet Kyoto Targets By Far

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Medspiration Charts All Med Water Temperatures

Paris, France (SPX) Jun 22, 2006
Before you pack your swimsuit and head to the sea this summer, you may want to check out the water's temperature with ESA's Medspiration heat map of all 2,965,500 square kilometers (1,144,985 square miles) of the Mediterranean.

CAR TECH

+ Mobile Phones Provide Another Reason To Hate SUVs

Paris (AFP) Jun 23, 2006
Owners of 4x4 vehicles, already loathed or derided by environmentalists for their contribution to global warming, now face battle on a second front: road safety. A study published online on Friday by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that British drivers of 4x4s, also known as sport utility vehicles (SUVs), are four times likelier to use their mobile phones while at the wheel compared with other drivers.

ABOUT US

+ GOP Voters Want Immigration Bill This Year

Washington (UPI) Jun 22, 2006
Almost three-quarters of likely Republican voters believe immigration to be one of the most pressing issues on the American political landscape.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Some Scientists Oppose Darwinian Evolution And Supporting Science

Seattle (UPI) Jun 22, 2006
More than 600 scientists from around the world have signed a statement publicly expressing skepticism about the theory of evolution.

POLITICAL ECONOMY

+ Supercomputers Key To Staying Ahead In World EcoTechno Race

Washington (UPI) Jun 22, 2006
The technology used in aerospace engineering and weather forecasting is being used these days to produce better laundry-detergent bottles and animated movies too, thanks to high-performance computing. So perhaps it's no surprise that the use of supercomputers to conduct research and product testing is being heralded by those who use it as essential to the functioning of their business.

LAUNCH PAD

+ Boeing Delta II Delivers Military Technology Demonstration Mission

St. Louis MO (SPX) Jun 22, 2006
Boeing announced Thursday its Delta II launch vehicle successfully carried into orbit an experimental payload for the joint U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

CHIP TECH

+ Magnetic Field Computers 500 Times Faster

Bath, England (UPI) Jun 22, 2006
Researchers at Britain's University of Bath will lead a $1 million, three-year international project to develop magnetic fields for use in computers. The project could produce a way of carrying electrical signals without the need for wiring.

ROBO SPACE

+ Italian Robot Maid Wins Prize At RoboCup

Rome (UPI) Jun 22, 2006 - An Italian domestic robot that reminds people when to eat, sleep and even when to take medicine, has won a top prize at the RoboCup tournament in Germany. Lucia, a robotic home helper, was created by a team from the Italian National Research Council.

GPS NEWS

+ UN To Hold Workshop On Navsat Applications In Sub-Saharan Africa

Vienna, Austria (SPX) Jun 22, 2006
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is holding a five-day Regional Workshop on the Applications of Global Navigation Satellite System Technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa in Lusaka, Zambia, from June 26 to June 30.

TIME AND SPACE

+ Scientists Plan To Recreate Big Bang To Uncover Universial Mysteries

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador (AFP) Jun 22, 2006
International scientists will recreate the immediate aftermath of the "Big Bang" in a bid to uncover the mysteries of the universe, a world physics summit announced Thursday.

NUKEWARS

+ UK Defence Secretary Opens Up Nuclear Deterrent Debate In Britain

London (AFP) Jun 22, 2006
Britain's defence secretary on Thursday backed finance minister Gordon and critics raged after he insisted the country would remain a nuclear power if, as expected, he becomes prime minister.

+ Cheney Rebuffs Pre-Emptive Strike On North Korea
+ US Says North Korea Will Pay A Cost For Missile Launch
+ North Korea Can Not Launch Nuclear Missile Says Japanese official
+ Iran Will Answer On Nuclear Deal After July G8 Summit
MISSILE DEFENSE

+ US Warship Shoots Down Missile Warhead In Pacific Test Says Military

Washington (AFP) Jun 22, 2006
A US warship successfully shot down a target missile warhead over the Pacific Thursday in a test of a sea-based missile defense system, the US military said. A Japanese destroyer performed surveillance and tracking exercises during the test, marking the first time any US ally has taken part in a US missile defense intercept test, the US Missile Defense Agency said.

+ US Could Use Experimental Battery If NKorea Shot Missile At US

SUPERPOWERS

+ China Threatens To Rival American Power Status

Washington (UPI) Jun 22, 2006
China's rapid military expansion over recent years has sparked concern amongst American officials that its battlefield capabilities may eventually pose a threat to U.S. dominance.

+ US-European Summit Ends In Boredom And Peace

MILTECH

+ OBL Dreams Of EMP Bomb On USA

Washington (UPI) Jun 22, 2006
A former Pakistani intelligence agent who once worked closely with Osama bin Laden says that the U.S. may well be attacked with electro-magnetic pulse bombs. During a June 22 interview with Adnkronos International news agency Khalid Khawaja said, "The e-bomb shall be the new threat for the USA, not the nukes or gas attacks."

Terra Daily Express - 26-JUN-06
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
SHAKE AND BLOW

+ NASA Finds Intense Lightning Activity Around A Hurricane Eye

Huntsville AL (SPX) Jun 26, 2006
When you think of lightning, you think of a thunderstorm. Many people also assume that hurricanes have a lot of lightning because they are made up of hundreds of thunderstorms.

+ Global Warming Surpassed Cycles Of 2005 Hurricane Season

WEATHER REPORT

+ NOAA Selects Nortel To Enhance Weather Satellite Support

Washington (SPX) Jun 26, 2006
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded an estimated US$3 million contract to a subsidiary of Nortel Government Solutions for systems engineering and software development for ground systems supporting the GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) weather satellites.

+ Weather Modification Takes Another Step

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Philippines Braces For Deadly Storm-Volcano Combination

Manila (AFP) Jun 25, 2006
The Philippines Sunday put civil defense personnel on alert for possible deadly volcanic mudflows as a tropical storm began bearing down on a volcano that has been spitting ash for weeks.

ENERGY TECH

+ When Gold Becomes A Catalyst

Grenoble Cedex, France (SPX) Jun 26, 2006
Gold has always been perceived as a precious material: you win a gold medal when you prove to be the best in a competition; you only get a Gold credit card when you are a preferential customer, and the jewelry made of this material is amongst the most valuable.

+ Diamond By-Product Of Hydrogen Production And Storage Method

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ European Consortium To Build Uranium Enrichment Plant In US

Washington (AFP) Jun 25, 2006 - US authorities have given a European-led consortium peremission to build the first uranium enrichment plant in the United States for 30 years. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the new 1.5 billion dollar plant would be built at Eunice in New Mexico by Louisiana Energy Services (LES).

+ IAEA Studies Enrichment Compromise But US Remains Unimpressed

POLITICAL ECONOMY

+ Rising Salaries Threatens Booming Outsourcing Industry In India

Bangalore, India (AFP) Jun 25, 2006
Soaring salaries and poor quality of manpower are prompting foreign firms to shut their outsourcing operations in India although there is no cause for alarm yet, officials and analysts say.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Journey To Yungay Is A Trip Into The Dead Zone

Yungay, Chile (SPX) Jun 26, 2006
Yungay, Chile, is hardly a tourist destination. Indeed, it's hardly a town. More like a ghost town. In the past, Yungay was a center of activity for a nearby sodium nitrate mine. Now, the mine is closed, the town all but deserted. Despite its remote isolation, in recent years, Yungay has become a popular international travel destination - not for tourists, but for astrobiologists.

+ The Fruits Of Intelligence Is Remembering Where To Get Food

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Canada To Fund More Access To Latest Satellite Imaging Data

Ottawa, Ontario (SPX) Jun 26, 2006
Hon. Gary Lunn, Canada's Minister of Natural Resources, announced Friday a five-year, $2.4-million project to provide access to new, high-quality satellite images of Canada. Speaking at the 2006 Geomatics Leaders Forum in Ottawa, Lunn also announced that the improved and standardized satellite images will be available to all Canadians for free over the Internet.

+ GlobeXplorer Adds 200th City To CitySphere International Datebase

GPS NEWS

+ Baltimore Public School Buses Made Safer With GPS System

Torrance CA (SPX) Jun 26, 2006
Radio Satellite Integrators Inc. announced it has been contracted by the Baltimore City Public School System and is currently installing a turn-key automatic-vehicle-location system for their school bus fleet.

SPACEWAR

+ US Using Space Supremacy To Wage Combat In Iraq And Afghanistan

Washington (AFP) Jun 23, 2006
The US military is relying ever more on space satellites to help wage combat in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, though analysts say that Washington's space supremacy could be threatened by rivals in the future.

+ IT Keeping US Military Ahead Of Game
+ U-2 Showcases New Cockpit Built For The Future
+ Can The US ABM System Actually Shoot Down A Taepodong 2
+ Missile Defense Test Yields Successful 'Hit to Kill' Intercept
+ Japan And US Sign Pact Over Joint Development Of Ballistic Missile Defense

IRAN NUKES

+ Iran Brandishes Oil Weapon In Nuclear Row

Tehran (AFP) Jun 25, 2006
Iran on Sunday again brandished oil as a weapon in a dispute over its nuclear programme, as it continued to resist international demands to freeze sensitive uranium enrichment work. The threat came amid mounting pressure on Tehran to accept a proposal that it halt enrichment -- at the centre of fears it could acquire nuclear weapons -- in exchange for multilateral talks and a package of incentives.

MILPLEX

+ EADS Strains Franco-German Ties

Berlin (UPI) Jun 23, 2006
There may be a diplomatic rift in the pipeline between Germany and France after French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin hinted that he would like to expand his government's influence at European air and space company EADS.

Terra Daily Express - June 27, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century


ENERGY TECH

+ Device Burns Fuel With Almost Zero Emissions

Atlanta GA (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
Georgia Tech researchers have created a new combustor (combustion chamber where fuel is burned to power an engine or gas turbine) designed to burn fuel in a wide range of devices ? with next to no emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO), two of the primary causes of air pollution.

+ Stabilizing Explosive Elements

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ US Congress Expected To Clear Indian Nuclear Deal In First Vote

Washington (AFP) Jun 26, 2006
US lawmakers are expected to give conditional backing this week to a US civilian nuclear deal with India in the first congressional vote on the controversial agreement since it was first adopted nearly a year ago. The House International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations committee are scheduled to consider the far reaching deal on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ ADB Approves Loan To Clean Up Most Polluted River In China

Manila (AFP) Jun 26, 2006
The Asian Development Bank said Monday it approved an 80 million-dollar loan to help clean up one of China's most polluted rivers. It covers about half the cost of reducing pollution in the Hai river basin of Shandong province in China's industrial belt, the Philippines-based lender said in a statement.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Showing Off Your Weapons In The Animal Kingdom

Flagstaff AZ (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
Working at the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, researchers have shown that when an adult male lizard gapes his jaws at a rival male during an intense territorial interaction, information is made available to his opponent about how hard he can bite - indeed, the lizard's jaw muscles become clearly visible.

+ Development Key To Promoting Primate Conservation In Uganda

WATER WORLD

+ Magnets Help Explain Rain Patterns

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
If someone said you can understand rain patterns and the dynamics of the atmosphere by studying magnets and magnetism - and therefore make better predictions of the effects of global warming - would you think he's crazy? Brilliant? The atmosphere spans the entire globe, while a magnet fits easily in your hand; can they really be so similar?

+ Underwater Microscope Makes Startling Find

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ US Court To Rule On Pivotal Case On Global Warming

Washington (AFP) Jun 26, 2006
The US Supreme Court decided on Monday it will weigh whether the federal government must regulate emissions of new cars to combat global warming as demanded by environmental groups and some state and city authorities. The case could open the way for the high court to deliver a crucial ruling on how the US government enforces environmental laws.

+ President Bush Says Climate Change Is A Serious Problem
+ A Sign Of Global Warming

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ France Offers Alternative To Google Earth

Paris (AFP) Jun 27, 2006
Millions of internet users have clicked on to "Geoportal", the French answer to Google Earth offering high-resolution aerial imagery of France, in the first days of the site's operation, the portal's developers said.

+ Ball Aerospace To Provide Two Cameras For Glory Mission

ICE WORLD

+ Many Glaciers Will Soon Disappear

Columbus (UPI) Jun 26, 2006
US scientists, for the first time, have compared ancient South American and Asian ice core climate records to show how Earth's climate has changed. The scientists say ice cores taken from the South American Andes and the Asian Himalayas suggest most of the high-altitude glaciers in the planet's tropical regions will disappear in the near future.

SPACE MEDICINE

+ NASA Modifies Image Technology To Fight Diabetes

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
NASA image-processing technology used to explore orbital images of Earth and distant worlds is being modified for diabetes research. Scientists at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., helped modify the technology, which has greatly increased the speed of the research.

MARSDAILY

+ Mars Via The Antarctic and The Arctic

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
The city of Hammerfest lies at the northern tip of Norway, well above the Arctic Circle. If you board a ship heading north from there, just before you reach the polar ice cap you run into a group of islands known as the Svalbard archipelago.

GPS NEWS

+ Scientists Precisely Track Short Term Earth Wobbles

Washington DC (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
New technologies are enabling scientists to determine the extent and causes of Earth's short-term wobbling with extreme precision. Like a spinning top, Earth wobbles as it rotates on its axis. In fact, it displays many different wobbling motions, ranging in period from a few minutes to billions of years.

EXO LIFE

+ Must Ecologists Account For Time To Understand Biodiversity In Space

Chapel Hill NC (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
Ecologists typically study biodiversity in "snapshots" - single-time surveys conducted in many locations - and try to understand why some habitats have more species than others, or why larger areas contain more species than smaller ones. But what are ecologists missing if they ignore the reality that communities are not snapshots but continually in flux?

TIME AND SPACE

+ Astronomers Solve Black Hole Paradox

Washington DC (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
Astronomers said they may have discovered how black holes light up the universe in X-ray light. The team analyzed data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to show for the first time how powerful magnetic fields power these brilliant light shows.

SOLAR SCIENCE

+ Computer Model Can Predict Solar Weather

Durham NH (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
The most true-to-life computer simulation ever made of the Sun's multi-million-degree outer atmosphere, the corona, has successfully predicted its actual appearance during a solar eclipse last March 29. Scientists said the research, funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation, marks the beginning of a new era in space weather prediction.

NUCLEAR DOCTRINE

+ Britain Decides To Stay A Nuclear Weapons Power In The 21st Century

London (UPI) Jun 26, 2006
It is unusual to watch a senior and experienced politician walk deliberately into trouble. But Gordon Brown, for the past nine years the successful steward of the world's fourth-largest economy and the second-most powerful man in Britain after Tony Blair, knew exactly what he was doing when he kicked the third rail of left-wing politics by pledging to renew Britain's nuclear forces.

NUKEWARS

+ Iran Says Oil Weapon Only A Last Resort

Tehran (AFP) Jun 26, 2006
Iran said Monday that it would only use its vast oil resources as a weapon of last resort in the international dispute over its nuclear programme. The comments came the day after Iran's oil minister threatened to use oil as a weapon if the country's "interests are attacked", amid mounting pressure on Tehran's hardline leadership to freeze sensitive atomic work.

+ IAEA Chief Says Nuclear Terrorism A Serious Threat
+ An Interview With Iranian Opposition Leader Maryam Rajavi

Terra Daily Express - June 28, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century


CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Tropical Ice Cores Shows Two Abrupt Global Climate Shifts

Columbus OH (SPX) Jun 25, 2006
For the first time, glaciologists have combined and compared sets of ancient climate records trapped in ice cores from the South American Andes and the Asian Himalayas to paint a picture of how climate has changed - and is still changing - in the tropics.

+ Antarctic Ice Sheets More Dynamic Than Previously Believed

WEATHER REPORT

+ Rockwell Collins Introduces Next Gen Of Weather Radar

Cedar Rapids IO (SPX) Jun 28, 2006
Rockwell Collins has announced its next generation of weather radar, the MultiScan Hazard Detection system, which will enable airlines safer, smoother and more efficient flights. "We're introducing new features that offer an innovative approach to detecting, assessing and displaying weather hazards," said Kelly Ortberg, vice president and general manager, Air Transport Systems for Rockwell Collins.

+ MetOp Gets A Go For July 17 Launch
+ Death Toll From Indian Floods Tops 200

CLONE AGE

+ Senate Mulls Stem-Cell Choices

Washington (UPI) Jun 28, 2006
Senate backers of embryonic-stem-cell research said Tuesday they won't be deterred by a new bill promoting technology designed to deliver stem cells without destroying embryos. The Senate could open debate some time in July on a measure repealing a federal ban on most embryonic-stem-cell research laid down by President Bush in 2001.

EPIDEMICS

+ US Capital First To Try To Test Entire City For HIV

Washington (AFP) Jun 27, 2006
The first attempt to test an entire city for HIV kicked off Tuesday in Washington D.C., the US capital, which has the highest HIV infection rate in the United States, officials said. "This is the only attempt to get a whole population of a city to know their HIV status," District of Columbia spokeswoman Marcela Howell told AFP.

+ New Theories On The Growing Worldwide Obesity Pandemic

BLUE SKY

+ California's Model Skies

Owens Valley CA (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
Rotor winds can be devastating for aircraft. They form as air is forced over a mountain and then collapses down the other side. These sudden changes - like a wave in the sea - can be very dangerous as atmospheric chemist as Dr Jim McQuaid recently explained.

WATER WORLD

+ Creating A Window On Oceans In Motion

Halifax, Canada (SPX) Jun 25, 2006
Scientists and resource managers could soon have a highly detailed picture of marine conditions and the migrations of fish and ocean animals throughout the world, according to international experts convening a landmark conference in Canada June 27-30.

+ Curtain May Be Closing On Scientific Water Controversy

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ ESA Donates Envisat Global Images To UN

Paris, France (SPX) Jun 28, 2006
ESA announced Tuesday it has donated a composite satellite image of Earth's land cover provided by its Envisat satellite to the United Nations. The mosaic will be exhibited permanently in the new access building by the Pregny gate in the Palais des Nations compound in Geneva, Switzerland.
ENERGY TECH

+ Mesquite Energy May Be Harvested For Ethanol

Vernon TX (SPX) Jun 27, 2006
Vernon - The dense mesquite-covered mid-section of Texas could provide fuel for about 400 small ethanol plants, according to one Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researcher.
FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Slender Loris Gasps For Survival As Urban India Expands

Bangalore, India (AFP) Jun 27, 2006
Hunted for centuries for its purported qualities as an aphrodisiac, asthma cure and as a kind of living voodoo doll, the tiny primate known as the Slender Loris has long faced a battle just to survive.

FARM NEWS

+ Scientists To Track Fish Stocks With Underwater Arrays And Satellites

Ottawa (AFP) Jun 27, 2006
Researchers will launch a landmark project in Canada Tuesday to track the world's fish stocks and marine mammals using electronic tags akin to UPC codes used by retailers to trace their inventories.

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

+ Israeli Nuke Complicate International Nuclear Doctrine

Houston, Texas (AFP) Jun 27, 2006
The United States cannot denounce Iran's nuclear program while accepting Israel's possession of nuclear bombs, the head of the Arab League said Tuesday. "This will ultimately bring the Middle East to further instability and there will be an inevitable arms race," Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa told the US Arab Economic Forum in Houston, Texas.

+ US Congress Committee Backs Nuclear Deal With India
+ Korea Requests 48 SM-2 Block IIIB Standard Missiles
+ US Warns North Korea Against Talks Bluff
+ US Says No Preemptive Strike Planned Against North Korea Missile
+ Iran Says No Use Negotiating With US
+ Russia Will Not Join Ultimatums Over Nuclear Issue
+ Iran Undermines Russia


UNMANNED COMBAT

+ Two BigDogs Take A Run At New River Air Station

New River NC (SPX) Jun 28, 2006
The Most Advanced Quadruped Robot on Earth BigDog robots trot around in the shadow of an MV-22 Osprey while given commands via remote control at Marine Corps Air Station New River, N.C., June 26, 2006. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is considering plans such as weaponizing the BigDog robots and using them to carry extra gear to free Marines of the burden of extra weight. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. M. L. Meier Hi-Res Photo
WEATHER REPORT

+ Rockwell Collins Introduces Next Gen Of Weather Radar

Cedar Rapids IO (SPX) Jun 28, 2006
Rockwell Collins has announced its next generation of weather radar, the MultiScan Hazard Detection system, which will enable airlines safer, smoother and more efficient flights. "We're introducing new features that offer an innovative approach to detecting, assessing and displaying weather hazards," said Kelly Ortberg, vice president and general manager, Air Transport Systems for Rockwell Collins.

+ MetOp Gets A Go For July 17 Launch
CYBER WARS

+ FBI Abandons Connecticut Library Security Case

Washington (UPI) Jun 28, 2006
The FBI has abandoned its effort to obtain user records from a group of Connecticut libraries employing a controversial investigative tool known as a national security letter -- a broad and secret demand for communications and financial information.

SPACE DAILY

+ Venus Express Spies Double Vortex

Paris, France (SPX) Jun 28, 2006
ESA scientists said Tuesday that analysis of Venus Express data from the spacecraft's first orbit around the planet confirm the presence of a huge double-eye atmospheric vortex at the planet's south pole. Last April 11, Venus Express was captured into a first elongated orbit around Venus lasting nine days and ranging from 350,000 kilometers to 400 kilometers (217,000 miles to 248 miles) from the surface.

