April 29, 2005

• The next launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery
  Space Shuttle Discovery
  Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
  
  , STS-114
  STS-114
  -Original crew:This mission was to carry the Expedition 7 crew to the ISS and bring home the Expedition 6 crew. The original crew was to be:-Mission highlights:...
  
  , is delayed until at least July 13. This is to be the first Space Shuttle launch since the Columbia disaster in February 2003. (BBC) (CNN)

April 28, 2005

• The Deep Impact spacecraft takes the first picture of its target comet
  Comet
  A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when close enough to the Sun, displays a visible coma and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are both due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus of the comet...
  
  , Tempel 1
  9P/Tempel
  Tempel 1 , is a periodic comet discovered by Wilhelm Tempel in 1867. It currently completes an orbit of the Sun every 5.5 years. Tempel 1 was the target of the Deep Impact space mission, which photographed a deliberate high-speed impact upon the comet in 2005...
  
  . The mission is on schedule to create an impact crater
  Impact crater
  In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
  
   on July 4, 2005. (BBC)

April 27, 2005

• NASA
  NASA
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
  
   invests $11 million over four years with Rice University
  Rice University
  William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
  
   to develop an experimental power cable (quantum wire
  Quantum wire
  In condensed matter physics, a quantum wire is an electrically conducting wire, in which quantum effects are affecting transport properties. Due to the quantum confinement of conduction electrons in the transverse direction of the wire, their transverse energy is quantized into a series of...
  
  ) with 10 times better conductivity than copper
  Copper
  Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
  
   at one-sixth the weight. It would be made with carbon nanotubes and would help reduce the weight of the next generation shuttle
  Space Shuttle program
  NASA's Space Shuttle program, officially called Space Transportation System , was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011...
  
  ; but can have wide ranging applications. (Wired)
• The new Airbus A380
  Airbus A380
  The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine jet airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS. It is the largest passenger airliner in the world. Due to its size, many airports had to modify and improve facilities to accommodate it...
  
   lifts off in Toulouse
  Toulouse
  Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
  
   to its maiden flight
  Maiden flight
  The maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. This is similar to a ship's maiden voyage....
  
  . The A380 replaces Boeing
  Boeing
  The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
  
  's Jumbo Jet
  Boeing 747
  The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
  
   (Boeing 747) as largest passenger plane. (BBC)

April 25, 2005

• By applying a small charge to bacteria in a hydrogen biomass generator, environmental engineers at Penn State have increased its output fourfold. Producing energy while cleaning water could lead to a significant reduction in the cost of treating wastewater. (Penn State Live)

April 24, 2005

• Soyuz TMA-5
  Soyuz TMA-5
  Soyuz TMA-5 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station launched by a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle.-Crew:TMA 5 ISS 10 Crew patches were designed by Seán O'Mara for USSR Airspace.-Docking with ISS:...
  
  : A Russian Soyuz spacecraft
  Soyuz spacecraft
  Soyuz , Union) is a series of spacecraft initially designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau in the 1960s, and still in service today...
  
   lands in Kazakhstan
  Kazakhstan
  Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
  
  , bringing three astronaut
  Astronaut
  An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
  
  s, Russian
  Russians
  The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
  
   Salizhan Sharipov
  Salizhan Sharipov
  Salizhan Shakirovich Sharipov is a Kyrgyz cosmonaut. Sharipov is a co-author and investigator for the Advanced Diagnostic Ultrasound in Microgravity project. He has been to space twice and has conducted two spacewalks...
  
  , Chinese American
  Chinese American
  Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
  
   Leroy Chiao
  Leroy Chiao
  Dr. Leroy Chiao , is an American engineer, former NASA astronaut, entrepreneur, motivational speaker and engineering consultant. Chiao flew on three shuttle flights, and was the commander of Expedition 10, where he lived on board the International Space Station from October 13, 2004 to April 24,...
  
   and Italian Roberto Vittori
  Roberto Vittori
  Roberto Vittori is an Italian air force officer and an ESA astronaut. After graduating from the Italian Air Force Academy in 1989, Vittori flew in the Italian Air Force. He then trained as a test pilot in the United States....
  
