Asia quake kills more than 50,000 people (Added 28/12/04)

TOUTATIS - It is an Earth Crossing Apollo object (Added 19/9/04)

The September 2004 approach is particularly interesting. 0.0104 Astronomical Unit equals about 1.5 millions of kilometers from us. Seen from Toutatis, the Earth will be as large in the sky as the Moon is from the Earth, and from Earth it will be large enough that the best telescopes will start resolving its apparent size. Toutatis will pass by Earth at a range of four times the distance between the Earth and the Moon - the closest approach of any known asteroid or comet between now and the year 2027.

PHOSPHOLIPASE (Added 19/9/04)

Police and academics in Cambridge are trying to find a graffiti artist who could be Britain's brightest vandal. The artist spray-painted part of a chemical component of DNA on the road outside a lab where the double helix was unveiled 50 years ago.
Atop the design - described by one academic as "really nice" work - the artist wrote the word "phospholipase".

GETTING WINDY (Added 16/9/04)

America is battered by three Hurricanes (Charley, Frances and Ivan) in less than four weeks.

SMALLEST 'EARTH-LIKE' PLANET DISCOVERED (Added 9- 9- 04)

European scientists have discovered what they describe as the smallest Earth-like planet orbiting a star outside our Solar System.
The planet is 14 times the size of Earth - not so large that it qualifies as a gas giant - and is close enough to the star that it is unlikely to be icy. Dr Nuno Santos, of the University of Lisbon, said the new planet could be thought of as "super-Earth-like".

REPOSITORY OF DNA ON THE MOON (Added 9- 9- 04)

The European Space Agency's chief scientist has said there should be a "Noah's Ark" on the Moon, in case life on Earth is wiped out by an asteroid or nuclear holocaust.
Speaking exclusively to BBC News at the British Association Festival of Science, Dr Bernard Foing said the ark should be a repository for the DNA of every single species of plant and animal. Dr Foing is head of Europe's Moon missions, so his thoughts on matters lunar should be taken seriously. He is concerned that if the Earth were destroyed, there would be little or nothing left of the rich diversity of life on the planet. His solution is to build a DNA library on Earth's satellite.

GENESIS CAPSULE CRASHES TO EARTH (Added 9- 8- 04)

A capsule from the Genesis probe, which has been gathering particles blown off the Sun, has crashed back to Earth.
The capsule entered the atmosphere as planned at 1554GMT (1654BST) but its drogue parachute failed to open. Hollywood stunt pilots had been waiting to catch the capsule in midair to give its cargo a special soft landing. The particles of solar wind in the capsule were being sought by scientists to help them understand the origin and evolution of the Sun and the planets.

ASTEROID 2004 FY15 (Added 28 - 3- 04)

Asteroid 2004 FY15 occurred early this morning (March 27th). It was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in Arizona and confirmed early by Robert Hutsebaut of Brussels, Belgium. The object is 25 meters (75 feet) across. Distance was a mere 23,786 kilometers (14,780 miles). This is the 12,000 miles closer than last weeks Asteroid 2004 FH record close flyby.

METHANE FOUND ON MARS (Added 28 - 3- 04)

A strong signal of life on Mars has been detected by scientists at the US National Aeronautics and Space Admin- istration (Nasa) and the European Space Agency.

Each group has independently discovered tantalising evidence of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Methane, a waste product of living organisms on Earth, could also be a by-product of alien microbes living under the surface of the Red Planet.

UFO SEEN IN MARTIAN AIRSPACE (Added 18 - 3- 04)

The US Spirit rover on Mars has seen a UFO streak across the Red Planet sky.
Astronomers say it could be the first meteor seen from the surface of another world, or a redundant orbiting spacecraft sent to Mars 30 years ago.
"We may never know, but we are still looking for clues," said Dr Mark Lemmon, from Texas A&M University.
Whatever it was, Spirit was lucky to catch sight of the UFO as the rover's main mission is to look downwards to study rocks and soil on the planet.