+ South Korea To Launch First Military Communications Satellite
+ Shin Satellite Head Goes On Record With Arianespace
+ Innovative Solutions Make Transportation Systems Safe, Secure, Efficient
+ Shuttle Crew Arrives At Kennedy
+ NASA Seeking Ways To Keep Wildlife Away From Shuttle Launches
+ Old US Satellite Passes Space Station Without Incident
+ NASA Updates Hubble Status
+ Hubble Sees Twin Dust Disks Around Nearby Star
+ Lockheed Martin Develops New Imaging Technology For Space Telescopes
+ Cassini Shines At Mission Halfway Point
+ Northrop Grumman Wins NASA Task Order For MSL Software Assurance

Terra Daily Express - June 29, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System Up And Running

Paris (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
A tsunami warning system for the entire Indian Ocean "is up and running as scheduled", the United Nations' Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which has been overseeing the scheme, announced on Wednesday.


+ Saving New York From A Major Hurricane
+ Hopes High For Wireless In Global Aid

ENERGY TECH

+ Pentagon Sued For Blocking New Wind Power Plants

San Francisco (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
The Sierra Club filed a federal lawsuit in San Francisco on Wednesday charging the US Department of Defense (DOD) with blocking the construction of wind power plants. The environmental group accused the Pentagon of essentially creating a nationwide moratorium on new wind farms by barring their construction within the line of sight of military radar.


+ MTI Micro Delivers On Energy Density Milestone

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Seven dead in US Floods, 200,000 Ordered Evacuated

New York (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
Flooding killed at least seven people, cut power to thousands and caused mass evacuations in the northeastern United States on Wednesday. In one of the worst hit areas in eastern Pennsylvania, county officials ordered the evacuation of up to 200,000 people from low-lying areas around the Susquehanna River.

FARM NEWS

+ Millions Hungry Despite Good Harvests In Southern Africa

Johannesburg (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
Three million people remained short of food in Southern Africa as a result of poverty and HIV/AIDS despite recent good harvests, the UN's World Food Programme said Wednesday. WFP executive director James Morris said that although the region, plagued by drought in recent years, had now seen bumper crops, it paradoxically made the task of the UN agency more difficult.

+ Annan Says Governments Doing Too Little For Environment

WATER WORLD

+ 2004-2005 Hurricanes Fueled Exceptional Red Tide

Tampa FL (SPX) Jun 28, 2006
According to a recent study, the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons did a lot more than spread misery and financial woe above ground in Florida. When four hurricanes crossed the state, the exceptional rainfall may have also fueled the intense 2005 red tide when runoff from a super-charged water-table delivered high amounts of nutrients into coastal waters via submarine groundwater discharges.


THE PITS

+ Fifty-Five Bodies Pulled From China Coal Mine

Beijing (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
The bodies of 55 men have been pulled out of a coal mine that flooded more than a month ago, authorities said Wednesday, making it the worst reported mining disaster in China this year. "After intensive rescue work... 55 bodies of the miners have been discovered. One person is still missing," the State Administration of Work Safety said in a short statement on its website.
ABOUT US

+ Researchers Seek A Balm For Aging

Washington (UPI) Jun 29, 2006
There's no question about it -- we're living longer. But what is at the root of longevity, and what quality of life can one expect during those extra years? At a recent conference, U.S. researchers reported that boosting levels of growth hormones may help people to live on their own longer, while a Polish study pointed to a protein from fat tissue as a key determinant in longevity.

SOLAR DAILY

+ US Announces Solar Energy Initiative

Washington (UPI) Jun 28, 2006
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has announced an initiative designed to make solar technology cost effective by 2015. Bodman said the U.S. will spend $170 million during a three-year period for cost-shared, public-private partnerships to advance solar energy technology.

+ Rooftop PV Data For Better Energy Prediction Models

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ Italy To Face EU Court For Failing To Adopt Nuclear Plans

Brussels (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
Italy is to be taken before Europe's highest court for failing to adopt emergency measures in preparation for a nuclear accident, the European Commission said Wednesday. The commission said in a statement that it had received complaints that Italy contravened parts of Europe's Euratom treaty governing plans to respond to a nuclear emergency and making public any necessary health measures.

SUPERPOWERS

+ Blair Confirms Decision This Year On UK Nuclear Weapons

London (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed Wednesday that a decision on whether to replace Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent will be taken "later this year". Challenged by main opposition Conservative leader David Cameron during his weekly question period in parliament, Blair said an independent nuclear deterrent was an "essential part" of Britain's national security.

+ The End Of Blair-Bush Partnership Looming Fast

IRANIAN NUKES

+ EU Warns Iran Not To Play For Time On Nuclear Offer

Moscow (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
The European Union warned Iran on Wednesday against delaying a response to a proposal on resolving the international standoff over the country's controversial nuclear programme. "Iran should not play for time and we expect Iran to come back soon to the Vienna package," the European Union's external relations commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said during a visit to Moscow. "Iran has to show it is serious about it."

+ Iran Opposition Wants Sanctions

KOREAN NUKES

+ Japan And Canada Urge North Korea To Give Up Nuclear Arms

Ottawa (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
Canada and Japan agreed Wednesday to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons drive, with the Canadian prime minister saying Pyongyang's moves were posing "a very real threat."

CYBER WARS

+ Hawala Far Swifter Than SWIFT

Washington (UPI) Jun 28, 2006
President Bush was swift to react angrily against the New York Times for exposing U.S. monitoring of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) as a suspected conduit for the transfer of terrorist funds. Former Attorney General Edwin Meese accused the newspaper of giving "aid and comfort to the enemy," which is tantamount to treason.

TECH SPACE

+ Space Clothes Saving The Lives Of Earthlings

Paris (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
From bras and babysuits equipped with monitors to tough suits to protect sportsmen and adventurers from the hazards of life on Earth, space technology is boldly pushing back fashion frontiers.

+ AMPAC-ISP To Supply Loral With Thrusters For Telstar
+ Gravitational Wave Detector Is Operational
SPACE TRAVEL

+ NASA Looks Beyond Shuttle With New Spaceship

Washington (AFP) Jun 28, 2006
NASA is already looking into the future with a new generation spacecraft to replace its aging shuttle fleet that could one day take astronauts on an ambitious mission to Mars after returning to the Moon.

+ Aerojet To Develop Rocket Powered Landing System For CEV
+ Irvin Aerospace Provides Chute For Record Air Launch Test
+ NASA Engineer Quits 5 Days Before Launch
+ US To Make New Bid To Get Shuttle Back In Space
+ An Eight Minute Ride To Orbit
+ Space Shuttle To Take Five Men And Two Women Into Space
+ A Guitar-Playing German Astronaut

Terra Daily Express - June 30, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Museum Of Natural History Finds Baby Ice Age Sloth

Iowa City IA (SPX) Jun 28, 2006
For the past three years, students, staff and volunteers from the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History, UI Department of Geoscience in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Office of the State Archaeologist have been excavating, analyzing and carefully reconstructing the bones of an ice-age giant sloth from a site near Shenandoah, Iowa.

+ Chameleon-Like Snake Discovered In Indonesia
+ Scientists Puzzled By Sand Bacteria
+ Scientists Investigate Giant Algae Bloom Off Canadian West Coast

EPIDEMICS

+ Effects Of Avian Flu Pandemic Disasterous

Washington (UPI) Jun 30, 2006
An avian influenza pandemic "could kill millions of people, cripple economies, bring international trade and travel to a standstill and even jeopardize political stability," according to Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula J. Dobriansky.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ China Ratifies International Convention On Oceanic Pollution

Beijing (AFP) Jun 29, 2006
China's parliament ratified Thursday an international treaty on preserving the marine environment and preventing pollution on the high seas, state press said Thursday. The National People's Congress ratified the 1996 Convention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter at a session that ended here Thursday, Xinhua news agency said.

+ Landfills And Chemical Weapon Debris A Good Match

ENERGY TECH

+ First Global Lighting Study Is Released

Paris (UPI) Jun 30, 2006
The first global survey of lighting uses and costs suggests the world's electric bill would greatly decrease with a switch to efficient lighting systems. The Paris-based International Energy Agency, which conducted the study, said it found lighting is a major source of electricity consumption.

+ Germany Now Has Two Energy Plans

CAR TECH

+ Back Middle Car Seat Maybe Un-Cool But It Is The Safest Car Seat

Buffalo NY (UPI) Jun 28, 2006
A U.S. study shows the middle of a car's back seat may be the least desirable, most uncomfortable and most "un-cool" spot -- but it is also the safest. University at Buffalo researchers studied all U.S. automobile crashes involving a fatality between 2000 and 2003 in which someone occupied the rear middle-seat.

WEATHER REPORT

+ Romania Probes Foreign Plot To Worsen Its Weather

Bucharest (AFP) Jun 29, 2006
The Romanian senate has opened an inquiry into "indications" that floods that have battered the country were the result of a "metereological war waged by a foreign power," a senator said Thursday.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ FEMA Reform Plans Pick Up Pace

Washington (UPI) Jun 30, 2006
One of the leading advocates in the U.S. Congress of removing the Federal Emergency Management Agency from the Department of Homeland Security has reversed himself, joining sponsors of a bill to reform the agency within the department.

ABOUT US

+ Big Brother Eyes Encourage Honesty

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (SPX) Jun 28, 2006
UK scientists have found a way of making people behave more honestly in an experiment that could aid strategies for tackling anti-social behaviour. A team from Newcastle University found people put nearly three times as much money into an 'honesty box' when they were being watched by a pair of eyes on a poster, compared with a poster that featured an image of flowers.

INTERNET SPACE

+ Satellite to Aid Education In Northeast India

Agartala, India (IANS) Jun 30, 2006
Students in India's northeast will soon have satellite-based educational facilities available. Three states - Tripura, Mizoram and Nagaland - will be included in the first phase of the hi-tech facilities using the services of EDUSAT, a dedicated satellite for education launched in 2004.
SHUTTLE NEWS

+ Bad Weather Threatens To Delay Controversial Discovery Launch

Cape Canaveral FL (AFP) Jun 29, 2006
NASA officials kept a close eye Thursday on a storm threatening to delay Discovery's controversial launch set for Saturday, only the second flight since the Columbia tragedy. US space agency officials said the shuttle was ready to rocket into orbit if weather permits and again defended their decision to go ahead with the mission despite lingering concerns over safety.

+ Shuttle Countdown Proceeding Despite Concerns
+ Space Shuttle Mission Details
+ The US Space Shuttle An Aging Transport Vehicle
+ Saturday Launch Marks Quarter Century For Shuttle
+ Shuttle Discovery To Launch Into A Worrying Unknown

MOON DAILY

+ Mysterious Lunar Swirls

Huntsville AL (SPX) Jun 30, 2006
Picture this: A cup of coffee, steaming and black. Add a dollop of milk and gently stir. Eddies of cream go swirling around the cup. Magnify that image a million times and you've got a Lunar Swirl.

NUKEWARS

+ Chinese Leadership Calls For Build Up Of Strategic Missile Forces

Beijing (AFP) Jun 29, 2006
Chinese President Hu Jintao has pledged to step up scientific and technological reforms in the military, as he marked the 40th anniversary of the nation's nuclear force, state media said Thursday.

+ World Powers Give Iran A Week To Respond
+ Iran Rejects Calls To Give Speedy Response To Nuclear Package
+ Bush And Koizumi Warn North Korea Against Launching Test Missile
+ NKorea Missile Test Could Derail Six-Way Talks
SUPERPOWERS

+ The Costs Of America's War Escalating

Moscow (UPI) Jun 30, 2006
The Bush administration allocated huge sums towards military programs, though the money was spent not on the planned acquisition of arms, but on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and on other similar operations. This means that the U.S. Department of Defense's budget remained the same in fixed prices as under President Ronald Reagan, but spending on acquisitions has been cut to a third.

TERROR WARS

+ Is The Middle Ages On The Comeback Trail

Washington (UPI) Jun 30, 2006
Three years ago the Taliban operated in squad sized units. Last year they operated in company sized units (100+ men). This year the Taliban are operating in battalion-sized units (400+ men). So reported Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey (Ret), professor of International Affairs at West Point, after his second trip to Afghanistan to assess the balance of forces.

+ UK Court Ruling Leaves Terror Policy In Shreds

Terra Daily Express - July 03, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

FARM NEWS

+ Future Greenhouse-Gas Food-Crop Yields Lower Than Expected

Champaign IL (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
Open-air field trials involving five major food crops grown under carbon-dioxide levels projected for the future are harvesting dramatically less bounty than those raised in earlier greenhouse and other enclosed test conditions - and scientists warn that global food supplies could be at risk without changes in production strategies.

ENERGY TECH

+ Environmental Fury Over US Bill To Expand Oil And Gas Drilling

Washington (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
Environmental groups on Friday accused the US Congress of selling out to the energy lobby after the House of Representatives voted to lift a 25-year moratorium on offshore oil and natural gas drilling.

MERAPI SIMMERS

+ Experts Consider Reducing Indonesian Volcano Alert

Jakarta (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
Activity at Indonesia's Mount Merapi has been decreasing and officials are reviewing the volcano's top alert status, a scientist said Saturday. "There's a trend of decreased activity but Merapi still emits lava trails," said Hani Prabawati from the vulcanology office in Yogyakarta, the main city south of Merapi.

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ Russia Plans Atomic Energy Expansion

Moscow (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
Russia is planning to expand the share of atomic energy in its total energy consumption from the current 16 percent to up to 24 percent in the coming decade, Minister for Energy and Industry Viktor Khristenko said.

ATMOSPHERE NEWS

+ Catastrophic Lake Burst Chills Climate

Cardiff UK (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
Ocean circulation changes during the present warm interglacial were more extensive than previously thought, according to new research by the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Cardiff University.

+ NASA Study Finds Clock Ticking Slower On Ozone Hole Recovery

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ German Tourists Burned While Hunting For Amber

Riga (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
Two German tourists suffered burns on a Latvian beach after picking up pieces of phosphorus that they thought were amber, hospital officials said Friday. "A German burned his fingers with phosphorus, while a woman got burns on her thigh on Thursday," on Bernati beach, close to the southwestern port town of Liepaja, said Indra Grase, a spokeswoman for Liepaja central hospital.

WHALES AHOY

+ Navy Claims Exemption For Sonar Use

Washington (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
The US Navy Friday claimed an exemption from legal restrictions on the use of active mid-frequency sonar, which environmental groups say can be deadly to whales and other marine mammals.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Rockfish Thrive With Offshore Platforms As Their Home Base

Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
While some observers consider offshore oil and gas platforms to be an eyesore on the horizon, new data shows they are performing a critical function for marine life. For the first time, scientists have documented the importance of oil and gas platforms as critical nursery habitat for some species of rockfishes on the California coast.

+ How Cooperation Can Evolve in a Cheater's World
ABOUT US

+ The Allure Of Medical Tourism

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 02, 2006
A "medical vacation" is a fantastic way to renew oneself in mind and body. When the body is relaxed and the mind is at ease, the quality of healing can be phenomenal. If you are one of those contemplating surgery in the near future, or know of someone who is at the crossroads of a medical decision, then you may want to investigate a medical vacation.

ICE WORLD

+ Antarctic Treaty Meeting Moves To Continent From Non-Native Species

Edinburgh, Scotland (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
Important new measures to protect Antarctica - the world's last great wilderness - from invasive non-native species have been agreed at a meeting of Antarctic experts in Edinburgh.

+ Scientists Dig Up Ice Age Bones In Mid Los Angeles

SHUTTLE AND STATION

+ Weather Discovery Grounded For Second Straight Day

Cape Canaveral FL (AFP) Jul 02, 2006
Concerns over lightning forced NASA to call off Discovery's launch for a second straight day on Sunday, delaying just the second space shuttle flight since the 2003 Columbia tragedy by at least two more days.

+ Weather Discovery Grounded For Second Straight Day
+ ISS Crew Awaits Seven Shuttle Visitors

IRON AND ICE

+ Large Asteroid To Pass Close By Earth

Los Angeles (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
An asteroid with the power to wipe out a small country will miss the Earth on Monday. Asteroid 2004 XP14 is nearly half a mile wide and was discovered in December 2004. It is in the "Apollo" class of asteroids, which are those that cross orbits with Earth.

SPACE MEDICINE

+ A Lack Of Gravity Can Make Us Dangerously Lightweight

Duluth MN (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have identified a way for astronauts to reduce their risk of developing kidney stones while in space. Astronauts lose calcium in their bones and strength in their muscles while in space because of the zero-gravity environment. This calcium can end up in their kidneys, putting them at risk for developing kidney stones.
SPACE SCOPES

+ Technicians Reactivate Faulty Hubble Camera

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
After 11 days, NASA engineers on Friday were able to activate the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, prompting huge sighs of relief among astronomers around the world.

IRAN NUKES

+ Iran Rejects Deadline For Nuclear Response

Tehran (AFP) Jul 02, 2006
Iran again rejected Sunday a deadline to respond to an international offer aimed at resolving a nuclear standoff after world powers said they expected a "clear and substantive response" by mid-July. "A deadline is not an issue. We think such statements are not constructive and they will not help in resolving the problem" foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.

+ Iranian Leader Slams World Bullies At African Summit
+ US Military Doubts Bombing Of Iran Would succeed
+ Iran To Continue Uranium Enrichment Program

MILPLEX

+ Why The Pentagon Spends

Moscow (UPI) Jul 03, 2006
The Pentagon's budget equals half of the world's defense spending. Why is the United States spending so much on its military? Sergei Rogov, director of the Institute of U.S. and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told a RIA Novosti correspondent that at the height of the Cold War in the 1950s the United States spent about 10 percent of its GDP on military programs.

+ European Defence Market Introduces Code Of Conduct
+ Eurocopter Wins 3 Billion Dollar Contract With US Army

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ Second US Congressional Panel Backs US-India Nuclear Deal

Washington (AFP) Jun 29, 2006
A controversial deal to help India develop civilian nuclear facilities cleared another hurdle in the US Congress on Thursday, boosting its chances of winning full approval in coming weeks. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved legislation to enable the accord in a 16-2 vote, two days after the House of Representatives' International Relations Committee gave its backing 37-5.

Terra Daily Express - July 04 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

DEMOCRACY

+ President Of China Calls For Greater Democracy

Beijing (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
Chinese President Hu Jintao has called for greater democracy in China and democratic elections, in a speech on the eve of the ruling Communist Party's 85th anniversary, state media said Monday. "The democratic implementation of political power is to uphold the principle of the rule of the people and to depend on the people to rule," Xinhua news agency quoted Hu as saying in a June 29 speech.

+ China To Pass Law This Year Restricting The Media

FAST TRACK

+ Historic Train Arrives In Lhasa After Scaling Tibetan Heights

Lhasa, Tibet (SPX) Jul 04, 2006
The first train from Beijing to the Tibetan capital Lhasa pulled in Monday to its final destination after an epic two-day journey on the highest railway in the world. Passengers were greeted in a carefully choreographed arrival ceremony by young women in Tibetan costume who wrapped traditional white scarves around their necks.
SHAKE AND BLOW

+ 45 Dead In China As Floods And Landslide Hit Hit Numerous Countries

Beijing (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
Torrential rains in China since late last week have triggered flooding and landslides that have left at least 45 people dead and up to nine missing, state press reported Monday. Altogether, at least 349 people died in weather-related disasters in June, while 99 others were still missing, Xinhua news agency quoted the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) saying.
ROBO SPACE

+ I Robot, Your Companion

Paris, France (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
Robotic technology is advancing apace and now a top team of European scientists and engineers hope to make the leap from single function 'dumb' machines to adaptive learning machines.

TIME AND SPACE

+ What Do Racquel Welch And Quantum Physics Have In Common

Leicester, UK (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
Recent investment by the University of Leicester in the Virtual Microscopy Centre and the Nanoscale Interfaces Centre has put the University in a key position to take a lead in Casimir force measurements in novel geometries.
ABOUT US

+ A Surprise About Our Body Clock

Salt Lake City UT (SPX) Jul 04, 2006
The first gene known to control the internal clock of humans and other mammals works much differently than previously believed, according to a study by Utah and Michigan researchers.
SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Mount Merapi Besieged By Monkeys

Jakarta (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
Hundreds of famished monkeys are adding to the woes of residents on the slopes of Indonesia's rumbling Mount Merapi, a report said Monday. The volcano, straddling Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces on Java island, has been spewing smoke, lava and clouds of gas since May, leaving two people dead, burning forests and forcing thousands to flee to safe shelters.
EPIDEMICS

+ Internet Promoting Pseudo-Epidemics

Chicago (UPI) Jul 03, 2006
You see the signs promoting cancer screening nearly everywhere you go these days -- airports, bus stations and online. The ads promote cancer screening as a form of preventive medicine, and almost always refer you to an Internet site, where you can learn more about screening, and even register for screening for brain, heart or lung cancer -- and other dreaded maladies -- online.
AFRICA NEWS

+ UN Clings To Signs Of Hope In Development Goals

Geneva (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
The United Nations said Monday there were signs of hope in progress towards global poverty-cutting targets although the poorest parts of the world were still woefully short of achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

ABOUT US

+ Malaysian Bigfoot Shares Human Roots

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jul 03, 2006
Mysterious "Bigfoot" creatures said to be roaming Malaysian jungles are probably descended from humankind's ancient African ancestor homo erectus, an environmentalist said Monday. "The species probably evolved from 'homo erectus'. It has evolved over time and is a distinct species specific to Malaysia," said Vincent Chow, a member of the Malaysian Nature Society.

