Space Daily articles from September 2006

Space Daily archives from September 2006

BAE Systems to Develop Net-Centric Targeting System.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SAN DIEGO, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's (NGA) InnoVision Directorate has selected BAE Systems to develop a web-based surveillance and targeting system. The system will rapidly...

Big Bang Afterglow Fails An Intergalactic Shadow Test.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Sept. 4 (SPX) -- The apparent absence of shadows where shadows were expected to be is raising new questions about the faint glow of microwave radiation once hailed as proof that the universe was...

Boreal Fires Release Increased Mercury Into Atmosphere.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- Climate change appears to be contributing to the waking of a toxic sleeping giant in the most northern wetlands of North America. Mercury, released into the atmosphere most prodigiously...

DARPA Asks Raytheon To Develop Radar For Integrated Sensor Is Structure Program.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Sept. 4 (SPX) -- A radar antenna the length of a football field that would weigh less than the 22 players in action on it is in development by Raytheon Company under terms of an $8 million contract...

Evolution of Old World Fruit Flies on Three Continents Mirrors Climate Change.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SEATTLE, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- Fast-warming climate appears to be triggering genetic changes in a species of fruit fly that is native to Europe and was introduced into North and South America about 25 years ago. "This...

Flying Start To North West Shelf Unmanned Aircraft Trial.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers CANBERRA, Australia, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, Senator Sandy Macdonald, today launched a major Defence trial aimed at testing the ability of an unmanned aircraft to...

High-Flying Balloons Begin Tracking Emerging Hurricanes.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers THIS SUNRISE LAUNCH IN WYOMING WAS PART OF DRIFTSONDE TESTING DURING THE SUMMER OF 2006. THE INNOVATIVE NCAR-DESIGNED DRIFTSONDE PACKAGE, Which includes a gondola and weather instruments that descend by parachute,...

Manned Spaceflight To Be Cost-Efficient.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MOSCOW, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- This meeting takes place against the background of the continuing restructuring in the rocket and space industry. In the making are some important decisions that will determine the outlines of...

NASA Tests Orion Like Parachute Recovery System.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Sept. 4 (SPX) -- NASA recently completed a series of tests that will aid in the design and development of a parachute recovery system for the rocket and capsule that will return astronauts to the...

Onset of Next Solar Activity Cycle Observed.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers AN EQUATOR-TO-SOUTH POLE OF THE SUN ON JULY, 23, 2006 shows the location and polarity of magnetic fields as light and dark patches. White indicates polarity rising out of the solar surface, Sept. 3 (SPX) -- Tucson AZ...

Opportunity Mars Rover Inching Closer To Victoria Crater.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PASADEDA, Calif., Sept. 4 (SPX) -- Opportunity is healthy and still 218 meters (715 feet) from "Victoria Crater." Over the weekend, the rover's shoulder azimuth joint stalled as Opportunity was trying to start...

PAC-3 Missile Destroys Tactical Ballistic Missile In Test.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers DALLAS, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- Lockheed Martin's Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile successfully intercepted and destroyed an incoming Tactical Ballistic Missile (TBM) target yesterday during a flight test at...

Pluto-Bound Camera Sees First Light.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers LAUREL, Md., Sept. 4 (SPX) -- The highest-resolution camera on NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft is seeing stars, and mission scientists and engineers couldn't be more excited. This week the Long Range...

Real-Time Traffic Routing From The Comfort Of Your Car.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- Engineers have developed a system for taking anonymous cell-phone location information and turning it into an illuminated traffic map that identifies congestion in real time.The system...

Renewed Volcanic Activity At The Phlegrean Fields Tracked By Envisat.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- Satellite images acquired by ESA's Envisat satellite have revealed the volcanic region of the Phlegrean Fields, located in southern Italy near the city of Naples, has entered a new uplift...

Saturn's Methane Moon.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., Sept. 4 (SPX) -- Saturn's moon Titan seems to have little in common with Earth. At just 93 Kelvin, the giant moon is beyond ice cold, and its atmosphere is dominated by methane rather than...

Smart-1 Smackdown.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers ON 16 MAY 2006. THE IMAGED AREA IS CENTRED AT A LATITUDE OF 73[degrees] NORTH AND A LONGITUDE OF 124[degrees] WEST. CREDITS: ESA/SPACE-X, Sept. 3 (SPX) -- London UK (SPX) Sep 04, 2006 The European Space Agency's...

