31 March 2006

• MINOS
  MINOS
  MINOS is a particle physics experiment designed to study the phenomena of neutrino oscillations, first discovered by a Super-Kamiokande experiment in 1998...
  
   (the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search) finds indication for neutrino oscillation
  Neutrino oscillation
  Neutrino oscillation is a quantum mechanical phenomenon predicted by Bruno Pontecorvowhereby a neutrino created with a specific lepton flavor can later be measured to have a different flavor. The probability of measuring a particular flavor for a neutrino varies periodically as it propagates...
  
   in experiments with artificially created neutrinos. The data supports previous measurements on atmospheric neutrinos by Super Kamiokande and SNO
  Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
  The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory is a neutrino observatory located 6,800 feet underground in Vale Inco's Creighton Mine in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The detector was designed to detect solar neutrinos through their interactions with a large tank of heavy water. The detector turned on in May 1999,...
  
  , as well as data from the K2K experiment
  K2K experiment
  The K2K experiment was a neutrino experiment that ran from June 1999 to November 2004. It used muon neutrinos from a well-controlled and well-understood beam to verify the oscillations previously observed by Super-Kamiokande using atmospheric neutrinos...
  
  . (BBC) (PhysOrg.com) (MINOS)
• German
  Germany
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
  
   company Kleinmann GmbH recall their Magic Nano household glass and ceramic tile sealant in an aerosol can after the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) issue a product warning. This is the first health-related recall of an alleged nanotechnology consumer product. (nanotechwire)

March 30 2006

• 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...
  
   and the Russian Federal Space Agency
  Russian Federal Space Agency
  The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located...
  
   launch the thirteenth mission 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...
  
   when Expedition 13
  Expedition 13
  Expedition 13 was the 13th expedition to the International Space Station , and launched at 02:30 UTC on 30 March 2006. The expedition used the Soyuz TMA-8 spacecraft, which stayed at the station for the duration of the expedition for emergency evacuation....
  
   takes off. This mission marks the first time a Brazilian
  Marcos Pontes
  Marco Pontes is a Brazilian Air Force pilot. He became the first Brazilian and the first Lusophone to go into space when he launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-8 on March 30, 2006...
  
   has been in space. (MSNBC)

March 27 2006

• 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...
  
   reverses an earlier decision and reinstates the Dawn
  Dawn Mission
  Dawn is a NASA spacecraft tasked with the exploration and study of the two largest members of the asteroid belt – Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. The spacecraft was constructed with some European cooperation, with partners in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands providing Dawns framing...
  
   mission, intended to visit two asteroid
  Asteroid
  Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
  
  s. (AP/YahooNews)

March 25 2006

• Australia
  Australia
  Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
  
  : A scramjet
  Scramjet
  A scramjet is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow...
  
   jet engine
  Jet engine
  A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
  
   designed to fly at 7 times the sonic speed has been successfully tested. The British-designed HyShot III (on back of a two stage Terrier-Orion rocket) was launched at Woomera
  Woomera, South Australia
  The town, or village, of Woomera is located in the south east corner of the Woomera Prohibited Area ; colloquially known as the Woomera Rocket Range...
  
   up to 314 km height; falling back to Earth, speed may reach Mach
  Mach number
  Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
  
   7.6 (9,000 km/h). It is hoped the engine could reduce flight times between London and Sydney to only two hours. (BBC)

March 24 2006

• The inaugural launch of Falcon 1
  Falcon 1
  The Falcon 1 is a partially reusable launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX, a space transportation company in Hawthorne, California. The two-stage-to-orbit rocket uses LOX/RP-1 for both stages, the first powered by a single Merlin engine and the second powered by a single Kestrel engine...
  
   ends in failure shortly after the rocket engines are started. According to company sources it achieved about one minute of controlled flight before it was destroyed. (SpaceRef.com)(BBC)

March 23 2006

• The Abel Prize
  Abel Prize
  The Abel Prize is an international prize presented annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. The prize is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel . It has often been described as the "mathematician's Nobel prize" and is among the most prestigious...
  
   of 2006 is awarded to Lennart Carleson
  Lennart Carleson
  Lennart Axel Edvard Carleson is a Swedish mathematician, known as a leader in the field of harmonic analysis.-Life:He was a student of Arne Beurling and received his Ph.D. from Uppsala University in 1950...
  