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Jellyfish-Like Creatures May Play Major Role In Fate Of Oceanic CO2

Woods Hole MA (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
Transparent jellyfish-like creatures known as salps, considered by many a low member in the ocean food web, may be more important to the fate of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the ocean than previously thought.
CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ US Congress Panels OK India Nuke Deal

Washington (UPI) Jul 03, 2006
The U.S.-India nuclear deal looks set for rapid implementation after back-to-back endorsements by both houses of Congress last week. The key committees in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives both approved the agreement despite strong campaigns mounted by anti-nuclear proliferation activists.

KOREAN NUKES

+ North Korea Warns Off US Attack

Seoul (SPX) Jul 03, 2006
North Korea vowed Monday to counter any attack by the United States with its "mighty nuclear deterrent," accusing Washington of raising tension on the Korean peninsula. North Korea, which says it has built nuclear weapons, accused the US of exerting military pressure on the Stalinist country and of driving six-way talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program to breaking-point.


+ US Shrugs Off North Korea Nuclear Threat
+ North Korea's Missile Threat
+ Pyongyang Denounces US For Deploying Spy Planes
+ Iran Denies Cruise Missile Purchase From Ukraine
+ Iran Says Could Be Flexible In Nuclear Talks

SPACEWAR

+ Putin Wants More Russian Satellites In Space

Moscow (AFP) Jul 04, 2006
President Vladimir Putin called Monday for more Russian satellites to be launched into orbit as part of a space development strategy bewteen now and 2015. His comments came at a government strategy meeting in Moscow where Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said it was necessary to improve the quality of new laucnhers and satellites and that Russia's space programme should focus on the "quality and not the number" of satellites.

+ Russian Spy Satellite Breaks Down
+ Russia's Space Navigation Woes

TECH SPACE

+ Falcon Supercomputer To Solve Problems

Wright-Patterson AFB OH (AFNS) Jul 04, 2006
The newest supercomputer at the Aeronautical Systems Center's Major Shared Resource Center went into production recently, enabling advanced problem-solving capabilities for mission-critical support to the Department of Defense.

TERROR WARS

+ DNI Appoints Ombudsman To Guard Analysis

Washington (UPI) Jul 03, 2006
The director of national intelligence has appointed an analytic ombudsman so intelligence analysts who feel under political pressure to tilt their work, or who feel their reports are being misrepresented, have someone to turn to outside their own agency.

+ Britain's Afghan Mess

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Iridium To Provide Satellite Links To Tsunami Warning Buoys

Bethesda MD (SPX) Jul 04, 2006
Iridium is providing satellite data links for a new system of 31 ocean buoys to be deployed by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Data Center. The system detects and monitors tsunami waves in the open ocean.

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ ESA Earth Observation Satellites Contribute To IPY

Paris, France (SPX) Jul 04, 2006
ESA satellites will be providing scientists from 60 countries with data covering Earth's polar regions for the International Polar Year, which runs from 2007 to 2008. During that period, ESA will provide access to Earth observation data free of charge to selected projects covering the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

DEEP IMPACT

+ Small Asteroid Flies By Earth

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 04, 2006
An asteroid hurtling through space came within a hair's breadth -- in astronomical terms, at least -- of crashing into the Earth early Monday, US scientists said. Apollo Asteroid 2004 XP14 was discovered by the Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Massachusetts, part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which claims the title of "the world's principal detector of asteroids" said Roger Sudbury, a spokesman for the lab.

SPACE DAILY

+ Shuttle Launch Still A Go Tuesday Despite More Foam Problems

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 04, 2006
NASA officials said Monday they are still planning to allow the launch of shuttle Discovery despite a new potential problem that emerged Sunday night with the foam insulation on the spacecraft's huge external cryogenic fuel tank.

+ Jules Verne ATV Passes Acoustic Tests
+ Improved Soyuz 2-1a Payload Fairing Ready For Flight
+ Spirit Examines Light Tones Halley Formation
+ Full Plate For Opportunity
+ Enceladus Exudes Air Of Mystery
+ NMS RAN Backhaul Optimizer Certified to Interoperate with iDirect
+ SMART 1 Photographs Kepler Crater Up Close

Terra Daily Express - 06 July 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

WATER WORLD

+ NOAA Says CO2 Buildup Starting To Threaten Marine Life

Boulder CO (UPI) Jul 05, 2006
U.S. scientists say worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning are altering ocean chemistry and threatening marine life. The landmark report released Wednesday by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., summarizes the known effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on marine organisms.

+ Sierra Leone Capital Hit By Worst Water Shortages In Decades
+ NASA Satellites Find Balance In South America's Water Cycle

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Financial Hub Of India Under Water With More Rains On The Way

Mumbai (AFP) Jul 05, 2006
Large tracts of India's western financial hub of Mumbai were under water Wednesday as the weather bureau warned further heavy rains were on the way and the death toll from the monsoon deluge rose to nine.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Wildfire Suppression Costs May Be Reduced Using New Model

Portland OR (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
Recent research shows that using the right mix of agency and contract crews is the most cost effective way to fight fires rather than using contract or agency crews exclusively, according to Geoffrey Donovan, a research forester at the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station.

CLONE AGE

+ Cloned Trees To Get Big City Testing

Ithaca NY (UPI) Jul 05, 2006
Cornell University researchers are partnering with U.S. nursery operators in a project to help trees thrive in harsh urban landscapes. The scientists, led by Nina Bassuk of Cornell's Urban Horticulture Institute, have developed a new cloning technique called clonal propagation.
ABOUT US

+ FSU Etruscan Expert Announces Historic Discovery At Ancient Site

Tallahassee FL (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
Digging on a remote hilltop in Italy, a Florida State University classics professor and her students have unearthed artifacts that dramatically reshape our knowledge of the religious practices of an ancient people, the Etruscans.

ENERGY TECH

+ Saft To Provide Lithium-Ion Batteries for Boeing GEO Mobile Satellites

Baltimore MD (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
Saft announced Wednesday it has received a contract from Boeing to supply lithium-ion batteries for the Mobile Satellite Ventures Satellite program. The multi-million dollar contract will mark Saft's largest U.S. commercial satellite contract for Li-ion batteries and the first commercial satellite program utilizing Li-ion technology for Boeing.

+ Diesel Fuel And Industrial Chemicals Made From Simple Sugar
+ Alberta Premier Spurns Criticisms Of Oil Sands
FARM NEWS

+ WWF Reports That Bluefin Tuna Fishery Threatened In East Atlantic

Gland, Switzerland (UPI) Jul 05, 2006
East Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks reportedly are being decimated by illegal and unscrupulous fishing, the World Wildlife Fund reports. The report issued Wednesday by the Switzerland-headquartered WWF calls for an immediate closure of the fishery.
TECTONICS

+ Study Finds Seismic Quakes May Be Precursors To A Bigger One

Stanford CA (UPI) Jul 05, 2006
U.S. geoscientists are urging their colleagues around the world to search for evidence of tiny earthquakes in seismically active areas. "In the last six years, there's been an explosion in research in what people are calling slow, silent or aseismic earthquakes," said Paul Segall, a Stanford University geophysics professor and lead author of a study concerning them.

+ Watching Rocks Grow: Theory Explains Landscape Of Geothermal Springs

PILLAGING PIRATES

+ Indonesia Urged To Bolster Malacca Strait Security

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jul 05, 2006
Indonesia should boost security in the Malacca Strait, an international maritime watchdog said Wednesday after pirates attacked a Japanese carrier and two UN ships off the coast of Aceh. "We urge Indonesian authorities to take action to contain piracy in the strait," the head of the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre, Noel Choong, told AFP.

SHUTTLE NEWS

+ Discovery Crew Finds No Initial Shuttle Damage

Houston (AFP) Jul 05, 2006
The space shuttle Discovery's crew found no damage Wednesday after inspecting the orbiter's nose and wings for damage with a special robotic arm, a top NASA official said. "We have a very clean vehicle," shuttle flight director Tony Ceccacci said of the initial safety check, which came on the first full day of orbit.
SPACE TRAVEL

+ USA Partners With Pioneer Aerospace On CEV

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
United Space Alliance and Pioneer Aerospace announced Wednesday they have joined forces to develop a parachute landing system for NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle. The CEV is the crew vehicle of the space agency's next phase of exploration called the Constellation Program. This program aims to take astronauts to the Moon, Mars and beyond, beginning in the next decade.

+ South Korea Picking Astronauts

MARSDAILY

+ Shiny Rock Coating May Hold Key To Martian Life

London, England (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
A mysterious shiny coating found on rocks in many of Earth's most arid environments could reveal whether life once existed on Mars. Research published in the July edition of the journal Geology suggests the dark coating known as desert varnish creates a record of life around it by binding traces of DNA, amino acids and other organic compounds to desert rocks.

+ Victoria On The Horizon For Opportunity
SATURN DAILY

+ Cassini Uncovering More Secrets Of Saturn Rings

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
New images by the Cassini spacecraft of Saturn's diaphanous G and E rings are yielding clues about their structure and formation. A sequence of recent Cassini images, compiled into a brief movie by the spacecraft's imaging team, shows an arc of bright material looping around the inside edge of the G ring, a tenuous 7,000-kilometer (4,400-mile) wide band of dust-sized icy particles lying beyond the F ring by 27,000 kilometers (16,800 miles).

GPS NEWS

+ Boeing To Build Three More GPS Satellites

St. Louis MO (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
Boeing announced Wednesday it has received a $138-million award from the U.S. Air Force to build three more Global Positioning System satellites under the GPS Block IIF contract. The award - an exercised option - brings to 12 the number of Block IIF satellites Boeing is building under the military's NAVSTAR GPS joint program office.

+ ESA Selects Esrange For Galileo

KOREAN NUKES

+ Rumsfeld Calls Taepodong Failure A Fact

Washington (AFP) Jul 05, 2006
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Wednesday said the apparent failure of North Korea's long-range Taepodong-2 missile failed was a "fact." "Let me put it this way," he told reporters. "Why would someone spend that much money and launch that expensive an effort and then only gain 38 or 40 seconds worth of information from it?"

+ US And North Korean Neighbours Enraged At Missile Tests
+ Bush Says Missile Failure Does Not Lessen North Korea Concern
+ UN Weighs Punitive Measures In Response To North Korean Missile Tests
+ Cool Heads Needed On North Korea ICBM Tests
+ North Korea And Iran Similar Problems But Different Solutions
+ Business As Usual In Pyongyang Despite Missile Test Failure

MISSILE DEFENSE

+ North Korean Launches Put US Missile Defense System To Test

Washington (AFP) Jul 05, 2006
The US missile defense system was put to its first real test Tuesday and Wednesday with North Korea's launch of a long-range missile and a half dozen shorter range missiles. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he was on and off the phone with top US commanders almost continuously for days before the missile tests.

+ Affordable Patriot Weapons System Demonstrated
NUKEWARS

+ British Nuclear Warheads Could Be Triggered By Road Crash: New Scientist

London (AFP) Jul 05, 2006
Britain's Trident nuclear warheads could be partially detonated in a road pileup or plane crash, unleashing lethal doses of radiation, the British weekly New Scientist said on Wednesday.

TERROR WARS

+ The Impossible Dream Of Building Walls To Stay Safe

Washington (UPI) Jul 05, 2006
Particularly galling to the Israeli government is the belated discovery that "security fences," no matter how robust, can be flown over by hundreds of homemade Qassam rockets and tunneled under by Palestinian fighters to kidnap an Israeli soldier on the other side.

Terra Daily Express - July 7, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Silent Earthquakes May Foreshadow Destructive Temblors

Stanford CA (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
A team of American geoscientists is urging colleagues around the world to search for evidence of tiny earthquakes in seismically active areas, such as the Pacific Northwest, that are periodically rocked by powerful temblors of magnitude 8 and higher.

TERRADAILY

+ Ancient Raindrops Reveal The Origins Of California's Sierra Nevada Range

Stanford CA (SPX) Jul 07, 2006
One of the longest ongoing controversies in Earth science concerns the age of California's Sierra Nevada, the tallest mountain range in the continental United States and site of Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe and other scenic wonders.

EPIDEMICS

+ Land Use, Land Cover Affect Human Health, Food Security

Manhattan KS (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A Kansas State University geography professor is using satellite imagery to research how land use and land cover changes affect human health and food security.

ENERGY TECH

+ Oil Prices Set For New Records Beyond 80 Dollars

London (AFP) Jul 06, 2006
The price of crude oil, fresh from striking a new record above 75 dollars in New York on rising tensions over North Korea and Iran, is likely to hurtle beyond 80 dollars per barrel before the end of 2006, according to one London analyst.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Birds Going Extinct Faster Due To Human Activities

Durham NC (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
Human activities have caused some 500 bird species worldwide to go extinct over the past five millennia, and 21st-century extinction rates likely will accelerate to approximately 10 additional species per year unless societies take action to reverse the trend, according to a new report.

+ Canada's Yellowstone Too Small For Wildlife

DARWIN TODAY

+ Oceanic Invasions Across Darwin's Impassable Barrier

Panama, Panama (SPX) Jul 06, 2006
Reef fish share genetic connections across what Darwin termed an 'impassable barrier', 5000km of deep ocean separating the eastern and central Pacific, according to a report by Smithsonian scientists in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

ABOUT US

+ Composer Reveals Musical Chords' Hidden Geometry

Princeton NJ (SPX) Jul 07, 2006
Composers often speak of fitting chords and melodies together, as though sounds were physical objects with geometric shape -- and now a Princeton University musician has shown that advanced geometry actually does offer a tool for understanding musical structure.

CLONE AGE

+ Stem-Cell Passage Expected

Washington (UPI) Jul 06, 2006
Advocates both for and against embryonic-stem-cell experimentation say they expect a bill repealing President Bush's limits on the research to pass when the Senate soon takes up debate on the controversial legislation.

FAST TRACK

+ Railway Poses New Dangers To Fragile Tibetan Plateau

Lhasa, Tibet (AFP) Jul 06, 2006
While China is keen to stress the environmentally friendly aspects of the new railway to Tibet, many are concerned about the line's impact on the Himalayan region's fragile ecosystem. China has said 1.54 billion yuan (193 million dollars) was spent on railway-related projects to protect the environment, such as 33 crossings especially arranged for the Tibetan antelope, a protected species.

TRADE WARS

+ China Urges US To Lift High Tech Restrictions On Exports

Beijing (AFP) Jun 27, 2006
Beijing called on the United States Tuesday to ease restrictions on the export of high technology equipment to China, following reports that Washington was preparing to toughen up such rules.

AFRICA NEWS

+ UN Urges Africa To Harness Natural Resources To Beat Poverty

Nairobi (AFP) Jun 27, 2006
The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) warned Tuesday that Africa will slip further into poverty if its governments fail to adopt eco-friendly policies to sustain and exploit its natural wealth.

EUROPLEX

+ German Coalition Creaks

Berlin (UPI) Jul 06, 2006
Germany's grand coalition government is rowing so hard that for the first time, politicians from all parties suspect an end to the unlikely partnership. Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have warned their coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats, or SPD, to stop undermining the stability of the German government or risk its failure.
SHUTTLE NEWS

+ Discovery Does Backflip For Crucial Safety Pictures

Houston, Texas (AFP) Jul 06, 2006
Discovery Commander Steven Lindsey successfully steered the space shuttle into a tricky backflip Thursday, allowing the International Space Station crew to take pictures critical to the shuttle's safety, NASA said.

+ Shuttle Mission Continues With Station Rendezvous
EARTH OBSERVATION

+ NASA Satellites Find Balance In South American Water Cycle

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 07, 2006
For the first time, NASA scientists using space-based measurements have directly monitored and measured the complete cycle of water movement for an entire continent.

CHIP TECH

+ Solitons Might Power Molecular Electronics

Columbus OH (UPI) Jul 06, 2006
U.S. scientists say they've discovered exotic particles called solitons -- short for "solitary waves" -- have intricate internal structures. Since the 1980s, researchers have known solitons can carry an electrical charge when traveling through certain organic polymers.

MARSDAILY

+ Spirit Copes With Decreasing Solar Energy

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 07, 2006
With electrical power from Spirit's solar array down to about 300 watt-hours per Martian day, or sol, the science team is able to plan only one major activity per sol and often needs to devote one sol to recharging the rover's batteries.

MOON DAILY

+ Pratt and Whitney Demonstrates Lunar Mission Propulsion System

West Palm Beach FL (SPX) Jul 07, 2006
Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne announced Thursday its Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine has exceeded performance goals and demonstrated propulsion technologies required to land spacecraft on the Moon.

SPACE SCOPES

+ New Hawaiian Telescope Dedicated

Honolulu HI (SPX) Jul 07, 2006
Astronomers dedicated the University of Hawai'i's newest telescope, called PS1, last Friday in a ceremony on the summit of Haleakala, the massive extinct caldera on the island of Mau'i. The telescope is a prototype for the larger Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System, or Pan-STARRS, telescope scheduled to start scanning the skies for "killer asteroids" in 2010.

OZONE NEWS

+ Clock Ticking Slower On Antarctic Ozone Hole Recovery

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 07, 2006
Antarctica's ozone hole is running late with its recovery, a NASA study has found, and will take nearly 20 years longer than previously expected.

KOREAN NUKES

+ The Real Threat From North Korea

Washington (UPI) Jul 06, 2006
The same North Korean ICBM efforts that throw a rock at Alaska can throw a large nuclear warhead at every ally the United States has in Northeast Asia. Japan and South Korea are not only close allies, they are critical trading partners.

+ Second Taepodong Launch Not Imminent Say US Officials
+ US Says There Will Ne No Snap Resolution Over North Korea Crisis
+ UN Experts Fail To Break Impasse Over North Korea Sanctions
+ Calling The Bluff On North Korea

NUKEWARS

+ The Other Libyan Model

Washington (UPI) Jul 06, 2006
On May 15 the U.S. State Department announced its intention to remove Libya from the U.S. list of states sponsors of terrorism and upgrade the diplomatic relationship between the two countries to the level of embassies. On May 31 the United States and Libya signed and exchanged the official documents establishing embassies in their respective capitals.

Terra Daily Express - 10 July 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
WHALES AHOY

+ Ecologists And US Navy Agree On Whale-Damaging Sonar Use

Los Angeles (AFP) Jul 08, 2006
The US navy on Friday reached an agreement with environmental groups on implementing safeguards for use in the Pacific Ocean of a type of sonar believed to cause whales to beach themselves and die.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Deliquescence In The Atacama

Yungay, Chile (SPX) Jul 09, 2006
If you're a microbe, looking for a place to call home in the hyperarid core of Chile's Atacama Desert, a little deliquescence goes a long way. Yungay, Chile, was once the site of a bustling community, built up overnight in the late 1800s to extract sodium nitrate from the desert soil, for fertilizer; then abandoned, again overnight, when nitrate mining went bust back in the 1920s, after the invention of artificial fertilizer.

+ Major Initiative Proposed To Address Amphibian Crisis
+ Corals Switch Skeleton Material As Seawater Changes
+ Animal Activist Turns Down FBI

CAR TECH

+ Low-Emission Cars Popular In China This Year

Beijing (AFP) Jul 08, 2006
Fuel-efficient cars with low emissions proved popular in China's auto market in the first half of this year, accounting for half of the top-10 best selling vehicles. Xiali, manufactured by the Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile, popular for its low energy-consumption, kept its number one position on the list of top selling low-emission cars, Xinhua news agency said.
CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ IAEA Chief Cautions Turkey Over Nuclear Energy Plans

Ankara (AFP) Jul 07, 2006
Turkey must plan carefully in its ambition to build its first nuclear reactor, the head of the world nuclear watchdog IAEA said here Friday as environmentalists protested his support for nuclear power.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Thirty Years After Chemical Disaster Italy Still At Pollution Mercy

Rome (AFP) Jul 08, 2006
The wounds inflicted on the small Italian towns of Meda and Seveso by a chemical explosion at a perfume factory have now healed. But 30 years after it was hit by one of Europe's worst ever industrial and environmental disasters, Italy is still struggling to tackle polluters.
SOLAR SCIENCE

+ UAE Vows To Penalize Firms Violating Heat Break Rule

Dubai (AFP) Jul 08, 2006
The United Arab Emirates, accused by rights groups of abusive labor practices, said Saturday that firms violating a midday break in outdoor work would be heavily fined and temporarily denied new work permits.
WATER WORLD

+ Iraqi Water Plant Rebuilt But Can It Keep Pumping

Baghdad (AFP) Jul 08, 2006
By the time of the US invasion of 2003, the Sharq Dijlah water treatment plant supplying much of eastern Baghdad was limping along at 60 percent capacity and producing only partially clean water. Three years and 43 million dollars of USAID money later, the plant has nearly doubled its output and serves more than 1.5 million Baghdad residents.

CYBER WARS

+ Windows Anti-Piracy Tool Causes Controversy

Washington (UPI) Jul 09, 2006
When Microsoft released its WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) anti-piracy tool in July of 2005, its goal was to attempt to find a way to track and help reduce the illegal use of its Windows XP operating system. But the company may have been a little overzealous in their efforts.