  , safely back to Earth from the International Space Station
  International Space Station
  The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
  
  . (Reuters)

April 21, 2005

• Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
  Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
  The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is one of the world’s leading cancer research institutes...
  
   have induced mice to hibernate using hydrogen sulfide
  Hydrogen sulfide
  Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
  
  . This could have wide ranging applications from medicine to space travel if successfully applied to humans. (NewScientist)

April 19, 2005

• The American Dietetic Association
  American Dietetic Association
  The American Dietetic Association is the United States' largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, with nearly 72,000 members. The American Dietetic Association is officially changing its name to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The announcement was made Saturday, September...
  
   and the USDA
  United States Department of Agriculture
  The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
  
   release a new food guide pyramid
  Food guide pyramid
  A food guide pyramid is a triangular or pyramid-shaped nutrition guide divided into sections to show the recommended intake for each food group. The first food pyramid was published in Sweden in 1974. The most widely known food pyramid was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture...
  
  , called MyPyramid
  MyPyramid
  MyPyramid, released by the United States Department of Agriculture on April 19, 2005, is an update on the American food guide pyramid that was used until June 2, 2011, when the USDA's MyPlate replaced it. The icon stresses activity and moderation along with a proper mix of food groups in one's diet...
  
  . The aim of the new dietary guidelines, is to guide people to make healthier choices about what they are eating. (EurekAlert!)

April 18, 2005

• Physicists at Brookhaven National Laboratory
  Brookhaven National Laboratory
  Brookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
  
   announce that they have created a long sought after state of matter
  Matter
  Matter is a general term for the substance of which all physical objects consist. Typically, matter includes atoms and other particles which have mass. A common way of defining matter is as anything that has mass and occupies volume...
  
   by smashing atom
  Atom
  The atom is a basic unit of matter that consists of a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged electrons. The atomic nucleus contains a mix of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons...
  
  s in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
  Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider
  The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is one of two existing heavy-ion colliders, and the only spin-polarized proton collider in the world. It is located at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York and operated by an international team of researchers...
  
  . Surprisingly, this new state of matter behaves like a hot and dense liquid made up of basic atomic particles such as quark
  Quark
  A quark is an elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. Due to a phenomenon known as color confinement, quarks are never directly...
  
  s and gluon
  Gluon
  Gluons are elementary particles which act as the exchange particles for the color force between quarks, analogous to the exchange of photons in the electromagnetic force between two charged particles....
  
  s, and not like a gas
  Gas
  Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
  
   as expected. Researchers claim that all matter in the universe
  Universe
  The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
  
   for a fraction of a second after the Big Bang
  Big Bang
  The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...
  
   was in the form of this liquid. (BNL News)

April 16, 2005

• The NASA
  NASA
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
  
   autonomous DART
  DART (spacecraft)
  DART, or Demonstration for Autonomous Rendezvous Technology, is a NASA sponsored project. The goal was to develop and demonstrate an automated navigation and rendezvous capability in a NASA spacecraft. Currently, only the Russian Space Agency, JAXA and ESA have autonomous space craft navigation...
  
  spacecraft failed to complete its mission because of lack of fuel and "retires" itself. (BBC)

April 15, 2005

• Soyuz TMA-6
  Soyuz TMA-6
  Soyuz TMA-6 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station launched by a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle.-Crew:-Docking with ISS:*Docked to ISS: April 17, 2005, 02:20 UTC...
  
   lifts off at dawn from Baikonur Cosmodrome
  Baikonur Cosmodrome
  The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
  
   in Kazakhstan
  Kazakhstan
  Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
  
   carrying the Expedition 11
  Expedition 11
  Expedition 11 was the 11th expedition to the International Space Station, using the Soyuz TMA-6, which stayed during the expedition for emergency evacuation....
  
   crew to the International Space Station
  International Space Station
  The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
  
  . (Fox News) (Yahoo! News)
• A Saab Gripen
  JAS 39 Gripen
  The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is a lightweight single-engine multirole fighter manufactured by the Swedish aerospace company Saab. It was designed to replace the Saab 35 Draken and 37 Viggen in the Swedish Air Force...
  
   fighter aircraft has been undertaking an air-to-air refueling test campaign with a Boeing 707
  Boeing 707
  The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
  
   tanker at Saab's facility in Linköping
  Linköping
  Linköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
  
  , Sweden. The campaign had the objective of verifying the Gripen's air-to-air refueling capabilities with a NATO standard compatible tanker. (PrimeZone)
• A fossilised dinosaur
  Dinosaur
  Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
  
   pelvis
  Pelvis
  In human anatomy, the pelvis is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the lower limbs .The pelvis includes several structures:...
  