  . (BBC)

March 21 2006

• Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
  
   announce that the aggressive virus
  Virus
  A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
  
   clade
  Clade
  A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
  
   of the H5N1
  H5N1
  Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as "bird flu", A or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species...
  
   bird flu has evolved into two distinct subtypes, sometime in 2005. (BBC)

March 20 2006

• Rising temperatures
  Global warming
  Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
  
   may partly explain increasing cases of 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...
  
   in regions of Africa
  Africa
  Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
  
  , new research suggests.(BBC)

March 19 2006

• UK
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
   scientists from Norwich
  Norwich
  Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
  
   have used a plant virus to create nanotechnology
  Nanotechnology
  Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
  
   building blocks. (BBC)

March 17 2006

• Hackers have managed to get 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...
  
  's Windows XP
  Windows XP
  Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
  
   operating system running on an Apple
  Apple Computer
  Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
  
   Intel Mac computer. The success ends a competition started to see if the feat was even possible when Apple unveiled computers that used Intel chips. (BBC)
• University of Texas at Dallas
  University of Texas at Dallas
  The University of Texas at Dallas, also referred to as UT Dallas or UTD, is a public research university in the University of Texas System. The main campus is in the heart of the Richardson, Texas, Telecom Corridor, north of downtown Dallas...
  
   scientists have developed artificial, super-strength muscles which are powered by alcohol and hydrogen. (BBC)
• Bill Gates
  Bill Gates
  William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
  
   publicly criticizes the $100 laptop project during the Microsoft Government Leaders Forum. (Reuters/YahooNews)

March 16 2006

• The WMAP collaboration publishes the first measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation
  Cosmic microwave background radiation
  In cosmology, cosmic microwave background radiation is thermal radiation filling the observable universe almost uniformly....
  
  . Scientists expect to test the various models of the assumed inflationary period
  Cosmic inflation
  In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation or just inflation is the theorized extremely rapid exponential expansion of the early universe by a factor of at least 1078 in volume, driven by a negative-pressure vacuum energy density. The inflationary epoch comprises the first part...
  
   of the early 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...
  
   with this data. (SpaceRef.com)

March 15 2006

• The UK Biobank
  UK Biobank
  UK Biobank is a large long-term biobank study in the United Kingdom which is investigating the respective contributions of genetic predisposition and environmental exposure to the development of disease...
  
   starts to collect 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 to create the world's largest study on the gene
  Gene
  A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
  
  tic and environmental origins of disease
  Disease
  A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
  
  s. (BBC)

March 14 2006

• The launch of the next space 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...
  
   is delayed due to a faulty 10-year old fuel gauge
  Fuel gauge
  A fuel gauge is an instrument used to indicate the level of fuel contained in a tank. Commonly used in cars, these may also be used for any tank including underground storage tanks.As used in cars, the gauge consists of two parts:...
  
   in the external 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...
  
   tank. (AP/YahooNews)
• Using the microlensing
  Gravitational microlensing
  Gravitational microlensing is an astronomical phenomenon due to the gravitational lens effect. It can be used to detect objects ranging from the mass of a planet to the mass of a star, regardless of the light they emit. Typically, astronomers can only detect bright objects that emit lots of light ...
  
   effect, astronomers publish the discovery of an extrasolar planet
  Extrasolar planet
  An extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is a planet outside the Solar System. A total of such planets have been identified as of . It is now known that a substantial fraction of stars have planets, including perhaps half of all Sun-like stars...
  
   at a distance of 9,000 light years and with the size of about 13 Earth
  Earth
  Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
  
   masses. (BBC)

March 13 2006

• Scientists for the Stardust mission
  Stardust (spacecraft)
  Stardust is a 300-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on February 7, 1999 to study the asteroid 5535 Annefrank and collect samples from the coma of comet Wild 2. The primary mission was completed January 15, 2006, when the sample return capsule returned to Earth...
  
   announce that they found the mineral olivine
  Olivine
  The mineral olivine is a magnesium iron silicate with the formula 2SiO4. It is a common mineral in the Earth's subsurface but weathers quickly on the surface....
  
   in the samples returned from the 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...
  
   81P/Wild
  81P/Wild
  Comet 81P/Wild, also known as Wild 2 , is a comet named after Swiss astronomer Paul Wild, who discovered it in 1978 using a 40-cm Schmidt telescope at Zimmerwald....
  