FIRE STORM

+ Warming Climate Plays Large Role In Western US Wildfires

San Diego CA (SPX) Jul 07, 2006
A new study led by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, implicates rising seasonal temperatures and the earlier arrival of spring conditions in connection with a dramatic increase of large wildfires in the western United States.

EPIDEMICS

+ G8 Vaccine Plan In Danger Of Failure

Washington (UPI) Jul 09, 2006
A disagreement between the United States and France may prevent a proposed vaccine program from being approved by G8 leaders.

SHUTTLE NEWS

+ Discovery Looks Good For Earth Return

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 10, 2006
NASA officials said Sunday that shuttle Discovery shows no signs of damage that could threaten its return to Earth on July 16 or 17, and the problem areas identified so far are not considered serious.

+ Astronauts Test Shuttle Repair Platform In First Spacewalk

STATION NEWS

+ Five Radio Amateurs Now Aboard The Space Station

Newington CT (SPX) Jul 10, 2006
Five astronaut-hams now occupy the International Space Station and one of them - ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter (DF4TR) - has officially joined the Expedition 13 crew for the remainder of its duty tour and will remain on board for about half of Expedition 14's tour, or six months in all, according to NASA.

+ NASA To Power Russian ISS Segment With Solar Energy

OPINION SPACE

+ Discovery Puts American Space Program Back On Track

Moscow (RIA) Jul 10, 2006
The successful Independence Day launch of the U.S. space shuttle Discovery has temporarily restored the "heartbeat" of the American manned space program. The results of this mission are extremely important for the International Space Station program, more so than for the United States.

MARSDAILY

+ On Mars No One Can Hear You Scream

University Park PA (SPX) Jul 10, 2006
It may be difficult for two people to have a conversation on Mars, according to a research paper by Amanda Hanford and Lyle Long of the aerospace engineering department at Penn State University.

DRAGON SPACE

+ China To Transmit Pop Music From Lunar-Probing Satellite

Beijing, China (AFP) Jul 10, 2006
China will transmit 30 pieces of Chinese music to Earth next year aboard its first lunar-probing satellite, state media said. The Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, which is in charge of the lunar project, is seeking recommendations from the public on which tunes to play, Xinhua news agency reported.

+ Lotus Sprouts Faster From Space Seeds

MISSILE DEFENSE

+ Bush Says Missile Defense System Had Chance Against Taepodong-2

Chicago (AFP) Jul 07, 2006
President George W. Bush said the US missile defense system is modest but had a "reasonable chance" of shooting down a long-range North Korean missile fired at the United States. "Yeah, I think we had a reasonable chance of shooting it down. At least that's what the military commanders told me," Bush said at a news conference.

NUEKWARS

+ North Korean Official Repeats Threat Of Physical Measures

Seoul (AFP) Jul 08, 2006
A North Korean official repeated demands for Japan to halt sanctions imposed following Pyongyang's missile tests and threatened "stronger physical measures" in response, Yonhap news agency reported late Saturday.

+ US Ready To Meet North Korea Bilaterally In Future Talks
+ With Missile Launch And North Korea Renews Nuclear Specter

IRAQ WARS

+ In Search Of A Reconciliation Plan For Iraq

Amman, Jordan (UPI) Jul 09, 2006
The number of attacks, bombings and corpses continues to rise in war-torn Iraq, almost two weeks after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced a reconciliation plan intended to end fighting.

+ Japanese Soldiers Head Home As Iraq Mission Ends

Terra Daily Express - July 11, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Seven Dead Or Missing As Typhoon Lashes South Korea

Seoul (AFP) Jul 10, 2006
At least five people have been killed and two others are still missing after powerful typhoon Ewiniar lashed the southern part of the Korean peninsula Monday, officials said. The downpour flooded buildings and roads, cut off telephone services and forced hundreds of people to flee their homes.

+ Fourteen Dead In Heavy Monsoon Rains In India Taking Toll To 286
+ Indonesia Downgrades Alert For Most Of Merapi Slopes

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ US Still Not Prepared For Hurricanes

Washington (UPI) Jul 09, 2006
The United States is still unprepared to deal with major hurricanes, experts warned this week. Despite the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans less than a year ago, Americans are still not adequately prepared for such disasters, experts told a meeting at the National Press Club Thursday.

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Slab May Fall From Eiger Any Day

Grindelwald, Switzerland (UPI) Jul 10, 2006
A geologist in Switzerland is warning Europe a massive rock slab may break away soon from the treacherous mountain of Eiger. Geologist Hans-Rudolf Keusen told the Times of London that any day now, a slab of rock weighing millions of tons may crash into the valley below.

WEATHER REPORT

+ Giant Ice Ball Different From Hail

Douglasdale, South Africa (UPI) Jul 10, 2006
An ice ball that landed in Douglasdale, South Africa, might be one of the first "megacryometeors" recorded in Africa, the Johannesburg Star said Sunday. The ice ball, which landed on the pavement in suburban Douglasdale last week, was about the size of a microwave oven, the newspaper reported.

ICE WORLD

+ Alpine Glaciers Could All But Disappear Within This Century

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 10, 2006
The European Alps could lose some 80 percent of their glacier cover by the end of this century, if summer air temperatures rise by three degrees Celsius. And if temperatures increase by five degrees Celsius, the Alps would become almost completely ice-free by 2100.

WATER WORLDS

+ Fears Over Impact Of Global Warming On Chinese Rivers

Beijing (AFP) Jul 08, 2006
Experts voiced fears Saturday that a build-up of greenhouse gases from global warming could significantly reduce the amount of rain ending up in China's rivers, a vital source of water for the country.

EPIDEMICS

+ Satellite Systems To Warn Of Health Threats

Paris, France (SPX) Jul 11, 2006
Satellite solutions can make all the difference to the efficiency of telemedicine. With this in mind, ESA is preparing a European telemedicine via satellite programme which will be of direct benefit to the healthcare community.

ABOUT US

+ Same Genes Act Differently In Males And Females

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 10, 2006
UCLA researchers report that thousands of genes behave differently in the same organs of males and females - something never detected to this degree. Published in the August issue of Genome Research, the study sheds light on why the same disease often strikes males and females differently, and why the genders may respond differently to the same drug.

ENERGY TECH

+ China To Complete Four Strategic Oil Reserve Facilities This Year

Beijing (AFP) Jul 10, 2006
China will complete construction of four strategic oil reserve facilities this year, boosting its storage capacity by up to 12 million tons, state media reported Monday. Ma Kai, minister of the National Development and Reform Commission and director of the National Energy Office, said four petroleum bases with a total storage capacity of between 10 and 12 million tons will be completed this year, Xinhua news agency reported.

+ DOE Publishes Research Roadmap For Developing Cleaner Fuels
+ Nano Replacement For Petroleum

MARSDAILY

+ Spirit Wintering But Work Continues

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 11, 2006
From its winter outpost at Low Ridge inside Gusev Crater, NASA's Spirit rover took this view of the nearby hilly, sandy terrain that includes two potential iron meteorites. The two light-colored, smooth rocks about two-thirds of the way up from the bottom of the frame have been labeled Zhong Shan and Allan Hills.

+ NASA Aims For Mars With Ares Launch Vehicle

SOLAR SCIENCE

+ Flare Ends Solar Quiet Spell

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 11, 2006
After a long quiet spell without any strong solar storms, the sun unleashed a flare (M-class, which means moderate) and a fairly substantial coronal mass ejection on July 7. As seen in these four coronagraph images that span about three hours, a bright cloud of particles was blasted into space.


SPACE SCOPES

+ New MIT Telescope To Probe Early Universe

Cambridge MA (SPX) Jul 11, 2006
A novel telescope to aid the understanding of the early universe is moving closer to full-scale construction, thanks to a $4.9 million award from the National Science Foundation to a U.S. consortium led by MIT.

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Europe To Launch First Polar Orbiting Weather Satellite

Paris, France (SPX) Jul 11, 2006
MetOp-A, the first member of a new family of European satellites designed to monitor the Earth's atmosphere from low Earth polar orbit, is due to be launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on July 17.

GPS NEWS

+ Researchers Crack Gailieo Code

Ithaca NY (SPX) Jul 11, 2006
Cornell University researchers said they have cracked the pseudo random number codes of Europe's first Galileo global navigation satellite, despite efforts to keep the codes secret. That means free access for consumers who use navigation devices - including hand-held receivers and systems installed in vehicles - that need PRNs to listen to satellites.

NUKEWARS

+ North Korean Missile Drives Wedge Through Asia

Seoul (AFP) Jul 10, 2006
North Korea's new long-range missile may have malfunctioned within seconds, but the launch has succeeded in driving a sharp wedge between countries negotiating with the communist state.

+ Axis Of Evil Survivors Play By The Same Book
+ Cornered Iran Running Out Of Options Says State Department

SUPERPOWERS

+ Is Russia Strong Or Weak

Washington (UPI) Jul 10, 2006
"Russia is never as strong as she looks; Russia is never as weak as she looks." This quotation, or ones similar to it, have been attributed to Talleyrand, Metternich, and Churchill. In May 2002, Putin pronounced a modified version of it (which he attributed to Churchill): "Russia was never so strong as it wants to be and never so weak as it is thought to be."

+ It Is Broke So Fix It

MILPLEX

+ US And Russia Growing Rivals In Global Arms Sales

Moscow (UPI) Jul 10, 2006
The growing Russian-U.S. rivalry for arms sales in Latin America is arousing political as well as economic tensions as Russia reaches out to the vehement anti-American president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.

+ Boeing On Top In Military Aerospace Markets

IRAQ WARS

+ And It Is Still Not Civil War

Washington (UPI) Jul 10, 2006
The war in Baghdad took a turn for the worse Sunday as masked gunmen pulled at least 40 Sunni Arabs from their houses, cafes, and cars and executed them in cold blood. Iraq's President Jalal Talabani said it brought the country to a "dangerous edge." I thought it was already there.

Terra Daily Express - July 12, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
FARM NEWS

+ Smog Damage To Crops Costing Billions

Ispra, Italy (AFP) Jul 11, 2006
The internal combustion engine contributes massively to global warming, kills around 1.2 million people a year in road accidents and, scientists now warn, is costing billions of dollars in crop damage each year.
FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Nearly Half Of Chinese Chemical Plants Pose Major Environmental Risks

Beijing (AFP) Jul 11, 2006
An estimated 45 percent of China's chemical plants pose major risks to the environment, the government said Tuesday, citing a survey conducted after a major chemical spill last year.

EPIDEMICS

+ China Clamps Down On Flu Talk

Le Bugue, France (UPI) Jul 11, 2006
In a case eerily reminiscent of the George Orwell novel "1984," a Chinese farmer who reported outbreaks of avian influenza in his region has been imprisoned for three-and-a-half years.

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Symposium To Highlight Dragon Program Successes

Lijiang, China (SPX) Jul 12, 2006
Nearly 200 scientists have gathered in this city in the Yunnan Province this week for the third annual Dragon Symposium. Opening the symposium, Liao Xiaohan, China's vice director of the Department of High Technology and Industrialization in the Ministry of Science and Technology, highlighted the success of the Dragon Program and the scientific results achieved so far, after two years of cooperation with ESA and MOST.

+ Human Perception Of The Environmental Shapes Policy And Action
+ Summation Wins Contract For Weather Satellite Ground Equipment

ENERGY TECH

+ UK Conservative Chief Gets Approval For Wind Turbine At Home

London (AFP) Jul 12, 2006
David Cameron, the fresh-faced leader of Britain's main opposition Conservatives, was given the go-ahead Tuesday to install a wind turbine and solar panels on his plush London house. The environmentally-conscious 39-year-old got the green light from Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council's Planning Services Committee during a public meeting, despite local opposition.
ABOUT US

+ Talk To Your Baby And They Learn To Speak

Seattle WA (SPX) Jul 12, 2006
Experience, as the old saying goes, is the best teacher. And experience seems to play an important early role in how infants learn to understand and produce language. Using new technology that measures the magnetic field generated by the activation of neurons in the brain, researchers tracked what appears to be a link between the listening and speaking areas of the brain in newborn, 6-month-old and one-year-old infants, before infants can speak.
SHAKE AND BLOW

+ University To Build New Hurricane Prediction Model

Tallahassee FL (SPX) Jul 12, 2006
NOAA has awarded the FSU Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) a $6.2 million, five-year grant to support the development of a model that may more accurately predict the number of hurricanes in an upcoming season, according to COAPS director emeritus James O'Brien, the Robert O. Lawton Professor of Meteorology and Oceanography and state climatologist.
WATER WORLD

+ Surprising Discovery May Lead to Better Understanding of Water Quality

Argonne IL (SPX) Jul 12, 2006
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have discovered new ways that ions interact with mineral surfaces in water, opening a door to new knowledge on how contaminants travel in the environment. The insight, leads to a better understanding of the factors that determine water quality.

+ Indian Supreme Court Refuses To Halt Controversial Dam Project
+ Study Finds Rogue Waves Are A Fact Not A Myth

AFRICA NEWS

+ Morocco The Last Frontier Before Europe

Rabat, Morocco (UPI) Jul 11, 2006
For millions of would-be African immigrants, Morocco represents the last frontier, or the first serious hurdle between Africa and Europe, between prosperity and despair, life and death.

FLOOD REPORT

+ Monsoons Cover Most Of India As Death Toll Due To Rains Nears 300

New Delhi (AFP) Jul 11, 2006
India's annual monsoon rains are on target and have covered most of the country, weather officials said Tuesday, as police reported another 12 people killed in weather-related incidents.

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ US May Ask Russian Help With Nuke Waste

Washington (UPI) Jul 11, 2006
The United States reportedly plans to begin talks with Russia on an agreement making Russia one of the world's largest repositories of spent nuclear fuel.

GPS NEWS

+ US Cracks Europe GPS Satellite Codes

Brussels (UPI) Jul 11, 2006
U.S. scientists have reportedly cracked the European Union's secret satellite navigation codes. The codes, to be used by the EU's Galileo satellite system, casts doubt the $4.2 billion project will pay for itself through commercial fees, The London Telegraph reported Tuesday.

SPACEDAILY

+ Launch Failure Will Not Dent Indian Space Program Say Officials

Bangalore (SPX) Jul 12, 2006
Indian scientists were Tuesday probing the failure of a rocket meant to launch a communications satellite, but said it was not a major blow to the country's three-decade-old space programme. The deep-space rocket carrying India's heaviest communications satellite disintegrated in a plume of smoke and flames seconds after lift-off Monday.

+ Satellite Debacle Hits Indian Satellite TV Plans
+ ISRO To Constitute Panel To Probe GSLV Failure
+ Lunar Touchdown For China
+ Shuttle Mission Day Six Marked By Calm Routine
+ Astronauts Fill Space Station With Critical Cargo
+ NASA To Use Space Age Droid Satellites


SPY SATS

+ Satellite Photos Detect Activity At North Korea Missile Bases

Tokyo (AFP) Jul 12, 2006
North Korea could be preparing for new launches of mid-range missiles following last week's tests, with activity detected at its bases, a report said Tuesday citing Japanese government sources.

+ SAIC Acquires Geoviz

NUCLEAR DOCTRINE

+ Japan Mulls Increased Military Muscle Against North Korea

Tokyo (AFP) Jul 11, 2006
Japan is considering the need for a limited military offensive capability in case of a threat of attack from North Korea, a move which would break with 60 years of pacifism. North Korea's missile tests last week have prompted intensified debate in Japan about whether to deviate from the post-World War II constitution and to develop a full-fledged military.

+ Pyongyang Seeks Help From Seoul To Fend Off Calamity From Outside
+ Iran Talks Going Nowhere As Russia Says Iran Decades From Nukes

MILTECH

+ Boeing Scores Direct Hit In Laser JDAM Moving Target Test

St. Louis MO (SPX) Jul 12, 2006
Boeing has tested its Laser Joint Direct Attack Munition (LJDAM) weapon system June 30 against a moving target. "Laser JDAM's performance continues to exceed our highest expectations," said Boeing LJDAM Program Manager Scott Van Dyke.

+ Final Development Of Intelligent Munitions System
+ BAE Systems Wins Contracts For Electro-Magnetic Rail Gun Programs
+ BBN Wins DARPA Artificial Intelligence Technology Contract
+ Navy Begins Operational Evaluation Of Revolutionary Raytheon AESA Radar
+ LM Tests Guided MLRS Unitary Rockets At White Sands

Terra Daily Express - July 17, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

ENERGY TECH

+ Greenland Makes Oil Companies Melt

Copenhagen (AFP) Jul 16, 2006
The remote oil fields of Greenland could become a new eldorado for oil companies thanks to a spectacular rise in fossil fuel prices and uncertainty concerning future supplies, experts say. Greenland will this week launch a new round of concessions for oil and gas exploration and officials expect record bidding.
CAR TECH

+ Smart Cars To Rule The Roads

London (UPI) Jul 17, 2006
It's been more than 20 years since Knight Rider hit the airwaves, but the next generation of KITT-style cars may be seen on freeways very soon. The next generation of autonomous "smart cars" is now on the agenda for both military and high-end automobile manufacturers, according to a report from the recent RoboBusiness conference.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Life and Death On Planet Parasite

Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Jul 16, 2006
Scientists have discovered that parasites are surprisingly important in food webs and their findings appear in a report published this week in the Early Edition of the on-line version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scientists with the University of California, Santa Barbara, the U.S. Geological Survey, and Princeton University contributed.

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Death Toll From Typhoon Bilis Rises To 115 In China

Beijing (AFP) Jul 17, 2006
The death toll from severe rainstorms and flooding across China in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Bilis has risen to 115, state media said on Sunday.

+ Lava Flow Increasing From Philippine Volcano


WEATHER REPORT

+ ESA Controllers Prep For MetOp Launch

Darmstadt, Germany (SPX) Jul 13, 2006
Flight controllers at ESA's Space Operations Center are preparing for the July 17 launch and early orbit phase of the MetOp spacecraft.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Tsunami Aid Worth $7,100 Per Person

Geneva (AFP) Jul 14, 2006
The massive international relief effort after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was marked by publicity-seeking aid operations which were riddled with errors and ignored the real needs of disaster survivors, according to a new report Friday.

+ French Heatwave Prompts Alert

SINO DAILY

+ China Bans Trade In Human Organs

Beijing (AFP) Jul 15, 2006
China, which has been accused of trafficking in organs harvested from executed prisoners, will ban the sale of human body parts and related commercial activities from August 1, state media reported on Saturday.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ 100 Million-Dollar ADB China Loan To Clean Up Wuhan Waterways

Manila (AFP) Jul 11, 2006
China is to get a 100 million-dollar loan from the Asian Development Bank to clean up the polluted waterways of the industrial city of Wuhan, the Philippines-based lender said Tuesday.

+ Thousands Of Swimmers Brave Pearl River In Confidence Show
CYBER NEWS

+ Is Net Neutrality Discriminatory

Chicago (UPI) Jul 12, 2006
The idea of Net neutrality sounds fair in the abstract, but experts are telling UPI's The Web column the policy proposals emanating from Congress and the federal bureaucracy may actually be quite discriminatory.

+ War For Talent In Indian IT Goes On

EXO LIFE

+ Taking Soil Science to Outer Space

Philadelphia PA (SPX) Jul 17, 2006
The answer to the question about life on Mars may very well come from analyzing an unsuspecting source: Martian soil, specifically the icy layer of soil underneath the red planet's surface. By analyzing the properties of this frozen layer of Martian soil during NASA's next lander mission, scientists will be able to understand and hypothesize more clearly about life on Mars.

BEYOND TERRA

+ SMART-1 Giving Moon A Detailed New Look

Paris, France (SPX) Jul 17, 2006
During its 15-month science mission at the Moon, ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft has returned up to 1,000 images per week, the analyses of which are keeping scientists busy. The images are showing the Moon's surface in unprecedented detail, and ESA scientists predict they will get even better.

+ Rings Occulting Titan
+ Nine Years To The Ninth Planet And Counting
+ Scientists Gaining Clearer Picture of Comet Makeup and Origin
+ AAS Supports Emergency NASA Appropriations
+ Mikulski NASA Amendment Passes Key Senate Committee
+ NASA Balloon Flight Successful At Esrange Space Center

TECH SPACE

+ Semiconductor Industry Critical To US National Security

Washington (UPI) Jul 17, 2006
The United States needs to bolster its capacity to manufacturer and develop cutting-edge semiconductors not just for economic reasons, but for national-security purposes as well, or so industry analysts argue.

+ Raytheon To Develop Next-Gen GPS Receiver
+ Dartmouth Proposes Stratospheric Astronomical Airship
+ Discovery Gets Green Light To Return To Earth
+ Genesis Spacecraft Inflated And In Orbit
+ Nastar Center To Offer Human Space Flight Training

NUKEWARS

+ US And Russia Building A Friendship Based On Nuclear Waste

Washington (UPI) Jul 17, 2006
Since the mid-1990's, Moscow has sought to make money through storing spent nuclear fuel from other countries in sparsely populated regions of the Russian Federation. Up until recently, though, Washington has not allowed this due to its displeasure over Russian assistance to the Iranian nuclear program.

+ South Korea To Develop Missile Defense Command
+ Russia And US Unveil Plan To Fight Nuclear Terrorism
+ UN Demands End To North Korea Missile Program As Pyongyang Says No
+ Iranian Leadership Rejects Freeze Of Sensitive Nuclear Work
+ Possible Step Forward For Taiwan Submarine Deal After US Concession
+ India Undecided Over Next Round Of Peace Talks With Pakistan

GPS NEWS

+ Raytheon To Develop Next-Gen GPS Receiver

El Segundo CA (SPX) Jul 14, 2006
Raytheon announced Thursday it has won an initial $38-million contract from the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Global Positioning System Joint Program Office to design next-generation GPS receivers.