'NEW PLANET' MAY HAVE A MOON (Added 15 - 3- 04)

The distant object that some astronomers think could be the Solar System's 10th planet may have a moon. The new planetary candidate, which has been named Sedna, rotates more slowly on itself than expected, suggesting it may have a satellite orbiting it. Observations show it measures about 1,180-2,360km (730-1,470 miles) across, making it similar in size to Pluto. Follow link for animated gif: http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~chad/2004dw/

MADRID ATTACKED (Added 14 - 3- 04)

Devastating terror attacks in Madrid saw 10 bombs explode on four trains in three stations during the busy morning rush hour. The Spanish authorities are still trying to identify 37 victims of last Thursday's bomb attacks.
They confirmed on Monday that the attacks had claimed 201 lives so far, including 35 foreigners.

MARS ONCE 'WATER DRENCHED' (Added 2- 3- 04)

Nasa says its Mars rover Opportunity has shown unequivocally that the Red Planet had the right conditions to support life some time in its history.
The rover has revealed the rocks at its landing site were once in contact with substantial amounts of liquid water.
"These rocks were modified in liquid water and may have been precipitated in water," said scientist Steve Squyres.

SPONTANEOUS ITALIAN FIRES (Added 14 - 2- 04)

Scientists and officials are unable to explain a string of fires and explosions which began in the middle of last month in the fishermen's quarter of a Sicilian village.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1145394,00.html

LET US FIND LIFE ON MARS AND IGNORE LIFE ON EARTH (Added 14 - 2- 04)

More than half of the world's coral reefs will be damaged beyond repair by the year 2100 unless action is taken to halt the many threats they now face.

SCIENCE CLONES 30 HUMAN EMBRYOS (Added 14 - 2- 04)

RATHER PIG FAT THAN BLOOD (Added 14 - 2- 04)

A leading Israeli rabbi has proposed hanging bags of pig fat in buses to deter Muslim suicide bombers who may want to avoid contact with an "unclean" animal.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3484277.stm

COMMANDER IN CHIEF CLAIMS The Al-Sarraji Palace (Added 8 - 2- 04)

Prince Charles is sent into Basra, Iraq.

DISCOVERY OF ELEMENTS 113 and 115 (Added 7 - 2- 04)

The two newest superheavy elements, elements 113 and 115, were recently discovered through a collaborative effort between scientists from the Glenn T. Seaborg Institute and the Chemistry and Materials Science Directorate at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and researchers from the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Russia.

Follow: http://www-cms.llnl.gov/e113_115/index.html

OPPORTUNITY ROVER LANDS ON MARS (Added 24 - 1- 04)

Opportunity, the second of two Nasa rovers, has successfully landed on the Martian surface where it will search for signs of water on the planet. The new rover touched down at 0505 GMT, halfway around the Red Planet from where the Spirit rover landed on 4 January.

SPIRIT ON MARS IS SILENCED (Added 22 - 1- 04)

Nasa's Mars rover Spirit has stopped sending useful data to Earth from the Red Planet and is no longer responding to commands sent from ground control.

CLIMATE RISK TO 'MILLION SPECIES' (Added 8 - 1- 04)

Climate change could drive a million of the world's species to extinction as soon as 2050, a scientific study says.
The authors say in the journal Nature a study of six world regions suggested a quarter of animals and plants living on the land could be forced into oblivion.
They say cutting greenhouse gases and storing the main one, carbon dioxide, could save many species from vanishing.

US MISSION LANDS SAFELY ON MARS (Added 4- 1- 04)

A Nasa space probe has sent back its first images of Mars within hours of arriving on the planet. The Spirit rover survived the perilous plunge through the Martian atmosphere after a seven-month voyage from Earth.
The six-wheeled robot will seek signs that Mars was once capable of supporting life.
A second rover, named Opportunity, is expected to land on the other side of the planet at the end of January.

The Stardust probe is approaching its rendezvous with Comet Wild-2.
The craft has been racing through space for five years to get itself into a position on Friday where it will be within 300 km of the "dirty ice-ball".
Stardust will photograph the object and grab particles streaming away from its nucleus for return to Earth in 2006.

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