  . This and other minerals identified form only in high-temperature environments. (Spaceflight Now)
• 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...
  
   unveils the web site mars.google.com, which presents a zoomable map of the planet Mars
  Mars
  Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
  
   using data provided by researchers at Arizona State University
  Arizona State University
  Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
  
  . (SpaceRef.com)

March 12 2006

• Managers of the Galileo positioning system
  Galileo positioning system
  Galileo is a global navigation satellite system currently being built by the European Union and European Space Agency . The €20 billion project is named after the famous Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei...
  
   project declare the GIOVE-A
  GIOVE
  GIOVE, or Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element, is the name for each satellite in a series being built for the European Space Agency to test technology in orbit for the Galileo positioning system.Giove is the Italian word for "Jupiter"...
  
   satellite a full success and delay the launch of GIOVE-B, which was on a "hastened" schedule to secure the allotted frequency
  Frequency
  Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
  
  . (BBC)

March 11 2006

• The fourth launch of the heavy lift version Ariane 5ECA
  Ariane 5
  Ariane 5 is, as a part of Ariane rocket family, an expendable launch system used to deliver payloads into geostationary transfer orbit or low Earth orbit . Ariane 5 rockets are manufactured under the authority of the European Space Agency and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales...
  
   successfully places two satellite
  Satellite
  In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
  
  s in orbit. (BBC)
• A large oil spill
  Oil spill
  An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is mostly used to describe marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters...
  
   is discovered at Prudhoe Bay field
  Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
  Prudhoe Bay or Sagavanirktok is a census-designated place located in North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 2,174 people; however, at any given time several thousand transient workers support the Prudhoe Bay oil field...
  
   in Alaska
  Alaska
  Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
  
  . It is estimated that about 267,000 gallons of crude oil
  Petroleum
  Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
  
   leaked from a corroded pipeline before it was fixed. (BBC)

March 10 2006

• The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and Exploration of Mars from orbit...
  
   successfully reaches orbit around the planet Mars
  Mars
  Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
  
  . (BBC)
• Researchers report that the newly discovered Laotian Rock Rat
  Laotian rock rat
  The Laotian rock rat or kha-nyou , sometimes called the "rat-squirrel", is a rodent species of the Khammouan region of Laos. The species was first described in a 2005 article by Paulina Jenkins and coauthors, who considered the animal to be so distinct from all living rodents that they placed it...
  
  , at first placed into a new family of the Laonastidae, is most likely a member of the Diatomyidae
  Diatomyidae
  Diatomyidae is a family of hystricomorphous, sciurognathous rodents found in Asia. It is currently represented by a single known living species, Laonastes aenigmamus.- "Lazarus effect" :...
  
   family, which was believed to be extinct for 11 million years. (AP/YahooNews)

March 9 2006

• Mission scientists for the Cassini-Huygens mission
  Cassini-Huygens
  Cassini–Huygens is a joint NASA/ESA/ASI spacecraft mission studying the planet Saturn and its many natural satellites since 2004. Launched in 1997 after nearly two decades of gestation, it includes a Saturn orbiter and an atmospheric probe/lander for the moon Titan, although it has also returned...
  
   publish their conclusion in Science that they found liquid water
  Water
  Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
  
   close to the surface of Saturn
  Saturn
  Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
  
  's moon Enceladus
  Enceladus (moon)
  Enceladus is the sixth-largest of the moons of Saturn. It was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. Until the two Voyager spacecraft passed near it in the early 1980s very little was known about this small moon besides the identification of water ice on its surface...
  
  . (AP/YahooNews)
• 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...
  
   unveils the "Ultra Mobile PC" with a Windows XP
  Windows XP
  Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
  
   derived operating system
  Operating system
  An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
  
  , previously called Project Origami. (AFP/YahooNews)

March 8 2006

• The world's biggest Expo on information technology
  Information technology
  Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
  
  , CeBIT
  CeBIT
  CeBIT is the world's largest and most international computer expo. CeBIT is held each year on the world's largest fairground in Hanover, Germany, and is a barometer of the state of the art in information technology...
  
  , opens in Hanover
  Hanover
  Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
  
  , Germany
  Germany
  Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
  
  . (news.com)
• Three research teams publish their analyses of the gamma ray burst
  Gamma ray burst
  Gamma-ray bursts are flashes of gamma rays associated with extremely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the most luminous electromagnetic events known to occur in the universe. Bursts can last from ten milliseconds to several minutes, although a typical...
  
   GRB 050904
  GRB 050904
  GRB 050904 is one of the most distant events ever observed.This gamma ray burst occurred in the constellation Pisces.The bright γ-ray flash, lasting about 200 seconds, was detected on September 4, 2005 by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission....
  
   in Nature. It is estimated to be about 12.8 billion light years away, which makes it the most distant GRB detected up to now. (Reuters/YahooNews)
• Purdue University
  Purdue University
  Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
  
   starts an investigation into alleged scientific misconduct by Rusi P. Taleyarkhan, who pioneered the research of bubble fusion
  Bubble fusion
  Bubble fusion, also known as sonofusion, is the non-technical name for a nuclear fusion reaction hypothesized to occur during a high-pressure version of sonoluminescence, an extreme form of acoustic cavitation...
  