WAR NEWS

+ Iraq Insurgents Switch Targets

Washington (UPI) Jul 17, 2006
The rapidly escalating sectarian violence in Iraq appears to have distracted the Sunni insurgents from their previous assaults on U.S. forces. The good news for U.S. forces in Iraq is that during the past two weeks is that the rate oat which American soldiers are being killed in the country has fallen again very significantly.

+ Bad Signs In Iraq
+ The Growing Crisis Facing NATO In Afghanistan

+ For an AFP news wire service covering events in the Middle East click here.

Terra Daily Express - July 18, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ At Least 105 Dead As Tsunami Nightmare Returns To Indonesia

Pangandaran, Indonesia (AFP) Jul 18, 2006
Over 100 people were killed when an undersea earthquake unleashed huge waves on Indonesia's Java island, echoing the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami, the Red Cross said Tuesday.

+ Death Toll From Tropical Storm Bilis Rises To 188 In China

WEATHER REPORT

+ Britain Set For Record Temperatures As Heatwave Builds Over Europe

London (AFP) Jul 17, 2006
Britain could soon swelter in the highest temperatures ever recorded, weather forecasters said Monday, with a 30 percent chance that Wednesday will become the country's hottest day ever. While in in Paris temperatures will soar to 36 degrees Celsius (97 degrees Fahrenheit) by midweek as the heatwave spreads to the north.

ENERGY TECH

+ Self-Cooling Soda Bottles Could Sell Billions

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 17, 2006
Every day, the sun bathes the planet in energy--free of charge--yet few systems can take advantage of that source for both heating and cooling. Now, researchers are making progress on a thin-film technology that adheres both solar cells and heat pumps onto surfaces, ultimately turning walls, windows, and maybe even soda bottles into climate control systems.

VOLCANO NEWS

+ Ecuador Volcano Buries Farms In Ash And Ready To Boil Over

Quito (AFP) Jul 17, 2006
Tungurahua, a volcano in southern Ecuador, erupted for a fourth day Monday, burying thousands of farms in ash and threating to "boil over" and dump lava on a nearby town, officials said. Explosions were heard for days, said Geophysical Institute engineer Pablo Samaniego, who compared the volcanic activity to a "pot of milk waiting to boil over at any moment".

+ Increased Activity At Philippine Volcano Sparks Fears Of Eruption

PILLAGING PIRATES

+ US Committed To Security In Malacca Strait Says Top Navy Official

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jul 17, 2006
The United States is prepared to share maritime expertise with Malaysia to fight piracy in the troubled Malacca Strait, a visiting admiral said Monday. "It is a vital strait not just locally but internationally. It is one that we all have an interest in," the chief of US naval operations, Admiral Michael Mullen, told reporters.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Too Little Data Available to Assess Risk of Sludge

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 17, 2006
Tens of thousands of organic chemicals from homes, farms, industries, medical facilities, street runoff and businesses are treated in waste-water treatment plants. The resulting sludge, rich in organic matter and nutrients but also potentially containing toxic metals, pathogens and pollutants, often is applied to land to amend soil.

+ Pharmaceuticals May Not Pose Major Aquatic Environmental Risks

CLONE AGE

+ New Source of Multipotent Adult Stem Cells in Human Hair Follicles

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 17, 2006
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have isolated a new source of adult stem cells that appear to have the potential to differentiate into several cell types.

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ South Korea To Launch Arirang-2 EO Satellite

Seoul, South Korea (SPX) Jul 18, 2006
South Korea plans to launch a satellite for geographical updates, natural resource searches and environmental observation from a Russian spaceport late this month, government officials have announced.

GPS NEWS

+ Competitors Will Threaten Established Portable Nav Device Vendors

Oyster Bay NY (SPX) Jul 18, 2006
The enormous market expansion and related price war in the consumer navigation market is no longer new. What has changed is that the resulting attempts at product segmentation and the additional revenue streams for the most competitive portable navigation segment are increasingly arriving in the form of network-connected services.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Malaysian State To Log Orangutan Habitats

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jul 17, 2006
Malaysia's eastern state of Sabah, home to endangered orangutans and other species, will see fresh logging in forest reserves that will imperil countless plants and animals, a report and conservationists said Sunday.

+ The Age Distribution Of The Non-Avian Dinosaur Population

ABOUT US

+ Trade Of Humans Is Big Business

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 17, 2006
Illegal immigration is a lucrative, if somewhat cutthroat business, representing approximately some $500 million per annum. This is tax-free money that goes right into the pockets of the handlers, or the so-called guides of the human cargo that flows northwards from sub-Saharan Africa like a great river of bodies.

SPACE TRAVEL

+ Genesis Orbiting With No Problems

Las Vegas NV (SPX) Jul 18, 2006
The Genesis I prototype inflatable spacecraft continues to operate with no significant technical or mechanical problems and is transmitting video images to mission controllers, Bigelow Aerospace announced Monday.

+ A Journey Of Space Discovery At The Farnborough International Air Show

SHUTTLE NEWS

+ Discovery Lands Safely And On Time In Florida

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 18, 2006
Space shuttle Discovery landed safely at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday morning, ending a mission that lasted 13 days, logged 5.3-million miles and was as trouble-free as any previous flight of NASA's manned space vehicles. Discovery touched down at 9:13 a.m. Eastern Time on Kennedy's 3-mile-long runway and gently coasted to a stop one minute later.

MOON DAILY

+ British Geek Wants To Buy Moon Plot With 1M-Pound Gameshow Jackpot

London, England (AFP) Jul 18, 2006
A self-confessed geeky housewife said she wanted to buy a plot on the Moon after winning a million pounds ($1.8 million, 1.5 million euros) on a British television game show Sunday. Sarah Lang, 31, from Newport, south Wales, scooped the prize in the finale of Pokerface, a game of general knowledge and bluff.

SATURN DAILY

+ Sunlight At Saturn Scattered On Many Paths

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 18, 2006
The unlit side of Saturn's rings glows with scattered sunlight as two moons are seen orbiting the gas-giant planet. The light reaching NASA's Cassini spacecraft in this view has traveled many paths before being captured.

SUPERPOWERS

+ US-Russian Ties Strained At G8

St. Petersburg, Russia (UPI) Jul 17, 2006
The Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg was to mend fragile U.S.-Russian ties, but instead laid bare even more cracks in the relationship between both governments. The former Cold War enemies differed on a number of issues, namely on the conflict in the Middle East, on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization, and on the state of Russian democracy.

+ How To Score Putin's G8
+ Japan Needs Sufficient Deterrence Against Attack Says Koizumi

NUKEWARS

+ US-India Nuke Deal Revisited

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 17, 2006
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice argued one week ago that Congress should pass the U.S.-India civilian nuclear cooperation deal before breaking for summer recess, but many experts counter the draft on the table implicitly promotes proliferation while setting a double-standard that may alienate other would-be partners.

+ Premature To Speak Of Iran Sanctions Says Putin
+ Agni Failure Bad News For India

MISSILE NEWS

+ China Aims 820 Missiles At Taiwan

Taipei (AFP) Jul 17, 2006
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian on Monday renewed his warning of China's growing military threat, saying it is now targeting the island with 820 missiles. Chen, during a meeting with a group of Japanese scholars attending a forum in Taipei, said he had expected China's peaceful rise and the development of democracy there.

WAR REPORT

+ Disastrous Miscalculations In The Middle East

New York NY (UPI) Jul 17, 2006
As the violence in the Middle East escalates, it is hard not to conclude that every player involved directly or indirectly has badly miscalculated. This conflict will not end by a restoration of the status quo ante. Israel will refuse to allow a replay of the last two weeks.

+ Hezbollah A Force To Be Reckoned With
+ What Israel Wants From Lebanon
+ Lebanon crisis delays UN focus on Iran nuclear issue -- diplomats
+ Four civilians killed in new Israeli strike on Lebanon
+ Twelve Lebanese killed as Israeli missile hits minibus
+ Foreigners flee Israel onslaught on Lebanon
+ Mass exodus from south Lebanon as residents flee

Terra Daily Express - 19 July, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
CAR TECH

+ Ford First To Offer Clean-Burning Hydrogen Vehicles

Dearborn, Michigan (AFP) Jul 18, 2006
Ford on Monday became the first automaker to begin production of a commercially viable hydrogen engine, which emits little but clean water vapor into the air. The hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines are destined for shuttle buses and will be ready for delivery later this year, said Ford Motor Co. spokesman Nick Twork.

+ Toyota To Expand Hybrid Car Range In US

VOLCANO NEWS

+ State Of Calamity Declared Near Philippine Volcano

Legaspi, Philippines (AFP) Jul 18, 2006
A "state of calamity" was declared in towns and villages near the Mayon volcano southeast of the Philippine capital as lava flow intensified Tuesday. This allows the provincial government to use emergency funds to prepare evacuation camps, provincial governor Fernando Gonzales said.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Nations Mobilize For Mass Evacuations From Lebanon

Paris (AFP) Jul 18, 2006
Tens of thousands of foreigners were fleeing Israeli bombardments of Lebanon Tuesday, as outside powers organised helicopters, warships, ferries and buses in a vast campaign of evacuation.

WEATHER REPORT

+ Europe's Heat Wave Claims Five More Lives

Paris (AFP) Jul 18, 2006
Much of Europe on Tuesday baked in tropical temperatures as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in some places, in a heatwave that has claimed at least six lives. Five deaths related to the oppressive heat were recorded on Tuesday alone, following the death Sunday of a man in Murcia, southern Spain.

+ US Simmers As Record Temperatures Reap Transport Chaos

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ NASA Explains Puzzling Impact Of Polluted Skies On Climate

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
NASA scientists have determined that the formation of clouds is affected by the lightness or darkness of air pollution particles. This also impacts Earth's climate.

+ Centuries Of Land-Use Profoundly Impact Earth System

DARWIN TODAY

+ Molecular DNA Switch Found To Be The Same For All Life

Berkeley CA (SPX) Jul 18, 2006
The molecular machinery that starts the process by which a biological cell divides into two identical daughter cells apparently worked so well early on that evolution has conserved it across the eons in all forms of life on Earth.

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Monsoon Hits Korean Peninsula Over 150 Dead Or Missing

Seoul (AFP) Jul 19, 2006
At least 150 people on the Korean peninsula are believed dead or missing and several thousand are homeless after monsoon rains caused severe flooding and landslides, officials and aid workers said Tuesday.

+ Second Tropical Storm Of 2006 Brews Off North Carolina Coast

WATER WORLD

+ Undersea Vehicles Study Precious Metals Deposits On Pacific Ocean Floor

Woods Hole MA (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
An international team of scientists will explore the seafloor near Papua New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean later this month with remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles, investigating active and inactive hydrothermal vents and the formation of mineral deposits containing copper, gold and other commercially valuable minerals.

ROBOT NEWS

+ European Research Team Strives To Make Robotic Systems More Decisive

Munich, Germany (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
The Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics is a partner in the Integrated Research Project BACS (Bayesian Approach to Cognitive Systems), which is being sponsored by the EU and will run until 2010. In this project, researchers are investigating the extent to which Bayes' theorem can be used in artificial systems capable of managing complex tasks in a real world environment.

GPS NEWS

+ Cracking The Secret Codes Of The European Galileo Satellite Network

Ithaca NY (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
Members of Cornell's Global Positioning System Laboratory have cracked the so-called pseudo random number codes of Europe's first global navigation satellite, despite efforts to keep the codes secret. That means free access for consumers who use navigation devices - including handheld receivers and systems installed in vehicles - that need PRNs to listen to satellites.

SHUTTLE NEWS

+ With Safe Return Of Discovery NASA Aims For Regular Shuttle Flights

Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) Jul 18, 2006
With Discovery and its crew of six safely back on Earth, NASA set its eyes on next month's scheduled launch that should mark the resumption of regular shuttle flights.

+ Near-Flawless Shuttle Mission Boosts US Space Program
+ After Discovery Success NASA Sets Its Sights On The Stars

TIME AND SPACE

+ Deadline Extended For Pluto Mission Digital Time Capsule

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
New Horizons - launched in January 2006 on a nine-year journey to Pluto - is leaving behind an Earth that will not be the same when the spacecraft arrives at its destination in 2015.

MOON DAILY

+ SMART-1 Views Sulpicius Gallus

Paris, France (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
This mosaic of three images, taken by the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows the area close to the Sulpicius Gallus crater on the Moon. AMIE obtained this sequence on March 18, from a distance of 1,200 kilometers (744 miles) from the surface, with a ground resolution ranging from 110 meters to 114 meters (357 feet to 370 feet) per pixel.

SUPERPOWERS

+ China's Top General Visits The Pentagon

Washington(AFP) Jul 18, 2006
China's top military official met with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Tuesday to discuss closer military relations in the highest level visit of its kind in more than five years, officials said.

WAR REPORT

+ US Orders Nine Warships To Waters Off Lebanon

Washington (AFP) Jul 18, 2006
The United States on Tuesday ordered nine warships to waters off the Lebanese coast amid fears of possible terrorist attacks on ships evacuating US nationals, officials said. Though only 124 Americans have been brought out so far, the State Department defended the speed of the evacuation, calling it "highly organized, very efficient, very active."

+ Frightened Lebanese Flee Israeli Bombardment Of South
+ Israel Says 1500 Hezbollah Missiles Fired Accuses Iran Of Helping Abductions

KOREAN NUKES

+ North Korea Launches Wartime Alert

Seoul (AFP) Jul 19, 2006
North Korea has launched a wartime alert, putting its armed forces and nationals in a state of a war mobilization, an unconfirmed news report said here Wednesday.
CYBER WARS

+ New Video Systems Aid Cops And Help Fight Terrorists

Washington (UPI) Jul 19, 2006
New surveillance technologies can revolutionize the war on terror and crimefighting techniques, a tech company executive told UPI. The new technologies may provide evidence and recreate events after the fact and could also be proactive in preventing crime.

Terra Daily Express - July 20, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

ROBO SPACE

+ New Generation Of System Agents Could Assist Alzheimers Sufferes

Madrid (UPI) Jul 20, 2006
Computers, motion sensors, home-to-hospital video cameras and other devices could help patients with early stages of dementia maintain safe, independent living longer. At the same time, the devices -- even something such as a popular computer game -- may be able to gives doctors hints as to how well a patient is doing on his or her own.

SINO DAILY

+ The Super-Rich Of China Extremely Insecure

Beijing (AFP) Jul 19, 2006
China's super-rich feel extremely insecure due to public resentment and a lack of policies that protect property, state media Wednesday quoted a survey as saying. The survey by the Guangdong-based Southern Weekend newspaper found that 90 percent of those questioned said wealth had brought "insecurity" and "headaches".
ENERGY TECH

+ Greenland Begins Sale Of Oil Concessions

Copenhagen (AFP) Jul 19, 2006
Greenland has opened an eagerly awaited round of concession sales for oil and gas exploration for which officials expect record bidding, authorities on the island said on Wednesday. There are hopes that the remote oil fields of Greenland, an ice-covered island off the coast of northeast Canada, could become a new eldorado for oil companies thanks to a spectacular rise in fossil fuel prices and uncertainty concerning future supplies.

ICE WORLD

+ Antarctic Under Threat As Thirst For Oil Grows

Sydney (AFP) Jul 13, 2006
Declining oil reserves and soaring prices could see desperate nations overturning a ban on drilling in the last untouched frontier -- Antarctica, an oil expert told a scientific conference Thursday.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ China's Vice Premier Calls For Flood Prevention

Beijing (AFP) Jul 19, 2006
Six more people were confirmed dead in China to bring the death toll from rainstorms and flooding triggered by Tropical Storm Bilis to 204, state media said Wednesday. As the death toll rose, Vice Premier Hui Liangyu urged governments in the affected provinces to do their utmost to prevent the spread of disease, Xinhua news agency said.

+ Doctor, Nurses Arrested For Katrina Mercy Killings

WEATHER REPORT

+ Europe Gasps As Heatwave Temperatures Soar

Paris (AFP) Jul 19, 2006
Much of western Europe sweltered under tropical temperatures Wednesday, as a heatwave claimed its seventh victim since the start of the week. Authorities in the eastern French town of Macon said a 53 year-old road-labourer died overnight of "malign hyperthermia" after working outside in temperatures of 33 degrees Centigrade (91.4 Fahrenheit).

+ GOES-13 Solar X-Ray Imager Sees First Light
+ Defense Weather Satellites Offer 50 Years Of Service

WOOD PILE

+ Fires Rage In Indonesian Borneo And Sumatra

Jakarta (AFP) Jul 19, 2006
More than 1,500 firefighters are battling scores of forest fires raging on Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra island as a haze envelops neighboring Malaysia and Thailand, forestry officials said Wednesday.

CLONE AGE

+ Stem Cell Bill Passes US Senate In Time For Bush Veto

Washington (UPI) Jul 20, 2006
The Senate voted to greatly expand federally funded embryonic stem cell research Tuesday, even as lawmakers prepared for President Bush to quickly veto the measure. The issued an official veto threat Monday, and lawmakers and aides say they expect the president to veto the popular bill as early as Wednesday.

EPIDEMICS

+ Scientists Develop SARS Vaccine

College Park MD (UPI) Jul 20, 2006
U.S. scientists using the Newcastle Disease virus -- a common poultry disease -- say they have developed a vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome. The University of Maryland-College Park researchers say their vaccine, in early National Institutes of Health trials, successfully immunized monkeys against SARS and human parainfluenza viruses. They are now working on a vaccine for H5N1 avian influenza under a $4.1 million NIH contract.

+ Avian Flu Numbers Increase Across SE Asia

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Researchers Enlist Proteins To Switch On Heart Tissue Repair System

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 17, 2006
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine are utilizing a protein to "switch on" the ability to repair damaged heart tissue. By triggering the cell-cycle signal, researchers can manipulate cells in animal models to regenerate damaged heart tissue.

NANO TECH

+ Blueprint For Nanotechnology Risk Profile Proposed

New York (UPI) Jul 20, 2006
Instead of a general call for more federal research into the risks of nanotechnology, a new strategy proposes a move beyond to recommend how these investigations should get prioritized and implemented, experts tell UPI's Nano World.

DRAGON SPACE

+ China To Develop Deep Space Exploration In 5 Years

Beijing, China (SPX) Jul 20, 2006
A senior Chinese space agency official said Wednesday that China would actively plan its deep space exploration over the next five years, focusing on lunar and Mars exploration.

LAUNCH PAD

+ MetOp-A Launch Delayed A Second Time

Moscow, Russia (SPX) Jul 20, 2006
The launch of the MetOp-A satellite has been postponed for the third straight day due to mechanical problems. The launch was scrubbed two minutes before its scheduled liftoff.

SPACEMART

+ JSAT Begins Prep For Arianespace Dual-Sat Mission

Kourou, French Guyana (SPX) Jul 20, 2006
Engineers are checking out the JCSAT-10 satellite inside the S5 facility at Europe's Spaceport and preparing it for the dual-payload Ariane 5 ECA launch currently scheduled for Aug. 11.

+ LM A2100 Satellite Fleet Achieves 150 Years In Orbit
+ Blueprint For Nanotechnology Risk Profile Proposed
+ ESO Sub-Millimeter Astronomy Fully Underway
+ Mars Expeditions Pose Bone-Loss Risk
+ NASA To Test Automated DAME
+ NASA Marks 30th Anniversary Of Mars Viking Mission
+ Satellite Security Systems Wins 10 Year Air Quality Contract At LA Port
+ FSRI Sponsors Microgravity Research Flights From Cape Canaveral

OPINION SPACE

+ Fixing The CIA

Washington (UPI) Jul 20, 2006
I have some thoughts for U.S. Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden in his new job as director of the CIA. I will confine myself to advice on the care and feeding of some of the denizens of the building where he will be taking up his new position. His predecessor, Porter Goss, seemed unable to make it out of the lobby each morning without causing some sort of internal squabble.

+ The Super-Rich Of China Extremely Insecure

MILPLEX

+ Defense Spending Games Are Just A Gimmick

Washington (UPI) Jul 20, 2006
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to "mark up" the Fiscal Year 2007 Department of Defense appropriations bill. However, there are already clear indications of what appears to be one of the major budget gimmicks the SAC will employ.

+ US Funds Body Armor Research
+ Elisra Group Unveils New Support Jamming System For Fighters

UAV NEWS

+ Elop To Provide Naval And Aerial UAV Payloads Valued At 15 Million Dollars

Haifa, Israel (SPX) Jul 16, 2006
Elbit Systems Ltd. announced that its subsidiary Elbit Systems Electro-Optics Elop Ltd. ("Elop"), was awarded several new contracts to supply advanced CoMPASS payloads for naval and aerial use, valued at approximately $15 million.

NUKEWARS

+ North Korea Scraps North-South Family Reunions

Seoul (AFP) Jul 19, 2006
North Korea said Wednesday it would scrap cross-border family reunions on the divided peninsula, accusing Seoul of siding with its Western allies in the standoff over Pyongyang's missile launches.

