 Earth-like planets around distant stars may be too far away to be reached by spacecraft but scientists could still investigate whether they harbour life. Telescope technologies are being developed that will probe the very faint light from these objects for tell-tale signs of biology. These are the same "life markers" known to be present in light reflected off the Earth - so-called "earthshine". They include signatures for water, and gases such as oxygen and methane. "This gives you some information on habitability," said Wesley Traub, chief scientist on the US space agency's (Nasa) Navigator Program which specialises in the search for far-off worlds. "These are only signs of life; they are only indicators. You can't actually detect the life itself crawling or sliming around on the surface of the planet," he told the American Geophysical Union Joint Assembly here in Baltimore, US. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 10:21:00 05-24-06
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 2nd Recorder Recovered From Armenian Plane |
Searchers on Wednesday recovered the second flight recorder from an Armenian airliner that crashed into the Black Sea three weeks ago, killing all 113 people aboard, local media reported. The flight data recorder was lifted by a diving apparatus from a depth of about 1,640 feet after it was separated from a thick layer of silt, said Transport Ministry spokeswoman Svetlana Kryshtanovskaya, according to the RIA-Novosti news agency. The data recorder was discovered within 50 feet from where workers on Monday found the plane's cockpit voice recorder. Russian television channels showed a yellow, remote-controlled apparatus lifting the red recorder from the sea surface. Investigators hope the two recorders will help answer why the Armavia Airbus A-320 plane plunged into the sea May 3 in heavy rain and poor visibility. The flight had been en route to the southern Russian sea resort Sochi from the Armenian capital, Yerevan. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5842823,00.html
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Editor - 10:19:00 05-24-06
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| U.S. envoy rejects blame for war |
The United States is "wrongly blamed" for recent fighting between warlords and Islamic militants in Somalia, although it does support efforts to counter the militants because they protect terrorists, a senior U.S. diplomat said yesterday. William Bellamy, the ambassador to Kenya who also manages relations with Somalia owing to the absence of a U.S. embassy there, neither confirmed nor denied reports that Washington is funding a coalition of warlords calling itself an anti-terrorist alliance. "It is true that the U.S. has encouraged a variety of groups in Somalia, in all corners of the country, and among all clans, to oppose the al Qaeda presence and reject the Somali militants who shelter and protect these terrorists," Mr. Bellamy wrote in a letter to Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper. He did not name the groups Washington supports, but did not exclude the warlords, who call themselves Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism (ARPCT). ...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060523-111934-6426r.htm
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Editor - 10:13:00 05-24-06
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| Attenborough: Climate is changing |
Naturalist Sir David Attenborough has said climate change is the biggest challenge facing the world. The veteran broadcaster said scientific data clearly showed that climate change was now beyond doubt. Sir David, 80, added that everyone had a responsibility to change their behaviour, including being less wasteful and more energy efficient. It is the first time Sir David has voiced his concerns in public about the impacts of global warming. His comments come ahead of a two-part BBC series in which he examines the impacts of global warming on the Earth. Sir David has been criticised by environmentalists in the past for not speaking out on the matter. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5012266.stm
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Editor - 10:10:00 05-24-06
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| Bin Laden tape challenges 9/11 conviction |
A purported Osama bin Laden tape was today posted on an Islamist website to deny that Zacarias Moussaoui, the only man held accountable for the 9/11 attacks on US soil, played any role in them.In the five-minute recording, a speaker claiming to be the al-Qaida leader said he personally appointed the 19 terrorists who hijacked the four planes involved and that Moussaoui was not among them."He had no connection at all with September 11," the speaker claimed. "I am the one in charge of the 19 brothers and I never assigned brother Zacarias to be with them in that mission."Moussaoui, 37, was sentenced earlier this month to six consecutive life terms and sent to a US prison known as the Alcatraz of the Rockies. Prosecutors had argued he should be executed for failing to tell the FBI about the plot....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,,1781996,00.html
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Editor - 10:05:00 05-24-06
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| WHO pandemic alert level unchanged |
An Indonesian family infected with bird flu may have passed the disease among themselves rather than individually catching it from poultry, but the World Health Organization is leaving its pandemic alert level unchanged, the agency said Wednesday. Six of seven people in the extended family in northern Sumatra who caught the disease have died, the most recent on Monday. An eighth person who died was buried before tests could be conducted, but she was considered to be among those infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu. WHO is investigating whether the strain was spread among family members, although it said Wednesday there was no evidence the virus had mutated to a form that will spread more easily between humans, possibly sparking a pandemic. "We haven't seen evidence from Indonesia that the disease is passing easily from human to human," WHO spokeswoman Maria Cheng told The A P. The agency's alert level remained at 3, where it has been for months. That means there is ...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-05-24-indonesia-bird-flu_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 09:54:00 05-24-06
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