28/05/2009

SMOS ready to ship to launch site

ESA's next Earth Explorer, SMOS, has just passed the all-important Flight Acceptance Review, signifying that all the elements that make up the mission are in place for launch later this year. The satellite can now be prepared ...

Ghost remains after black hole eruption

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found a cosmic "ghost" lurking around a distant supermassive black hole. This is the first detection of such a high-energy apparition, and scientists think it is evidence of a huge eruption ...

Blue whales found near NY, off their usual path

(AP) -- There's a monster lurking off the coast of New York. Experts in a Cornell University acoustics program said Thursday that blue whales have been positively identified in the area for the first time.

Society warns cuckoo bird in danger of extinction

(AP) -- Britain's cuckoo bird, known for its distinctive call, is in danger of extinction along with 51 other species, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said in a new report Thursday.

Improving the catalytic converters of motor vehicles

The chemical mechanism that occurs on the surface of an automotive catalytic converter has been deciphered thanks to an observation speed record established by Frédéric Thibault-Strarzyk at the Laboratoire Catalyse ...

Half of your friends lost in seven years

Had a good chat with someone recently? Has a good friend just helped you to do up your home? Then you will be lucky if that person still does that in seven years time. Sociologist Gerald Mollenhorst investigated how the context ...

Color Kindle 'multiple' years away: Amazon CEO

Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos said Thursday that the online retail giant may never reveal sales figures for the Kindle and a color version of the electronic reader is "multiple" years away.

Stem cell breakthrough gets closer to the clinic

The technology for versatile, grow-in-a-dish transplant tissue took a step toward clinical use Thursday when researchers announced they have found a safe way to turn skin cells into stem cells.

Season's first tropical depression forms in Atlantic

The first tropical depression of the north Atlantic's hurricane season formed Thursday and forecasters said it would likely reach tropical storm strength before petering out over open seas.

page 3 from 7