WAR REPORT

+ Israel And United States Spreading War In Strategic Overstretch

Washington (UPI) Jul 20, 2006
The U.S. government and armed forces could face the unanticipated threat of strategic overstretch if the current Middle East crisis gets out of hand. Over the past week, Israel has responded to massive Hezbollah rocket bombardments into its northern areas with deep air strikes into Lebanon and has used strong language holding Iran and Syria responsible as the key allies and protectors of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and of Hamas in the Palestinian territories.

+ UN Takes Lead In Mideast Conflict Resolution Vacuum
+ Mid East Donnybrook Or Imbroglio
+ Sending Army South Uneasy Task
+ Mideast Cease-Fire Not Imminent
+ The Real Mideast War

Terra Daily Express - July 21, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
SHAKE AND BLOW

+ New Warning System Fails For Latest Tsunami Victims

Jakarta (AFP) Jul 18, 2006
Indonesians fleeing the tsunami that lashed the south coast of Java had no warning of their fate, with a country-wide early warning system not due to be in place until 2009, officials said Tuesday.

+ Villagers To Evacuate From Rumbling Philippine Volcano

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Why Nobody Stopped Katrina Mercy Killing Is Unclear

New Orleans, Louisiana (AFP) Jul 20, 2006
Perhaps the most disturbing fact to emerge from the investigation into mercy killings at a New Orleans hospital was how many people knew what was going on.

+ Half Of Pacific Islands Mangroves Could Disappear Says UN
+ Applied Global And SkyPort Announce Strategic Partnership

WEATHER REPORT

+ Europe Swelters In Heatwave

Paris (AFP) Jul 20, 2006
Vast swathes of Europe on Thursday baked in tropical temperatures that have claimed nine lives in France alone, but summer thunderstorms brought some welcome relief.

+ MetOp-A Launch Delayed Indefinitely
+ European Satellite To Boost Weather Forecasting

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Denver To Host International Remote Sensing Conference

Denver CO (SPX) Jul 14, 2006
More than 1,000 remote-sensing scientists from around the globe will converge at the Colorado Convention Center July 31 to Aug. 4 to exchange ideas and practices at the 2006 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium.

+ DMCii Wins European Commission Contract For Agricultural Monitoring
+ Cardiff From Earth Space
CLONE AGE

+ Bush Blocks Stem Cell Bill

Washington (UPI) Jul 20, 2006
President Bush used the first veto of his presidency to reject a bill from Congress expanding federally funded medical research using embryonic stem cells.

WOOD PILE

+ Malaysia And Indonesia Join Forces To Dampen Haze Problem

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jul 20, 2006
Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to join forces to stamp out fires in oil palm plantations which are contributing to the region's annual haze problem, a Malaysian minister said Thursday.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Evolution Can Occur Quickly Change Population Interaction

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 17, 2006
Biologists generally accept that evolutionary change can take from decades to millennia, while ecological change can occur over mere days or seasons. However, a new Cornell study shows that evolution and ecology can operate on the same time scale.

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

+ British MPs To Vote Renewing Nuclear Deterrent

London (AFP) Jul 20, 2006
Members of the House of Commons, Britain's elected lower house of parliament, will be given a vote on whether Britain should renew its nuclear deterrent force, a cabinet minister said Thursday.

+ Iran Present At North Korea Missile Launch Says US

MISSILE DEFENSE

+ Lockheed Martin Team Tests Multiple Kill Vehicle Thruster

Redmond WA (SPX) Jul 21, 2006
Lockheed Martin has announced that its team has successfully completed initial testing of the kill vehicle divert thruster for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Multiple Kill Vehicle Payload System.

RAY GUNS

+ High-Energy Lasers Could Defend Commercial Aircraft From MANPADs

Redondo Beach, CA (SPX) Jul 21, 2006
Northrop Grumman has formally proposed a ground-based, high-energy laser system, Skyguard, as part of a layered airport defense against the man-portable air defense systems (MANPADs) threat to commercial aviation.

UAV NEWS

+ LM Skunk Works Reveals High Altitude Unmanned System

Farnborough, England (SPX) Jul 21, 2006
Lockheed Martin this week unveiled a new high altitude, unmanned aerial demonstrator at the Farnborough International Air Show. The preview was part of a review of several projects involving LM's legendary Skunk Works highlighting technologies the company is exploring to enable technology for the future.

+ Boeing Persistent Munition Demonstrator Achieves Autonomous Flight

WAR REPORT

+ Israel Demands Return Of Men As Cease Fire Pressures Mount

Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) Jul 20, 2006
Israel tacitly rejected Lebanese calls for a cease-fire, insisting that first and foremost its soldiers kidnapped and taken to Lebanon must be returned. The soldiers were kidnapped by Hezbollah gunmen who crossed the United Nations sanctioned border, attacked a patrol and made away with the two soldiers.

+ Hezbollah Still In The Shadown Of Iran
+ Al-Qaida Regrouping And On The March
+ US General Vows Crackdown On Baghdad Violence

SINO DAILY

+ Taiwan Holds Live War-Game That Simulates A Chinese Invasion

Ilan, Taiwan (AFP) Jul 20, 2006
Taiwan held its largest live-fire military exercise in years on Thursday, testing fighter jets, US-made Patriot missiles and ground troops against a simulated invasion by arch foe China.

SPACEDAILY

+ China To Explore Mars As Well As The Moon

Beijing (AFP) July 19, 2006
China plans to embark on an ambitious space exploration program that will see it focusing on Mars as well as the moon, a senior space agency official was quoted as saying Wednesday. The program, to be carried out in the next five years, also calls for stepping up international cooperation, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Sun Laiyan, head of the China National Space Administration, as saying.

+ Mars Mission Lasts Well Past Sell-By Date
+ MIT Team Envisions Exploring Mars With Mini Probes
+ Spirit to Get New Capabilities Winter Turns to Spring
+ Beagle Crater Is Next Stop For Opportunity
+ Stellar Blast Teaching Astronomers New Lessons About Cosmic Explosions
+ First Data Release From UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey
+ BAE and SSTL To Deliver Processor For Chandrayaan-1
+ Three-Telescope Interferometer Shows Patchy Red Giants Common Fate
+ Cassini Reveals Xanadu Region On Titan To Be Earth-Like
+ International Space Station Tee Off Approved By NASA

Terra Daily Express - July 24, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Cover-up claims as China storm toll leaps to 530

Beijing (AFP) Jul 22, 2006 - Chinese officials were warned against cover-ups on Saturday after the death toll from a tropical storm more than doubled overnight.

TRADE WARS

+ Illicit Trade Led To Modern Globalization

New York NY (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
In a forthcoming study from the American Journal of Sociology, Emily Erikson and Peter Bearman (Columbia University) demonstrate that an early example of globalization was the direct result of individual malfeasance, specifically, private trade using company resources.

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Indonesia starts Java clean-up

Pangandaran, Indonesia (AFP) Jul 23, 2006 - Indonesia on Sunday started a massive operation to clear debris from the tsunami-hit south coast of Java, as a strong earthquake rattled Sulawesi island, triggering a fresh tsunami alert.

WEATHER REPORT

+ Europe cooler but deadly heatwave set to return

Paris (AFP) Jul 23, 2006
Much of Europe enjoyed a respite on Sunday from the heatwave which has killed more than 30 people over recent days, but forecasters warned that scorching temperatures are set for a comeback in the week ahead.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Scientists Strengthen Case For Life More Ancient Than Previously Thought

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 23, 2006
Ten years ago, an international team of scientists reported evidence, in a controversial cover story in the journal Nature, that life on Earth began more than 3.8 billion years ago--400 million years earlier than previously thought. A UCLA professor who was not part of that team and two of the original authors will report in late July that the evidence is stronger than ever.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Bacteria Give Up Secrets In War Waged On Plants

East Lansing MI (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
The secret weapon of bacteria -- the way they get a foothold in plants to launch an invasion -- is less of a secret, according to research published this week by Michigan State University scientists.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Tyrannosaur Survivorship -- Tough Times For Teens

Edmonton, Canada (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
A massive dinosaur death bed in Alberta has helped map out the animal's life span and thrown doubt on long-held theories about how one species lived, says new research conducted in part at the University of Alberta.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ New Study Fuels Louisiana Subsidence Controversy

Boulder CO (SPX) Jul 24, 2006
While erosion and wetland loss are huge problems along Louisiana's coast, the basement 30 to 50 feet beneath much of the Mississippi Delta has been highly stable for the past 8000 years with negligible subsidence rates. So say geoscientists from Tulane University and Utrecht University, challenging the notion that tectonic subsidence bears much of the blame for Louisiana's coastal geologic problems.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ CapRock Provides Dual Teleport For Back-Up Emergency Communications

Houston (SPX) Jul 16, 2006
Building on its commitment to protect customers from the impact of disasters and other service-affecting events, CapRock is announcing its expanded service redundancy and business continuity solution.

ENERGY TECH

+ European retirees creating a boom market for Thai property

Hua Hin, Thailand (AFP) Jul 23, 2006 - Veteran Swedish hotelier Sven Wermelin has travelled across Europe and Asia for his career, but also in search of a place to spend his retirement.

EARTH NEWS

+ Exiled Tibetans warn against increased mining

Beijing (AFP) Jul 23, 2006
The Central Tibetan Administration, exiled in Dharamsala, India, has expressed great concern over the increased mining expected for the Tibetan region with the opening of a new railway this month.

BEE STING

+ Beekeepers Work Hard For The Honey

Tallahassee FL (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
Van Morrison sang about it, Peter Fonda starred in a movie about it, and people from all over the world will pay top dollar just to get some of it. It's tupelo honey, a honey so distinct, light and smooth that people describe it as they would a fine wine. But the future of tupelo honey production may not be so sweet.
FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Bird Brains Shrink From Exposure To Contaminants

Edmonton, Canada (SPX) Jul 19, 2006
The regions in robins' brains responsible for singing and mating are shrinking when exposed to high levels of DDT, says new University of Alberta research--the first proof that natural exposure to a contaminant damages the brain of a wild animal.

SPACEDAILY

+ Spirit Clears Away Dust And Loads New Software

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 24, 2006
Beginning July 22 in the early hours of its 907th Martian day, or sol, Spirit began knitting together and testing all 200 pieces of new flight software that mission controllers transmitted to the rover in recent weeks.

+ Sunning Frozen Soil Could Answer Martian Life Question
+ Chinese Scientists Conduct Life Support Research For Living On Mars
+ Space Flight Firm Moving To Roswell
+ First Chinese Taikonaut Talks About Eight Years In Training
+ Schlegel Assigned To ESA Columbus Laboratory Mission To ISS
+ Dark And Distant Bodies Reveal Secrets Of Galactic And Stellar Formation
+ NASA Gives Green Light For SOFIA

SPACEMART

+ Russia And Europe Agree On Joint Space Project

Farnborough, England (RIAN) Jul 24, 2006
Russia and Europe have agreed to launch a joint space-based antenna project for exploration purposes, a Roscosmos spokesman said Friday. "The 12-meter deployable antenna is designed to conduct exploration of processes in space and to transmit information to Earth," Igor Panarin said last week at the Farnborough International Airshow.

+ Europe Testing New Mobile Broadcasting Concept
+ ESA To Help Europe Prepare For Space Tourism
+ Silkworm Space Cookies Add Flavour To Diet

SPACEWAR

+ Air power shortcomings shadow Israel's next steps in Lebanon

Washington (AFP) Jul 21, 2006
Israeli air power alone is capable of damaging Hezbollah but not defeating the Shiite militia, confronting Israel with a choice of a ground offensive in southern Lebanon or a diplomatic settlement, US military analysts said.

+ Israel punches into Lebanon as civilians flee
+ China warns US not to sell fighter jets to Taiwan
+ Pacifist Japan cannot 'sit still' if attacked: defense chief
+ India tests surface-to-air missile
+ North Korea 'completely irresponsible', 'dangerous': Rice
+ EADS Supplies New Type Of Ground Surveillance Radar
+ Northrop Grumman Delivers Key F-35 Lightning II Subsystem
+ Boeing Announces C-130 Total Life Extension Program
+ Network-Centric Technology for US Army SATCOM On-the-Move
+ Lockheed Martin Completes Fifth Modernized GPS Satellite
+ Northrop Grumman Brings BACN To Disaster Exercise
+ Raytheon Names Mac Jeffery Vice President Global Public Relations

Terra Daily Express - July 25, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

TERRADAILY

+ Earth Dropped From NASA Mission Statement

Washington (UPI) Jul 24, 2006
NASA has reportedly eliminated the promise "to understand and protect our home planet" from its mission statement. That statement was repeatedly cited last winter by NASA climate scientist James Hansen, who said he was being threatened by political appointees for speaking about the dangers posed by greenhouse gas emissions.

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ NASA Releases First CALIPSO Images

Hampton VA (SPX) Jul 25, 2006
NASA's CALIPSO spacecraft has collected its first data, considered a major milestone for one of the agency's newest satellite missions.

+ European Airborne Campaign Simulates Sentinel Imagery Over Land

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ New Co2 Data Inverts Current Ice-Age Theory

Charlottsville VA (SPX) Jul 25, 2006
In the early 20th century, Milutin Milankovitch, a leading astronomer and climatologist of the time, proposed that the Earth's ice-age cycles could be predicted because they correspond directly with routine changes in the Earth's orbit and its tilt over cycles of tens of thousands of years.

+ Living With Climate Variability And Change
+ Gas Escaping From Ocean Floor May Drive Global Warming
+ Pine Plantations May Be One Culprit In Increasing Carbon Dioxide Levels

ENERGY TECH

+ Fuel Cells, A Neglected Clean Source Of Energy

London UK (SPX) Jul 25, 2006
In a situation where the UK is crying out for reliable sources of energy that do not threaten the environment, one option, the hydrogen fuel cell has been relatively neglected through insufficient support from industry and government. This emerges from a new study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

DARWIN DAILY

+ Scientists to sequence Neanderthal DNA

Leipzig, Germany (SPX) Jul 25, 2006
Collaboration between anthropologists in Germany and a U.S. company may reveal why Neanderthals were displaced by modern humans 30,000 years ago.

+ It's All In The Genes

ABOUT US

+ Modern Primates Linchpin In Evolution Of Language

Bethesda MD (SPX) Jul 25, 2006
When contemplating the coos and screams of a fellow member of its species, the rhesus monkey, or macaque, makes use of brain regions that correspond to the two principal language centers in the human brain, according to research conducted by scientists at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), two of the National Institutes of Health.

EPIDEMICS

+ HIV breakthrough needs support

Washington (SPX) Jul 25, 2006
Microbicides -- treatments in the form of gels, creams or sponges that can prevent the transmission of HIV and other diseases -- could save millions of lives worldwide, offering a much needed alternative to women for whom cultural constraints make condom use an unlikely option.

NUKEWARS

+ Lawmakers call for release of State Department nuclear report

Washington (AFP) Jul 24, 2006
Democratic lawmakers on Monday accused the US government of withholding a report containing information that could hurt chance of congressional passage of a US-India nuclear energy deal.

+ US calls on Pakistan not to use new reactor for bombs
+ US Prepares New Measures For North Korea
+ Japan Debates First Strike Idea

UAV NEWS

+ Researchers Discuss Insect-Size Aircraft

Arlington VA (AFNS) Jul 25, 2006
Air Force Office of Scientific Research officials here recently completed a workshop entitled "Biologically Inspired Flight for Micro Air Vehicles" in Denver. Micro air vehicles, or MAVs, are part of a new breed of remotely controlled aircraft that are significantly smaller than currently available remotely controlled aircraft. Most are only about six inches long.

+ Marines Eye Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Capabilities
+ Successful Demonstration Of Persistent Unmanned Maritime Surveillance

WAR REPORT

+ Mideast Crisis Threatening Iraq Says Maliki

London (UPI) Jul 24, 2006
Iraq may sink deeper into chaos and instability if the conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah is not halted immediately, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned Monday.

+ The Shiite Bloody Saturday Leaves Baghdad Reeling
+ The Chronology Of Another Middle East War
+ DOD Not Tracking Terror War Costs Says GAO
+ American Uberpower Makes For Grim Lonely Times
+ JAVELIN Anti-tank Missile Systems Sale To Bahrain

PLANETARY SCIENCE

+ Mars Rover Team Weary But Hanging In After 900 Sols

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 25, 2006
In terms of "going and going and going," the Energizer Bunny has nothing on NASA's twin Mars Exploration Rovers. Originally designed to operate in the harsh environment of the red planet for 90 sols, or Martian days, Spirit recently passed its 900th sol, and Opportunity will reach that mark within two weeks.

+ Gemini Captures Close Encounter Of Two Jupiter Red Spots
+ JPL Image Specialists Enhance Cassini Signal

Terra Daily Express - July 26, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Typhoon hits China, over 700,000 evacuated

Beijing (AFP) Jul 25, 2006
Typhoon Kaemi struck the southeast coast of China on Tuesday, sparking the evacuation of more than 700,000 people in an area still reeling from a tropical storm that claimed over 600 lives.

HEATWAVE

+ Heatwave deathtoll rises as Europe blisters under sun

Paris (AFP) Jul 25, 2006
A searing heatwave claimed more lives in Europe on Tuesday and high temperatures were forecast to continue until storms bring relief to some areas late this week.

+ Heat wave strains US power supply

WATER WORLD

+ Drought reduces famous Brazilian waterfall to a trickle

Sao Paulo (AFP) Jul 25, 2006
The celebrated Iguacu Falls, a hugely popular tourist destination on Brazil's border with Argentina, has slowed to a trickle after the worst drought in 70 years hit the region.

+ Kenya's tea production hit by drought

CLONE AGE

+ More Organs A Heartbeat Away

Boston (UPI) Jul 26, 2006
Doctors say it is time to go "Back to the Future" and return to the way organs were originally acquired for human transplantation: waiting for a patient's heart to stop.

+ EU Approves Stem-Cell Research

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Shell says oil pipeline leak in Nigeria slashes daily output

Lagos (AFP) Jul 25, 2006
Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday that a leak to an oil pipeline in southern Nigeria on Friday had cut its output there by 180,000 barrels per day. "A total of 180,000 barrels a day has been temporally shut in and we don't know when it will be back," Shell spokeswomanin London Caroline Wittgen told AFP.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Ancient Global Warming Drove Early Primate Dispersal

Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Jul 26, 2006
The continent-hopping habits of early primates have long puzzled scientists, and several scenarios have been proposed to explain how the first true members of the group appeared virtually simultaneously on Asia, Europe and North America some 55 million years ago.

ABOUT US

+ Germans Set Up An Apartheid-Like Society In Saxon Britain

London UK (SPX) Jul 26, 2006
An apartheid-like system existed in early Anglo-Saxon Britain, which wiped out a majority of original British genes in favour of German ones, according to research led by University College London.

SINO DAILY

+ Taiwan presses for US trade pact

Washington (AFP) Jul 25, 2006
Taiwan on Tuesday urged the United States to move quickly to forge a free-trade agreement (FTA) with America's eighth biggest trading partner, despite bitter objections from China.

+ Chinese journalist dies after police beating
+ 20 dead in double China mine tragedy

SHUTTLE NEWS

+ NASA Warms Up Atlantis For STS-115

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Jul 26, 2006
NASA engineers have moved space shuttle Atlantis to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in preparation for transfer to the launch pad early next week.

SATURN DAILY

+ Cassini Radar Spots Great Lakes On Titan

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 26, 2006
The Cassini spacecraft, using its radar system, has discovered very strong evidence for hydrocarbon lakes on Titan. Dark patches, which resemble terrestrial lakes, seem to be sprinkled all over the high latitudes surrounding Titan's north pole.

+ Huygens Establishes Pebble Sizes On Titan

MOON DAILY

+ SMART-1 Sees Lava-Filled Crater

Paris, France (SPX) Jul 26, 2006
This image, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows crater Lomonosov on the Moon's far side. AMIE obtained the image on Jan. 30 from a distance of about 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles) from the surface, with a ground resolution of 190 meters (617 feet) per pixel.

EXO LIFE

+ Model Finds Exoplanet Capable Of Supporting Life

Seattle WA (SPX) Jul 26, 2006
The steady discovery of giant planets orbiting stars other than the Sun has heightened speculation that there could be Earth-type worlds in nearby planetary systems capable of sustaining life.

SPACE DAILY

+ New Camera Enhances Forecasting Of Sun-Generated Storms

Kirtland AFB NM (AFNS) Jul 26, 2006
Every 100-plus minutes, while orbiting approximately 50 miles above the Earth onboard the Coriolis satellite, the Solar Mass Ejection Imager experiment scans the darkness of space-seeking, sun-generated magnetic clouds of particles intent on striking the planet.

+ Vibro-Acoustic Tests On Webb Telescope Primary Mirror Completed
+ NASA Experiment Finds Possible Trigger For Radio-Busting Bubbles
+ Research Sheds New Light On Quasars
+ Spitzer Spies Building Blocks Of Life In Supernova Remnant

MISSILE DEFENSE

+ Experts Debate Space-Based Missile Defense Assets

Washington (UPI) Jul 26, 2006
A new report claims U.S. anti-ballistic missile defenses must be deployed in space to be effective, but critics disagree. Several analysts say the study is based on false pretenses and the deployment of defense mechanisms into space is not in national security interests.