  , most likely belonging to a theropod, containing eggs has been found in Jiangxi Province, China. The dinosaurs reproductive system shares similarities with both reptile
  Reptile
  Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
  
  s and modern birds. (BBC)

April 14, 2005

• Researchers have identified possibly the oldest stars in the universe. The stars named HE1327-2326
  HE1327-2326
  HE1327-2326, discovered in 2005 by Anna Frebel and collaborators, is the star with the lowest known iron abundance to date. The star is a member of Population II, with an iron to hydrogen ratio , or metallicity, of -5.6. This number indicates that its iron content is 300,000 times less than that of...
  
   and HE0107-5240
  HE0107-5240
  |-! style="background-color: #FFFFC0;" colspan="2" | Astrometry|- style="vertical-align: top;"| Apparent magnitude | 15.86|- style="vertical-align: top;"| Distance | 36.000 Ly...
  
   have a very primitive composition, containing very low amount of heavy elements. (ABC) (BBC)
• Microsoft
  Microsoft
  Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
  
   launches a Nupedia
  Nupedia
  Nupedia was an English-language Web-based encyclopedia whose articles were written by experts and licensed as free content. It was founded by Jimmy Wales and underwritten by Bomis, with Larry Sanger as editor-in-chief...
  
  -like version of its Encarta encyclopedia where anonymous users can submit their new or edited entries to be approved by a paid staff of editors. Server
  Server (computing)
  In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
  
   problems have so far delayed launch until later tonight. (FairfaxDigital) (Business Week)
• Michael D. Griffin
  Michael D. Griffin
  Michael Douglas Griffin is an American physicist and aerospace engineer. From April 13, 2005 to January 20, 2009 he served as Administrator of NASA, the space agency of the United States...
  
   takes the helm as NASA
  NASA
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
  
   administrator after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate the day before. (SpaceflightNow)

April 13, 2005

• The College of American Pathologists
  College of American Pathologists
  The College of American Pathologists , is a medical society serving more than 17,000 physician members and the laboratory community throughout the world....
  
   asks laboratories worldwide to destroy a flu sample they sent in their testing kits. Canadian
  Canada
  Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
  
   National Microbial Laboratory identified it as a strain of Asian flu
  Asian flu
  Asian Flu may refer to:* The Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, or* Asian Flu, the H2N2 virus...
  
   virus that killed millions in 1957. People born after 1968 would have no antibodies
  Antibody
  An antibody, also known as an immunoglobulin, is a large Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique part of the foreign target, termed an antigen...
  
   to resist it. WHO
  World Health Organization
  The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
  
   supports the plea. (CNN) (Yahoo!)
• National Geographic Society
  National Geographic Society
  The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
  
   and IBM
  IBM
  International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
  
   support a project to take DNA
  DNA
  Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
  
   samples from various people all over the world to track migration of Homo sapiens from Africa (Reuters) (New York Times)

April 12, 2005

• MareNostrum
  MareNostrum
  MareNostrum is a supercomputer in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, the second most powerful in Spain. It was presented by IBM and María Jesús San Segundo, the Spanish Minister of Education and Science...
  
  , Europe's most powerful (and the world's fourth most powerful) supercomputer
  Supercomputer
  A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
  
  , is booted up
  Booting
  In computing, booting is a process that begins when a user turns on a computer system and prepares the computer to perform its normal operations. On modern computers, this typically involves loading and starting an operating system. The boot sequence is the initial set of operations that the...
  
   for the first time in the Barcelona Supercomputing Center
  Barcelona Supercomputing Center
  Barcelona Supercomputing Center , also known by the acronym BSC, is a public research center located in Barcelona, Spain. It hosts MareNostrum, Europe's 25th most powerful supercomputer as of November 2009....
  
  , Spain. (BusinessWeek)
• A German research team have developed a laser
  Laser
  A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
  
   that can detect cancer
  Cancer
  Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
  
  ous cells by measuring the elasticity of biopsied
  Biopsy
  A biopsy is a medical test involving sampling of cells or tissues for examination. It is the medical removal of tissue from a living subject to determine the presence or extent of a disease. The tissue is generally examined under a microscope by a pathologist, and can also be analyzed chemically...
  
   cells. Healthy cells have a cytoskeleton
  Cytoskeleton
  The cytoskeleton is a cellular "scaffolding" or "skeleton" contained within a cell's cytoplasm and is made out of protein. The cytoskeleton is present in all cells; it was once thought to be unique to eukaryotes, but recent research has identified the prokaryotic cytoskeleton...
  
   making them relatively rigid, cancerous cells have a diminished cytoskeleton and are stretchy. (Nature)