  . At the same time, Nature
  Nature (journal)
  Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
  
  publishes an interview with several colleagues of Taleyarkhan, detailing some alleged conduct. (Reuters/YahooNews)

March 7 2006

• JAXA
  Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
  The , or JAXA, is Japan's national aerospace agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on October 1, 2003, as an Independent Administrative Institution administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the...
  
   announces it has successfully contacted the Hayabusa
  Hayabusa
  was an unmanned spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis....
  
   spacecraft
  Spacecraft
  A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
  
  , located close to the asteroid
  Asteroid
  Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
  
   25143 Itokawa
  25143 Itokawa
  25143 Itokawa is an Apollo and Mars-crosser asteroid. It was the first asteroid to be the target of a sample return mission, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa.-Discovery and naming:...
  
  . (AP/YahooNews)
• A storm, designated Oval BA, in the cloudy atmosphere of Jupiter
  Jupiter
  Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
  
   has strengthened and turned red. It is now nicknamed Red Jr since it resembles the Great Red Spot storm, which has been observed for centuries. (BBC)

March 6 2006

• For the first time, 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...
  
   scientists publish a prediction of the next sunspot cycle
  Solar variation
  Solar variation is the change in the amount of radiation emitted by the Sun and in its spectral distribution over years to millennia. These variations have periodic components, the main one being the approximately 11-year solar cycle . The changes also have aperiodic fluctuations...
  
  . It estimates the new cycle to start between late 2007 and early 2008, and to be about 30 to 50 % stronger than the cycle that just ended, which peaked in 2001. (AP/YahooNews)

March 4 2006

• The companies Research In Motion
  Research In Motion
  Research In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...
  
   and NTP agree on a settlement in their highly publicized patent
  Patent
  A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
  
   dispute. (Reuters)

March 3 2006

• The WMO
  World Meteorological Organization
  The World Meteorological Organization is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 189 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization , which was founded in 1873...
  
   announces the detection of the onset of a La Nina
  Enso
  Ensō is a Japanese word meaning "circle" and a concept strongly associated with Zen. Ensō is one of the most common subjects of Japanese calligraphy even though it is a symbol and not a character. It symbolizes the Absolute enlightenment, strength, elegance, the Universe, and the void; it can...
  
  event in the Pacific Ocean
  Pacific Ocean
  The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
  
  . (Reuters/YahooNews)
• The government of Peru
  Peru
  Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
  
   announces it will sue Yale University
  Yale University
  Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
  
   to recover artifact
  Artifact (archaeology)
  An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
  
  s taken from the Machu Picchu
  Machu Picchu
  Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian 15th-century Inca site located above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is northwest of Cusco and through which the Urubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for...
  
   site. (BBC)

March 2 2006

• The Dawn
  Dawn Mission
  Dawn is a NASA spacecraft tasked with the exploration and study of the two largest members of the asteroid belt – Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. The spacecraft was constructed with some European cooperation, with partners in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands providing Dawns framing...
  
   spacecraft mission slated to visit two minor planet
  Minor planet
  An asteroid group or minor-planet group is a population of minor planets that have a share broadly similar orbits. Members are generally unrelated to each other, unlike in an asteroid family, which often results from the break-up of a single asteroid...
  
  s is cancelled by 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...
  
  . (SpaceRef.com)

March 1 2006

• The asteroid
  Asteroid
  Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
  
    is upgraded to level two on the Torino Scale
  Torino Scale
  The Torino Scale is a method for categorizing the impact hazard associated with near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets.It is intended as a communication tool for astronomers and the public to assess the seriousness of collision predictions, by combining probability statistics and known...
  
   and becomes the highest rated known space object on that scale. (SpaceRef.com)
• An attempt to launch Arabsat 4A into orbit fails, when the final rocket stage
  Multistage rocket
  A multistage rocket is a rocket that usestwo or more stages, each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A tandem or serial stage is mounted on top of another stage; a parallel stage is attached alongside another stage. The result is effectively two or more rockets stacked on top of or...
  
   does not work properly. Russia
  Russia
  Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
  
  n mission engineers investigate the cause of the mishap. (AP/YahooNews)
• The Royal Society of Chemistry
  Royal Society of Chemistry
  The Royal Society of Chemistry is a learned society in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences." It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the Chemical Society, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the Faraday Society and the Society for Analytical Chemistry with a new...
  
   opens its archive of journal articles to users in Africa
  Africa
  Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
  
  for free. (BBC)