NUKEWARS

+ Major powers seek elusive consensus on Iran nuclear issue

United Nations (AFP) Jul 25, 2006 - Envoys of six world powers resumed tough bargaining here Tuesday and were considering turning to their political masters to break a deadlock on a UN draft resolution mandating a halt to Iran's uranium enrichment activities.

+ Isolated NKorea peeks out at world at Asian talks: analysts
+ China says informal six-party nuclear talks scheduled at ASEAN forum
+ Kadhafi says Libya was close to building nuclear bomb

CYBER WARS

+ Study finds Japan open to cyber attacks

Tokyo (AFP) Jul 25, 2006 - A large number of computers at Japanese ministries and police agencies are dangerously vulnerable to cyber attacks and viral infections, a government survey said Tuesday.

ROBO SPACE

+ Lifelike Simulated Patients Enhance Training

Sheppard AFB TX (AFNS) Jul 26, 2006
The use of advanced, more lifelike simulated patients at the aerospace medical service apprentice course is enhancing medical training for Airmen here attending technical school with the 882nd Training Group.

IRAQ WARS

+ Iraqi Forces One Spot Of Good News Says Top General

Washington (UPI) Jul 26, 2006
A top Iraqi general has offered a sober assessment of Iraq's troubles but said one of the things that has gone right is the Iraqi military, which he believes will grow beyond the stated goal of 160,000.

+ US, Iraqi troops to go to Baghdad 'in fairly good numbers': Rumsfeld

WAR REPORT

+ Lebanon Becoming A Wilderness Of Mirrors

Washington (UPI) Jul 26, 2006
Syria, under the Assad reign (father and son), has been involved in all the wars and tensions of the Middle East since 1970 when Air Force chief Gen. Hafez al-Assad launched his country's 22nd coup d'etat since World War II. For its inaugural issue in 1985, Insight magazine ran Assad on the cover as "The World's No. 1 Terror Broker."

+ Israel ground offensive limited to south Lebanon: army
+ Israel rules out rapid truce as warplanes bomb Beirut
+ Israeli raid kills family of seven as Lebanon toll nears 400
+ Berlin Aims For Prisoner Swap To End Israel-Lebanon War

Terra Daily Express - July 27, 2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ India says no compromise on US nuclear deal

New Delhi (AFP) Jul 26, 2006
India said on Wednesday it would make no compromises on a landmark deal with the United States to get civil nuclear technology amid criticism that the pact could endanger national security.

+ House to debate US-India nuclear energy bill
+ Russia to build Kazakhstan's first nuclear power plant

THE PITS

+ Five shot during riots at Chinese-owned mine in Zambia: report

Lusaka (AFP) Jul 26, 2006
Five workers have been shot and wounded in a pay dispute at a Chinese-owned mine in Zambia's Copperbelt province, officials and police told AFP Wednesday. Scores of workers staged violent protests on Tuesday afternoon after the management at Chambeshi Mines failed to honour salary increments that were agreed in negotiations with workers' representatives, trade unionist Gillan Mubanga said.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Almost 3,000 believed dead, missing in NKorea floods: rights group

Seoul (AFP) Jul 26, 2006
Nearly 3,000 North Koreans were believed dead or missing in floods and landslides after torrential rains hit the impoverished country, a respected South Korean human rights group said Wednesday.

+ One year on, Mumbai's great flood debate rumbles on

HEAT WAVE

+ Europeans wait for relief from stifling heatwave

Paris (AFP) Jul 26, 2006
Europe baked again Wednesday in the grip of a deadly heatwave that has led to forest fires, forced water restrictions and damaged farmland across the continent.
ENERGY TECH

+ High-Tech Hydrogen Scooter Designed To Sell Clean Technology

Delft, Holland (SPX) Jul 27, 2006
An Industrial Design Engineering graduate from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has designed and built a working prototype of a scooter, which can be powered by hydrogen.

+ China to introduce fuel tax

TRADE WARS

+ WTO can withstand Doha Round freeze

Geneva (AFP) Jul 26, 2006
The collapse of global trade talks may do less damage than feared to the system of international commerce overseen by the World Trade Organisation, because it has solid foundations, experts say. The 149-nation Doha Round negotiations were suspended on Monday after big trading nations failed yet again to agree on cuts in farm subsidies and customs duties which would have broadened free trade under the WTO system.

HURRICANE SCIENCE

+ NASA Africa Mission Investigates Hurricane Origin And Development

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 27, 2006
Scientists from NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, universities and international agencies will study how winds and dust conditions from Africa influence the birth of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean.

SINO DAILY

+ China issues guidelines against police torture

Beijing (AFP) Jul 26, 2006
China on Wednesday issued guidelines aimed at stopping the use of torture by police in dealing with suspects and criminals, state media said. Previous regulations only prohibited law enforcement and judicial officers from using "brutal means" to extract confessions without explaining what that meant, Xinhua said.
DARWIN TODAY

+ Scientists Discover Evolutionary Origin Of Fins, Limbs

Gainesville FL (SPX) Jul 27, 2006
Performance on the dance floor may not always show it, but people are rarely born with two left feet. We have genes that instruct our arms and legs to grow in the right places and point in the right directions. They also provide for the spaces between our fingers and toes and every other formative detail of our limbs.

SPACE TRAVEL

+ Space Frontier Foundation Slams NASA CEV Plans

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 27, 2006
The Space Frontier Foundation announced Wednesday it has issued a whitepaper calling NASA's post-space shuttle plans the initial stages of complete failure. As the first step in a long-term campaign, the organization said it considers the agency's Crew Exploration Vehicle effort "a dead-end that is both unaffordable and unsustainable."
EARTH OBSERVATION

+ TopSat Images Farnborough Air Show

Farnborough, England (SPX) Jul 27, 2006
TopSat, the micro-satellite designed and built by a QinetiQ-led consortium of British firms, captured this image of the Farnborough International Airshow on July 18. The Farnborough International Airshow is the world's largest aerospace event. The Airbus A380 made its U.K. airshow debut at the event, and $38 billion in new business was announced during the week.
SPACE DAILY

+ Programmer Develops New Black Hole Model

Superior CO (SPX) Jul 27, 2006
Newmerix Corp. Web programmer and amateur physicist David Ring has developed a new model for evaporating black holes. "It took about four months of calculations," said Ring of his hypothesis that describes the dwindling mass of black holes. "Even so, passing peer review may have been the hardest part. As an amateur, every step is thoroughly scrutinized."

+ XMM-Newton Makes New Discoveries About Old Pulsars
+ Saturn Ring Spokes Appear Again

SHUTTLE NEWS

+ NASA Preparing Atlantis For Monday Rollout

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Jul 27, 2006
NASA technicians are preparing space shuttle Atlantis for its four-mile journey to Launch Pad 39-B at Kennedy Space Center on Monday, July 31, the agency announced Wednesday. First motion is scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time. Atlantis' launch window begins Aug. 28 for an 11-day mission to the International Space Station.
WAR REPORT

+ Israeli-Lebanese Conflict - Round-up Of Analysis

Washington (UPI) Jul 26, 2006
In due course the guns will fall silent in Lebanon, giving room to a political settlement that will most likely come accompanied by a demand for yet more foreign forces to take a position in an effort to guarantee a lasting peace writes Claude Salhani.
MISSILE NEWS

+ Indian Army To Get World's First Supersonic Cruise Missiles

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 26, 2006
The Indian Army will become the first military force in the world to operate supersonic cruise missiles when it deploys the BrahMos surface-to-surface missile next year. The missile is expected to be deployed by September 2007. The joint Indo-Russian BrahMos has a 180-mile range.
TERRORWARS

+ Rumsfeld circulates proposal for 'war on terror' trials: spokesman

Washington (AFP) Jul 26, 2006
US defense chiefs are reviewing draft legislation proposed by the administration to try "war on terror" detainees under new rules rather than under existing military law, a spokesman said Wednesday.

+ US Updates Border Screening
KOREAN NUKES

+ North Korea vows "do-or-die resistance"

Seoul (AFP) Jul 26, 2006
North Korea's defense minister said Wednesday his country would wage "all-out, do-or-die resistance" after criticism from the United States and the UN Security Council over its missile tests.

+ Rice confronts new crises at Southeast Asian meeting

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HEATWAVE USA

+ California Heat Wave Toll Could Top 70

Los Angeles (AFP) July 26, 2006
More than 70 people may have died in California's record-breaking heat wave, a state official said Wednesday as temperatures appeared to ebb. A spokeswoman of the Governor's Office of Emergency Services said officials were working to confirm that the recent deaths of 71 people were due to the record-breaking heat.

HEATWAVE EUROPE

+ Heatwave in Europe claims more lives

Paris (AFP) Jul 27, 2006
France and Italy on Thursday reported new victims of a lethal heatwave that has engulfed Europe for the last two weeks, bringing the total death toll to more than 80 people.

+ Heatwave increases flood risk in the Netherlands

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Indonesia To Install Tsunami Sirens On Mobile Phone Towers

Jakarta, Indonesia (AFP) Jul 28, 2006
Indonesian officials said Thursday they plan to install sirens on mobile phone towers to alert coastal areas to potential tsunamis, following a second killer wave in the archipelago nation in as many years.

TERRADAILY

+ UV Radiation Causes 60,000 Deaths A Year

London (UPI) Jul 27, 2006
The World Health Organization based in Switzerland estimates 60,000 people die each year from spending too much time in the sun. In a report on disease caused by ultraviolet radiation, the WHO says malignant melanoma is responsible for 48,000 deaths while other skin cancers cause the remaining 12,000 deaths, the BBC reports.

+ Cosmic Dust In Terrestrial Ice

FLU NEWS

+ Scientists Develop SARS Vaccine with Common Poultry Virus

College Park MD (SPX) Jul 28, 2006
The genes of a common poultry virus may hold the key to giving humans immunity to diseases such as avian influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). University of Maryland, College Park researchers have received a $4.1 million dollar National Institutes of Health contract to continue research on a vaccine that, in early NIH trials, successfully immunized monkeys against SARS and human parainfluenza viruses.

ENERGY TECH

+ Congestion Might Clog Nation's Power Grid

Champaign, Ill. (UPI) Jul 27, 2006
Scientists say inadequate investment in the power transmission network remains the Achilles heel of the U.S. electric grid system.

+ Airlines must look at alternative fuels to boost efficiency
+ ASEAN calls to boost renewable energy

WATER WORLD

+ ESA Gives African Water Authorities Space-Tool Training

Frascati, Italy (SPX) Jul 28, 2006
African researchers tackling water resource-management problems have gathered this week at ESA's Earth Observation Center in Frascati for a five-day TIGER Initiative training session aimed at facilitating the integration of satellite radar data into their work.

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Cosmic Dust In Ice Cores Sheds Light On Earth's Past Climate

Ithaca NY (SPX) Jul 28, 2006
Each year nearly 40,000 tons of cosmic dust fall to Earth from outer space. Now, the first successful chronological study of extraterrestrial dust in Antarctic ice has shown that this amount has remained largely constant over the past 30,000 years, a finding that could help refine efforts to understand the timing and effects of changes in the Earth's past climate.

SPACE SCOPES

+ Subaru Telescope Spots Largest Structure In The Universe

Hilo HI (SPX) Jul 28, 2006
A team of astronomers using the Subaru and Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea has discovered a giant, three-dimensional filament of galaxies extending across 200 million light-years of space.

SATURN DAILY

+ Evidence Strong That It Rains On Titan

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 28, 2006
NASA scientists said Thursday they have found strong evidence that liquid methane drizzles from the atmosphere of Titan onto the moon's surface.

+ How The World Watched Huygens

EXO LIFE

+ Searching For Aliens

Moffett Feild CA (SPX) Jul 28, 2006
Chris McKay, a planetary scientist with the NASA Ames Research Center, is involved in nearly every investigation of interest to astrobiologists. He is working on the return to the moon with both the Lunar Precursor and Robotic Program and the Constellation Project.

MOON DAILY

+ Lunar Programme To Be Open To World

Beijing, China (SPX) Jul 28, 2006
China's lunar exploration project will invite more international co-operation in its second and third phases, the project's commander-in-chief said yesterday. In addition, China calls for the peaceful use of resources from the moon and beyond for the benefit of all people, Luan Enjie told an audience of about 300 Beijing college students.

+ Mersenius Crater Shows Its Wrinkles

NUKEWARS

+ Bush urges swift approval of India nuclear pact

Washington (AFP) Jul 27, 2006
US President George W. Bush urged the Senate on Thursday to swiftly approve a controversial US-India civilian nuclear energy deal a day after the House of Representatives did so overwhelmingly.

+ Iran remains a 'grave' world threat: Bolton
+ US has "zero" plans to meet North Korea at ASEAN
+ North Korea says no nuclear talks until US lifts sanctions

SUPERPOWERS

+ Japan hails "toilet diplomacy" with China

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jul 27, 2006
Diplomats hailed the "toilet diplomacy" of an impromptu chat in the washroom between the foreign ministers of feuding neighbours China and Japan at security talks here.

+ China blasts UNSC silence over UN deaths in Lebanon


TERRORWARS

+ Chemical Security Becomes Hot Issue

Washington (UPI) Jul 28, 2006
A leading Democratic senator is trying to make a Capitol Hill fight over chemical security a hot issue for the U.S. congressional election campaign. Sen. Charles Schumer, D- N.Y., a close ally of Democratic presidential front runner Sen. Hillary Clinton and a prominent figure in crafting the Democrats' midterm election strategy, spearheaded the campaign with a speech outside a chemical plant in Rochester, NY, Monday.

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SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Thousands Flee Fearing Indonesian Volcano

Jakarta (AFP) Jul 28, 2006
Thousands of villagers have fled homes lying in the path of red-hot lava flows oozing from Indonesia's Mount Karangetang as the volcano has been put on top alert, officials said Friday. The top alert status means that scientists believe an eruption of the volcano, one of the archipelago nation's most active, could be imminent.

ENERGY TECH

+ More efficient and ecological system for electricity, cold and heat production

Gipuzkoa, Spain (SPX) Jul 31, 2006
IKERLAN-IK4 is taking part in a European project the aim of which is to design a single installation that will, at the same time, produce electricity, cold and heat for domestic use, while affording a notable reduction in environmental impact.

+ Iowa State researchers convert farm waste to bio-oil
+ DARPA Seeks to Develop Military Aviation Biofuel
+ Device Analyzes Wind Turbine Operations

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Shoot Up And Cool Down

Norwell MA (SPX) Jul 31, 2006
Injecting sulfur into the atmosphere to slow down global warming is worthy of serious consideration, according to Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Germany and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego.

WEATHER REPORT

+ DTN Acquires Surface Systems To Inhance Weather Forecasting Services

Omaha NE (SPX) Jul 16, 2006
DTN, the world leader in weather forecasting, display and decision support technology, has announced the acquisition of Surface Systems, Incorporated (SSI) weather forecasting customers. DTN will integrate SSI's weather forecasting customers into its weather business, Meteorlogix. Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

TERRADAILY

+ Slippery Stretching Explains Ocean Floor Formation

Leeds, UK (SPX) Jul 31, 2006
For the first time, scientists have found regions of the earth's crust which are stretching apart to form new sea floor; their findings are published in Nature today (27 July). Most new ocean floor is made when undersea volcanic activity splits the crust and molten rock fills the gaps.

WATER WORLD

+ Thirsty Australian Town Rejects Plan To Drink Recycled Sewage

Sydney (AFP) Jul 31, 2006
Residents of a drought-stricken Australian town have rejected a plan to drink water recycled from sewage, striking a blow to conservationists who want the scheme to be rolled out across the country. Toowoomba in the state of Queensland has faced water restrictions for a decade and is one of hundreds of small towns suffering from a shortage of rainfall.

FARM NEWS

+ Chinese GM Cotton Farmers Are Losing Money

Ithaca, N.Y. (UPI) Jul 26, 2006
U.S. scientists say Chinese farmers, among the world's first to plant genetically modified cotton, are being besieged by secondary pests. The crop is known as Bt cotton -- shorthand for the Bacillus thuringiensis gene inserted into the seeds to produce toxins that prevent the most common cotton pest -- leaf-eating bollworms.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Shanghai Builds Underground Bunker To House 200,000 People

Shanghai (AFP) Jul 31, 2006
Chinese authorities, increasingly concerned about terrorism threats, have completed construction of an underground bunker in Shanghai that can accommodate 200,000 people, state media said Sunday.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ MIT Researchers Watch Animal Brains In Action

Cambridge MA (SPX) Jul 31, 2006
For the first time, scientists have been able to watch neurons within the brain of a living animal change in response to experience. Thanks to a new imaging system, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have gotten an unprecedented look into how genes shape the brain in response to the environment.

TIME AND SPACE

+ Mercury Atomic Clock Keeps Time With Record Accuracy

Gaithersburg, MD (SPX) Jul 18, 2006
An experimental atomic clock based on a single mercury atom is now at least five times more precise than the national standard clock based on a "fountain" of cesium atoms, according to a paper by physicists at the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the July 14 issue of Physical Review Letters.

+ British Physics Labs To Merge

MOON DAILY

+ NASA Chooses LM For LRO Launch Services

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 31, 2006
NASA announced Friday it is awarding a $136.2-million launch-services contract for its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission to Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services. The contract cost includes spacecraft processing and associated mission integration services such as telemetry support and mission-unique items.

+ Crash Landing On The Moon

MARSDAILY

+ Spirit Endures Record Cold On Mars

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 31, 2006
Spirit remains healthy and continues to make progress on computer upgrades and scientific research, despite winter temperatures colder than any yet experienced during the rover's two and a half years on Mars.

STELLAR CHEMISTRY

+ Black Hole Spills Kaleidoscope Of Color

Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 28, 2006
Shoes may not come in every color, but space objects do. All objects in space, everything from dust to distant galaxies, give off a rainbow of light -- including light our eyes can't see. That's where NASA's Great Observatories come in. Together, they help astronomers see all the shades of the cosmos.

+ Island Universes with a Twist

NUKEWARS

+ Pakistan Says New Nuclear Reactor Safe In Our Hands

Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Jul 31, 2006
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri said a powerful new nuclear reactor under construction was "safe in our hands" and would not spark an arms race with rival India. The United States has urged Islamabad, its close ally in the "war on terror", not to use the reactor at the Khushab nuclear complex to bolster its atomic weapons capability.

+ The Viability Of The Russian ICBM Stockpile
+ US Ready To Isolate North Korea Over Nuclear Weapons
+ Iran Hangs On Mideast Outcome

RAY GUNS

+ Defending Civil Aicrcaft From Hand-Held Missiles

Washington (UPI) Jul 28, 2006
Nearly five years after Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. civilian airliners remain vulnerable to being shot down by hand-held missiles while landing or taking off. International terrorists are well aware of the possibility. In 2002, al-Qaida terrorists tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner at Nairobi International Airport but they failed.

IRAQ WARS

+ Casualties In Iraq Climb Again

Washington (UPI) Jul 28, 2006
The escalating violence against civilians in Iraq this week did not prevent insurgents from inflicting casualties on U.S. forces at greater rate.

WAR REPORT

+ Outrage As Children Among 52 Killed In Qana Strike

Qana, Lebanon (SPX) Jul 30, 2006
Fifty-two people were killed, many of them sleeping children, when Israeli warplanes blitzed the Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday, triggering global outrage and warnings of retribution for a "war crime" as a truce appeared more remote than ever.

SUPERPOWERS

+ Is China A Military Threat To The United States

Washington (UPI) Jul 28, 2006
In the 1980s, when I was on the staff of Democratic Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado, I traveled regularly to Maxwell Air Force Base to give the slide-show briefing of the Congressional Military Reform Caucus to Squadron Officers' School. After one such session, a U.S. Air Force captain, an intelligence officer, came up to me and asked, "Does military reform mean we can stop inflating the threat?"

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CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ Leading Scientists Urge Britain To Bury Radioactive Waste

London (AFP) July 31, 2006
Britain's leading scientists on Monday urged authorities to move quickly to bury radioactive waste deep underground rather than wait to clear up all doubts about such a disposal. The Royal Society, Britain's national academy of science, said scientists need to learn much more about how best to dispose of radioactive waste but that such a need should not be "used as an excuse" to delay action.

ENERGY TECH

+ British Retail Chain Currys To Sell Solar Power Panels

London (AFP) July 31, 2006
Electrical goods retailer Currys announced on Monday that it would begin selling solar power panels to allow British households to cut their soaring domestic fuel bills.

+ Britain And California To Cooperate On Clean Energy
+ Strong And Light Building Material Invented

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Envisat Images A cloudless UK

Paris, France (ESA) Aug 01, 2006
This rare cloud-free image of the UK was acquired during a heat wave on 18 July with the Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) sensor onboard ESA's Envisat satellite. According to weather experts, the absence of clouds, which have the potential to block the sun's heat energy from reaching the Earth's surface, contributed to the sweltering temperatures.

+ NASA Selects Space Weather Mission Teams

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Environment Impact Study Continues At Russian Rocket Crash Site

Moscow (RIA Novosti) July 30, 2006
Analysis of the environmental situation at a site in Kazakhstan where a Russian carrier rocket crashed Thursday morning continues while the final results will be announced Monday, the space agency said.