April 11, 2005

• A new transistor speed record has been set by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
  
  . The three material layer transistor can operate at 604 GHz, which is three times faster than the fastest silicon-based device. NewScientist
• NASA
  NASA
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
  
   announces the third extension to the Mars Exploration Rover
  Mars Exploration Rover
  NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars...
  
   program and will support the rovers Spirit
  Spirit rover
  Spirit, MER-A , is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity , landed on the other side of the planet...
  
  and Opportunity
  Opportunity rover
  Opportunity, MER-B , is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. It is the remaining rover in NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission...
  
  for up to 18 months. (BBC)

April 8, 2005

• Scientists have shown that the malaria
  Malaria
  Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
  
   parasite Plasmodium falciparum
  Plasmodium falciparum
  Plasmodium falciparum is a protozoan parasite, one of the species of Plasmodium that cause malaria in humans. It is transmitted by the female Anopheles mosquito. Malaria caused by this species is the most dangerous form of malaria, with the highest rates of complications and mortality...
  
  hides from the human immune system
  Immune system
  An immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease by identifying and killing pathogens and tumor cells. It detects a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and needs to distinguish them from the organism's own...
  
   by continuously changing the protein
  Protein
  Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
  
   PfEMP1 that it deposits on the surface of infected cells. (BBC)
• Researchers at the Australian research institute, the CSIRO, have created transgenic Arabidopsis
  Arabidopsis thaliana
  Arabidopsis thaliana is a small flowering plant native to Europe, Asia, and northwestern Africa. A spring annual with a relatively short life cycle, arabidopsis is popular as a model organism in plant biology and genetics...
  
  that can synthesise omega-3 fatty acid
  Fatty acid
  In chemistry, especially biochemistry, a fatty acid is a carboxylic acid with a long unbranched aliphatic tail , which is either saturated or unsaturated. Most naturally occurring fatty acids have a chain of an even number of carbon atoms, from 4 to 28. Fatty acids are usually derived from...
  
  s. If this technology was incorporated in genetically modified food
  Genetically modified food
  Genetically modified foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms . Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques...
  
   crops it would have the potential to reduce the demand on world fish
  Fish
  Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
  
   stocks. (ABC)

April 7, 2005

• Sony
  Sony
  , commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
  
   has patented an idea of transmitting data directly to the brain. (PhysOrg)
• The space shuttle
  Space Shuttle
  The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
  
   Discovery is rolled onto its launch platform, in time for a launch in May for the first launch of shuttle since January 2003. A crack was found in the fuel tank's foam insulation, however NASA
  NASA
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
  
   officials say that it will not prevent the mission. (BBC)
• Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder
  University of Colorado at Boulder
  The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
  
   have created a new model of the Earth's early atmosphere
  Earth's atmosphere
  The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...
  
  . The model indicates up to 40 percent of the early atmosphere was hydrogen
  Hydrogen
  Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
  
  , under these high-hydrogen conditions the formation of organic compounds like amino acid
  Amino acid
  Amino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and a side-chain that varies between different amino acids. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen...
  
  s, and ultimately life are more likely. (EurekAlert!)
• The IUCN announced that one in four-of the 625 primate
  Primate
  A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
  
   species and subspecies are at risk of extinction
  Extinction
  In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
  
  . (EurekAlert!)

April 6, 2005

• Computer reconstruction of the 7 million year old fossilised remains of Toumaï (Sahelanthropus tchadensis
  Sahelanthropus tchadensis
  Sahelanthropus tchadensis is an extinct hominid species that is dated to about . Whether it can be regarded as part of the Hominina tree is unclear; there are arguments both supporting and rejecting it...
  
  ), confirm the fossil as the oldest known hominid
  Hominidae
  The Hominidae or include them .), as the term is used here, form a taxonomic family, including four extant genera: chimpanzees , gorillas , humans , and orangutans ....
  
  . (Nature) (BBC)
• Studies in mice hove shown that a low dose of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol
  Tetrahydrocannabinol
  Tetrahydrocannabinol , also known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol , Δ1-THC , or dronabinol, is the main chemical psychoactive substance found in the cannabis plant. It was first isolated in 1964. In pure form, it is a glassy solid when cold, and becomes viscous and sticky if warmed...
  
   (THC), the psychoactive substance in cannabis
  Cannabis
  Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
  
  , can protect blood vessel
  Blood vessel
  The blood vessels are the part of the circulatory system that transports blood throughout the body. There are three major types of blood vessels: the arteries, which carry the blood away from the heart; the capillaries, which enable the actual exchange of water and chemicals between the blood and...
  
  s from the formation of arterial blockages. (Nature)
• The prevalence of nanobacteria is becoming more accepted as evidence mounts for their role in the spread of disease; and perhaps the formation of raindrops in the atmosphere. (EurekAlert)
• Hitachi
  Hitachi, Ltd.
  is a Japanese multinational conglomerate headquartered in Marunouchi 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company is the parent of the Hitachi Group as part of the larger DKB Group companies...
  
   has increased data density on harddrives to 230Gigabit
  Gigabit
  The gigabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix giga is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 109 , and therefore...
  
   per square inch using perpendicular recording. This could lead to 1-inch 20 Gigabyte
  Gigabyte
  The gigabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage. The prefix giga means 109 in the International System of Units , therefore 1 gigabyte is...
  
   and 1 Terabyte
  Terabyte
  The terabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The prefix tera means 1012 in the International System of Units , and therefore 1 terabyte is , or 1 trillion bytes, or 1000 gigabytes. 1 terabyte in binary prefixes is 0.9095 tebibytes, or 931.32 gibibytes...
  
   3.5-inch drives by 2007. (ElectronicNews)

April 5, 2005

• NASA
  NASA
  The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
  
   researchers show that the Earth's northern and southern polar auroras are not mirror images of each other (EurekAlert!)
• Research has shown that polyethoxylated tallow amine
  Polyethoxylated tallow amine
  Polyethoxylated tallow amine is a surfactant that enhances the activity of herbicides. It improves the solubility of many common herbicides in organic solvents, increasing their penetration of the waxy surfaces of plants. It may also interfere with the function of tadpole gills...
  
   (POEA). the surfactant
  Surfactant
  Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, the interfacial tension between two liquids, or that between a liquid and a solid...
  
   used in herbicide
  Herbicide
  Herbicides, also commonly known as weedkillers, are pesticides used to kill unwanted plants. Selective herbicides kill specific targets while leaving the desired crop relatively unharmed. Some of these act by interfering with the growth of the weed and are often synthetic "imitations" of plant...
  
   Roundup, kills tadpoles
  Tadpoles
  Tadpoles are a psychedelic rock band formed in 1990 in New York City by Todd Parker , Michael Kite Audino and Josh Bracken In 1992, Nick Kramer , David Max and Andrew Jackson of the fledgling Manhattan group, Hit, joined the Tadpoles after putting Hit on hiatus.In 1993 Kite and Jackson left the...
  
  . The finding could be a reason for the global decline in frog populations since Roundup is widely used and was believed to have no effect on animals . (Science)

April 4, 2005

• The Vlog
  Vlog
  Video blogging, sometimes shortened to vlogging or vidding or vidblogging is a form of blogging for which the medium is video, and is a form of Web television. Entries often combine embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in one take...
  
   channel -- To kick off product re-branding and positioning efforts, Al Gore
  Al Gore
  Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
  
   and Joel Hyatt
  Joel Hyatt
  Joel Z. Hyatt is a prominent businessman and former attorney and American politician of the Democratic party. He is the founder of Hyatt Legal Services, and was featured in the law firm's television commercials speaking the slogan, "I'm Joel Hyatt and you have my word on it."Hyatt graduated from...
  
   appear at the NCTA
  National Cable & Telecommunications Association
  The National Cable & Telecommunications Association is the principal trade association for the U.S. cable TV industry, representing cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation’s cable households and more than 200 cable program networks, as well as equipment suppliers and providers...
  
   convention and announce a new TV network, "Current
  Current TV
  Current TV, or Current, is a media company led by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt. Comcast owns a ten percent stake of Current's parent company, Current Media LLC....
  
  ." Current will be a national network "created by, for and with an 18-34 year-old audience." Formerly known as INdTV, Current is the same idea but with Google
  Google
  Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
  
   branding. (Yahoo!)

April 1, 2005

• Scientists studying cyanobacteria 'fossil
  Fossil
  Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
  
  s' at Meishan in southern China propose that the mass extinction that occurred 250 million years ago at the Permian-Triassic
  Permian-Triassic extinction event
  The Permian–Triassic extinction event, informally known as the Great Dying, was an extinction event that occurred 252.28 Ma ago, forming the boundary between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods, as well as the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras...
  
  boundary happened in two phases. (BBC)