+ Pipeline Leak In West Russia Could Poses Serious Threat

FARM NEWS

+ Strong Indian Monsoon Brings Misery But Hopes Of Rich Crops

New Delhi (AFP) July 31, 2006
Indian officials on Monday predicted that bountiful monsoon rains would yield bumper crops, even as downpours tormented thousands and flooded large swathes of the country's two wealthiest states. The western state of Maharashtra evacuated 65,000 flood-hit people from 35 villages in the southern district of Sangli, the United News of India reported.

SINO DAILY

+ China To Modernize Military And Reunify Taiwan Says Defense Minister

Beijing (AFP) July 31, 2006
China will be a force for global peace but it must arm its military with the latest in high-tech weapons and ensure that Taiwan never splits from the mainland, the defence minister said Monday. Minister Cao Gangchuan said modernization remained the armed forces' priority, the China News Service reported.

+ Thermometer Factory Pollutes Farming Town In China

FARM NEWS

+ Creative Debugging

Washington (UPI) Jul 31, 2006
Pregnant women can avoid potentially harmful exposure to pesticides by adopting creative methods for killing cockroaches, according to a recent study.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Satellite To Help Predict Earthquakes

Beijing (Xinhua) July 28, 2006
The launch of an earthquake-monitoring satellite is a key next step to help predict tremors using space technology, a senior space official said yesterday.

+ Chertoff Loses Clout With Senate

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Seeing The Serpent

Davis CA (SPX) Aug 01, 2006
The ability to spot venomous snakes may have played a major role in the evolution of monkeys, apes and humans, according to a new hypothesis by Lynne Isbell, professor of anthropology at UC Davis. The work is published in the July issue of the Journal of Human Evolution.

+ Martian Surface Probably Cannot Support Life
+ Arkansas Planetary Science Center To Study Martian Water Chemistry
THE STANS

+ CIA Altaic Languages Program Actively Recruiting In Mid West

Washington (UPI) Jul 31, 2006
In an effort to broaden its pool of potential recruits the Central Intelligence Agency has been giving presentations on college campuses. The Indiana Daily Student reported Monday that CIA agents identified only as "Henry," "Jamal," "Greg" and "Joe" gave a presentation last week before interested students at the Indiana University Career Development Center.

WAR REPORT

+ The Root Cause Of War In The Middle East

Washington (UPI) Jul 31, 2006
For the past three weeks, President George W. Bush has been telling the country and the world that a cease-fire to halt the systematic destruction of Lebanon would be useless unless the root cause of the conflict was first addressed.

+ The US Wants To Crack Down On Iraqi Death Squads
+ The Failure Of Europe In The Middle East
+ Searching For Similarities In Lebanon And Iraq
+ Middle East Spinning Out Of Control

NUKEWARS

+ Russian General Slams BMD-1

Moscow (UPI) Jul 31, 2006
General of the Army Yury Baluyevsky, Russia's chief of staff, has written an article entitled "U.S. NMD: What Next?" It was published by the Russian national defense weekly Voenno-Promyshlenny Kuryer 10 days after the G8 summit in St. Petersburg. Leaders as senior as the chief of staff, who is also deputy defense minister, seldom write articles for the Russian press.

+ US To Tighten Noose On North Korean Missile Technology
+ US Mulls Sanctions After North Korean Missile Test

SPACE TRAVEL

+ Americas Space Conference Ends With Call For Co-Op

Quito, China (Xinhua) July 28, 2006
The fifth Americas Space Conference ended here on Friday with participants calling for the cooperation and the peaceful use of space technology.

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CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ Nuclear Plant Faced Possible Meltdown In Sweden

Forsmark, Sweden (UPI) Aug 01, 2006
Last week's shutdown of the Forsmark nuclear power plant in Sweden, north of Stockholm, reportedly could have resulted in a meltdown. The emergency -- called by some the most dangerous international nuclear incident since the destruction of the Russian Chernobyl plant 20 year ago -- occurred when two of four generators shut down, officials said.

ABOUT US

+ Human Tampering Threatens Planet's Life-Sustaining Surface

Newark DE (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
In a report released today, scientists call for a new systematic study of the Earth's "critical zone"--the life-sustaining outermost surface of the planet, from the vegetation canopy to groundwater and everything in between.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ At An Underwater Volcano, Evidence Of Man's Environmental Impact

Gainseville FL (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
Scientists studying hydrothermal vents, those underwater geysers that are home to bizarre geological structures and unique marine species, have discovered something all too familiar: pollution.

WEATHER REPORT

+ UCSD's Supercomputers Cast Light On Cloudy Puzzle of Global Weather

San Diego CA (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
Record heat waves, exceptionally powerful hurricanes, destructive tsunamis, and melting icecaps have many discussing the weather, but can anybody do anything about it?

DARWIN TODAY

+ Evidence Of Rapid Evolution Is Found At The Tips Of Chromosomes

New York NY (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
In terms of their telomeres, mice are more complicated than humans. That's the finding from a recent Rockefeller University study, which shows that mice have two proteins working together to do the job of a single protein in human cells.

+ Apes - Not Monkeys - Ace IQ Tests
+ Ocean Microbe Census Discovers Diverse World of Rare Bacteria
+ Animal Groups Zero In On Pharma

EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Google Earth Impacts Science

Bonn, Germany (UPI) Aug 01, 2006
The world's scientists are increasingly using Google Earth's digital globe, which has also attracted millions of non-scientists around the world.

TECTONICS

+ CSIRO Reveals How Continents Can Break Apart

Perth, Australia (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
Continents drift on the surface of the Earth in response to a recycling of oceanic plates, with new plates formed at rifts which are mostly located as sea-floor spreading centres in the middle of oceans. However, occasionally, the forces that cause the spreading of oceans can also break a continent apart to form a new ocean.

ROBO NEWS

+ Underwater Robots Work Together Without Human Input

Arlington VA (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
This August in Monterey Bay, Calif., an entire fleet of undersea robots will for the first time work together without the aid of humans to make detailed and efficient observations of the ocean.

WATER WORLD

+ New Radar Technique Locates Storm-Fueling Moisture

Boulder CO (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
People planning ball games, picnics, and other outdoor events may soon have more precise short-term forecasts of rainfall, thanks to an observing strategy now being tested by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). An NCAR field project this summer is, for the first time, using multiple Doppler weather radars to track water vapor in the lower atmosphere.

WOOD PILE

+ Debate Continues On Post-Wildfire Logging, Forest Regeneration

Corvallis OR (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
In separate comments to be published Friday in the journal Science, two groups of researchers from Oregon State University and the USDA Forest Service will exchange perspectives on the issue of post-wildfire salvage logging, forest regeneration and fire risk that were the source of considerable controversy earlier this year.

MARSDAILY

+ Cleaning Event Boosts Power On Opportunity

Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
With only eight Martian days to go before Opportunity joins its twin Spirit in 900-sol territory, the rover has spent its last five sols at a target called Joseph McCoy.

SATURN DAILY

+ A Titanic Methane Cycle Drives Distant World

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
The detailed exploration of Titan with space missions began a couple of years ago and the presence of bright polar clouds and dry riverbeds on this satellite of Saturn has intrigued astronomers ever since.

STELLAR CHEMISTRY

+ Cosmological Cosmic Conundrum

Santa Cruz CA (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
U.S. astronomers say a survey of galaxies observed along the sight lines to quasars and gamma-ray bursts creates a cosmic conundrum -- odd galaxy distribution. The survey revealed a puzzling inconsistency: Galaxies appear to be four times more common in the direction of gamma-ray bursts than in the direction of quasars.

+ NASA Selects ADEPT Space Mission To Probe Dark Matter

TIME AND SPACE

+ NASA Conducts Census Of Nearby Hidden Black Holes

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 02, 2006
NASA scientists on a quest to find hidden black holes in the local universe have found surprisingly few, the agency announced Wednesday. The observation implies that if these hidden black holes exist - and most scientists are convinced they do - they must be from the more distant, earlier universe, a concept that has interesting implications for galaxy evolution.

TERROR WARS

+ Bill Reflects Intel Concerns

Washington (UPI) Aug 01, 2006
A bipartisan bill that would require the House intelligence panel to share oversight with other congressional committees is just the most visible sign of a growing unease on Capitol Hill about the way the secret aspects of the U.S. war on terror are monitored by Congress.

WAR REPORT

+ Israeli Prime Minister Says No Cease-Fire

Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) Aug 01, 2006
Israel reduced the number of air attacks in Lebanon Monday to allow tens of thousands of Lebanese to leave southern battle zones in the south for safer havens, but Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asserted a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah is not around the corner.

+ Israel In Race To Complete Task
+ The Missing Link In The Levant
+ Insights Into What Is Hezbollah

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SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Up To 10,000 Dead Or Missing In North Korea Flooding

Seoul (AFP) Aug 02, 2006
Up to 10,000 North Koreans were believed dead or missing in what Pyongyang's official media is describing as the worst flooding in a century, an independent South Korean humanitarian group said Wednesday. "About 4,000 people are now listed as missing, and we expect the final toll of dead and missing to reach 10,000," said the independent aid group Good Friends.

+ Oil prices surge on US hurricane fears

WEATHER REPORT

+ New York Declares Emergency As Heat Wave Bakes East Coast

New York (AFP) Aug 02, 2006
A heat wave that claimed more than 130 lives in California reached the US east coast Tuesday, settling over the US capital and forcing New York City to declare a state of emergency for the first time. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed an order for city agencies "to take whatever steps necessary to protect the well-being and safety of city residents in the face of excessive heat" as the city baked under the sun.

WHITE OUT

+ Rare Snowfall Across South Africa

Johannesburg (AFP) Aug 02, 2006
Snow fell on South Africa's biggest city Johannesburg for the first time in 25 years as icy temperatures gripped vast swathes of the country on Wednesday, the weather office said.

TECTONICS

+ China Warns Of Earthquake Threat As Country Races To Build Skyscrapers

Beijing (AFP) Aug 02, 2006
A senior Chinese official has warned architects and builders of the risk of earthquakes as they continue racing to erect ever-higher skyscrapers, according to a government website Wednesday. In a speech at a national meeting of construction experts last month, Deputy Minister of Construction Huang Wei said many steel or steel-reinforced concrete structures were not designed to withstand earthquakes.

+ Japan Starts Providing Quake Early-Alert Service

FARM NEWS

+ GM Cornfields Under Attack

Washington DC (UPI) 02, 2006
A headline you are unlikely to read in the United States has been appearing in various versions in the newspapers of southern France this past couple of days. "Mowers attack harvest" is the general theme. The mowers, however, are not mechanical but human. And the crops they are attacking are genetically modified.

FLORA AND FAUNA

+ Thieves Promote Stable Coexistence Among Desert Rodents

Chicago IL (SPX) Aug 03, 2006
The warm deserts of North America are hopping with multiple species of kangaroo rats and pocket mice despite limited seed resources. Why doesn't one species win out in the rat race?

CLIMATE SCIENCE

+ Trees Appear To Respond More Slowly To Climate Change

Champaign IL (SPX) Aug 03, 2006
Genetic analysis of living spruce trees provides strong evidence for the presence of a tree refuge in Alaska during the height of the last glacial period (17,000 to 25,000 years ago), and suggests that trees cannot migrate in response to climate change as quickly as some scientists thought.

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ UN calls for action after Lebanese slick spreads to Syria

Nairobi, Kenya (AFP) Aug 02, 2006
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on Wednesday called for immediate action after thousands of tonnes of fuel from a bombed Lebanese power plant spread to the Syrian coastline, threatening to unleash an environmental catastrophe.

ENERGY TECH

+ Developing Alternatives to Fossil Fuels

Richmond VA (SPX) Aug 03, 2006
Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have developed a new storage system to hold large quantities of hydrogen fuel that may one day power cars in a more cost-effective and consumer-friendly way. Newswise — Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have developed a new storage system to hold large quantities of hydrogen fuel that may one day power cars in a more cost-effective and consumer-friendly way.

+ Solo Living Is A Potential Environmental Time Bomb

EPIDEMICS

+ Human Behavior Changes The Number Of Strains Of Infectious Diseases

Warwick, UK (SPX) Jul 27, 2006
Simple models predict that only one strain of an infectious disease can exist at one time, but observation suggests otherwise. In a study in the August issue of The American Naturalist, Ken Eames and Matt Keeling (University of Warwick) use a mathematical model to help explain multiple strains, showing that the way humans interact is all-important.

SHUTTLE NEWS

+ Atlantis Moved To Launch Pad

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Aug 03, 2006
After two weather-related delays, NASA technicians moved space shuttle Atlantis 4.2 miles early Wednesday morning from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center. Riding atop the mobile launch platform and carried by the huge crawler transporter was the orbiter attached to its external tank, flanked by two solid rocket boosters.

DEEP IMPACT

+ TPS Calls For Proposals To Save The World

Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 03, 2006
Attention Astronomers: Here's Your Chance to Save the World. The Planetary Society Calls for New Gene Shoemaker Near Earth Object Grant Proposals "Cataclysmic impacts are a fact of life in our solar system," said Bruce Betts, the society's director of projects. "Asteroids or comets have hit the Earth many times in our past, but now we have the ability to find and track near-Earth objects to determine which - if any - pose a threat."

SPACEDAILY

+ ESA Releases Huygens Scientific Archive Data Set

Paris, France (SPX) Aug 03, 2006
Since ESA's Huygens probe successfully descended through the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, and safely landed on its surface on Jan. 14, 2005, the data it collected have revealed an extraordinary new world.

+ NASA Selects Radiation Belt Mission Candidate For Further Study
+ Japan Plans Moon Base By 2030
+ Dawn Log - Keeping Busy
+ Brown Dwarf Survives Jonah Episode With Red Giant

SPACEWAR

+ Chinese Military Looks To Outer Space

Beijing, China (AFP) Aug 03, 2006
Outer space is emerging as a possible theater of operations for China's armed forces, an analysis published in the mass-circulation People's Daily said Wednesday.

WAR REPORT

+ Israel Steps Up Fire

Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) Aug 02, 2006
Fighting across the Israeli-Lebanese border escalated with a vengeance by mid-week, as more soldiers battled Hezbollah and the Lebanese militiamen set a new record in the number and depth of their rocket attacks on Israel. The Israel air force, which had restricted its strikes for 48 hours after Sunday's bombing of a house in Qana, resumed full-scale operations and launched with some 400 sorties, according to its Brig. Gen. Yohanan Locker.

+ Europe Turns Up Heat On Israel And US
+ Blair Flies Back To A Gathering British Storm Against His Mideast Stance
+ The US-Iran Proxy War Rages With Increasing Arab Invective
+ The Psychic Costs Of Warfare

SUPERPOWERS

+ Concerned By NKorea And China, Japan Calls For Stronger US Alliance

Tokyo (AFP) Aug 01, 2006
Japan's Defense Agency, voicing "grave concern" about North Korea's recent missile tests, called Tuesday for the quick implementation of a controversial plan to realign US military bases. In an annual white paper meant to provide guidelines to policymakers, the Defense Agency also renewed warnings over neighboring China's mushrooming military spending.

KOREAN NUKES

+ North Korea Says South's Launching Of Spy Satellite A Provocation

Seoul (AFP) Aug 01, 2006
Communist North Korea accused South Korea on Tuesday of launching a satellite to spy on it and called the move a "grave provocative act." "This is a grave provocative act of straining the regional situation," a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland was quoted as saying by the North's official Korea Central News Agency.

Terra Daily Express - Aug 04,2006
www.terradaily.com
24/7 Coverage Of Earth in the 21st Century
DISASTER MANAGEMENT

+ Evacuations And Transport Havoc As Typhoon Heads For China

Beijing (AFP) Aug 03, 2006
Typhoon Prapiroon raced toward south China on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people and causing transport chaos across the region. The typhoon, upgraded from a tropical storm on Wednesday after killing six people in the Philippines, was headed towards Guangdong province after skirting Hong Kong and Macau.

+ South Korean Emergency Aid Heads For North
+ New System Provides Power, Water, Refrigeration From One Source
+ SDSC Backs Firefighters in Recent "Horse" Wildfires
+ Munich Re Fighting Fit For Hurricane Season After Good First Half

CIVIL NUCLEAR

+ US Says New Pakistani Nuclear Reactor Not Very Powerful

Washington (AFP) Aug 03, 2006
The nuclear reactor being built in Pakistan is much smaller than a private arms control group has claimed and could simply be a replacement for the Khushab reactor that makes two nuclear warheads a year, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
EARTH OBSERVATION

+ Satellite Data Reveal Gravity Change From Sumatran Earthquake

Columbus OH (SPX) Aug 04, 2006
For the first time, scientists have been able to use satellite data to detect the changes in Earth's surface caused by a massive earthquake.

FARM NEWS

+ Brownfields May Turn Green With Help From Michigan State Research

East Lansing MI (SPX) Aug 04, 2006
Growing crops for biofuels summons images of fuel alternatives springing from the rural heartland. But a Michigan State University partnership with DaimlerChrysler is looking at turning industrial brownfields green.

ENERGY TECH

+ Crude Prices Slip As Hurricane Fears Fade

London (AFP) Aug 03, 2006
World oil prices fell on Thursday as concerns eased about a tropical storm off the US Gulf coast, where many American oil rigs and platforms are based, and hopes increased for an end to fighting between Israel and Lebanon, analysts said. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, dropped 91 cents to 74.90 dollars per barrel in pit trading.

+ Challenging Conventional Wisdom About High-Temp Superconductivity

FROTH AND BUBBLE

+ Landslides Threaten Planned Pipeline In Russia

Moscow (AFP) Aug 03, 2006
Russia on Thursday said it wanted to halt construction of an oil and gas pipeline on Sakhalin Island in the far east of the country because of the risk of landslide damage. The ministry has proposed that the project, to be run by Anglo-Dutch energy group Royal Dutch Shell, be stopped while environmental experts assess surrounding areas at risk from landslides.

SHAKE AND BLOW

+ Indonesian Volcano Decreases Activity But Red Alert Remains

Jakarta (AFP) Aug 03, 2006
Volcanic activity at Indonesia's simmering Mount Karangetang is decreasing but oozing lava still poses a threat for thousands of villagers living around its slopes, officials said Thursday. The volcano, on North Sulawesi's Siau island some 2,300 kilometres (1,400 miles) northeast of Jakarta, was put on its top alert last month, meaning an imminent eruption is feared.

+ Tropical Storm Chris Weakens North Of Puerto Rico

MOON DAILY

+ Linking The Earth To The Moon

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Aug 04, 2006
The moon is Earth's closest companion in the solar system, a constant presence that, throughout history, has provided illumination on dark nights. The moon not only tugs the ocean tides, but, as proven by the countless poems that extol its luminescent beauty, the moon tugs at our hearts as well. The Apollo program turned the distant moon into the very edge of the human frontier, and if current plans hold, the moon will be our first outpost in future space exploration.

MARSDAILY

+ Scientists Suggest Solution To 30-Year-Old Martian Mystery

Greenbelt, MD (SPX) Aug 04, 2006
Electricity generated in dust storms on Mars may produce reactive chemicals that build up in the Martian soil, according to NASA-funded research. The chemicals, like hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), may have caused the contradictory results when NASA's Viking landers tested the Martian soil for signs of life, according to the researchers.

EXO WORLDS

+ Astronomers Discover Twin Planemos

La Silla, Chile (SPX) Aug 04, 2006
The cast of exoplanets has an extraordinary new member. Using the European Southern Observatory's telescopes, astronomers have discovered an approximately seven-Jupiter-mass companion to an object only twice as hefty.

SPACE ART

+ Granicus Valles And Tinjar Valles

Darmstadt, Germany (SPX) Aug 04, 2006
This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera aboard ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows regions of Granicus Valles and Tinjar Valles that might have been formed partly through the action of subsurface water, due to a process known as sapping.

+ Hubble Sees Cosmic Fireworks Display E0102 In The Small Magellanic Cloud

STELLAR CHEMISTRY

+ NASA Funds Dark Energy Space Telescope Development

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 04, 2006
NASA has selected a team led by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center develop a concept for a space mission to characterize the mysterious dark energy that permeates the universe and is causing its expansion to accelerate.

+ Dawn Conducting The Comprehensive Performance Tests
NUKEWARS

+ New North Korean Missile Bases Target US Military In Japan

Seoul (AFP) Aug 03, 2006
North Korea has been building new underground missile bases along its east coast, targeting Japan and US military facilities in Japan, a report said Thursday. Some 200 Rodong missiles with a range of up to 2,200 kilometers (1,360 miles) and 50 SSN-6 missiles with ranges of 2,500 to 4,000 kilometers are at the new bases, the state-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) said in the report carried by Yonhap news agency.

+ US Aerospace Defense Combat Operations Center To Be mothballed

WAR REPORT

+ Israel Strikes Beirut Suburbs As It Pushes Toward Strategic Hills

Beirut (AFP) Aug 03, 2006
Israeli forces unleashed fresh air strikes on southern parts of Beirut on Thursday while ground troops battled to seize strategic border hills in southern Lebanon from Hezbollah militants.

+ Nasrallah Threatens To Hit Tel Aviv If Beirut Struck
+ The Hezbollah Threat At The Border
+ Israel And The Middle East
+ Blair Rejects Israel Bias

SUPERPOWERS

+ US Department Of Defense In Cash Crunch

Washington (UPI) Aug 03, 2006
The Senate has completed work on the 2007 defense appropriations bill, putting $404 billion into the Pentagon budget-- $9 billion less than the White House asked for -- and $63 billion into a bridge fund to cover the costs of the wars until the Bush administration asks for a supplemental, expected next February.