Solar Sentinels Could Stand Guard Against Flare.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Sept. 4 (SPX) -- In his 1970s book, Space, James Michener depicted a fictional Apollo mission that lost its crew to radiation from a massive solar flare. He based his tale on what easily might have...

SWAN System to Help Blind and Firefighters Navigate Environment.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers ATLANTA, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- Imagine being blind and trying to find your way around a city you've never visited before - that can be challenging for a sighted person. Georgia Tech researchers are developing a wearable...

Viruses Can Jump Between Primates And Humans.
September 3, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SEATTLE, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- Viruses that jump the species barrier between monkeys and humans can harm both people and animals, and we should take steps to reduce the risk of virus transmission. That's the message...

BAE Systems Successfully Tests Skylynx Iitm Unmanned Aircraft System.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers YUMA, Ariz., Sept. 5 (SPX) -- BAE Systems successfully completed tests on its Skylynx IITM unmanned aircraft system at Yuma Proving Grounds on Aug. 9. During test flights it met key requirements including acoustic...

Extreme Rainfall Incidents Increasing In Parts Of UK.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NEWCASTLE, England, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- Extreme rainfall events - those likely to lead to flooding - have become more frequent and intense over a 40-year period in parts of Britain, particularly in Scotland and the North...

Good Times Ahead For Dinosaur Hunters.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- The golden age of dinosaur discovery is yet upon us, according to Peter Dodson at the University of Pennsylvania. In a forthcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of...

LM Missile Warning Satellite Completes Functional Test Milestone.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 5 (SPX) -- Lockheed Martin has announced that it has successfully completed an extensive test phase of the first Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous orbit (GEO) satellite. ...

NASA Tests Robot Technology Under Harsh Desert Conditions.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- Arizona's high desert is a long way from the moon and Mars, but its temperature extremes, gusty winds and dust make NASA's robots, rovers and latest space gear feel right at home. The...

Orbital To Provide Launch Abort System For NASA Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers DULLES, Va., Sept. 5 (SPX) -- Orbital Sciences has announced that it will play a significant role on the Lockheed Martin-led team that was selected yesterday by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)...

Overwatch Receives Contract Go-ahead From EADS Astrium.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers AUSTIN, TX, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- The Communications Systems Business Area of Overwatch Systems has been awarded a $2.3M, follow-on contract by EADS Astrium to build seven additional X/Ka shipboard antennas for the...

Returning To Sample Mars.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- At the recent Viking thirtieth anniversary celebration, Noel Hinners championed what could be the next great challenge for planetary science: a Mars Sample Return mission. Hinners pointed...

Sagem Defense Securite Transforms Danish UAVs For Canadian Forces.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- The Canadian Ministry of Defence has just awarded Sagem Defense Securite (SAFRAN Group) a contract to standardize Danish Army Sperwer tactical UAV systems according to Canadian specifications....

Scientists Detect New Kind Of Cosmic Explosion.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SCIENTISTS ARE STUDYING A STRANGE EXPLOSION THAT APPEARED ON FEBRUARY, 18, 2006, Sept. 4 (SPX) -- Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 05, 2006 Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite have detected a new kind of cosmic...

SMART-1 Swan Song: Valuable Data Until Final Moments.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS FRANCE, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- Right up to its final orbits, SMART-1 continued delivering valuable data, extending the mission's legacy as a technology and scientific success. Scientists and engineers met today at...

Soyuz TMA-9 Arrives At Baikonur.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- The primary and back up crews of the Soyuz TMA-9 mission have arrived at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. At the airport they were met by N.N. Sevastyanov, S.P. Korolev RSC...

Space Shuttle Disater: Explosive New Research From Blackwell Publishing.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers OXFORD, England, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- With the return of the Space Shuttle Discovery in July from its crucial safety redesign flight, leading Experimental Mechanics Journal Strain examines the causes of the crash...

STS-115 Crew Prepares For Launch.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept. 5 (SPX) -- At the launch readiness news conference on Monday afternoon, Wayne Hale, shuttle program manager, said that even though the tropical weather put them behind earlier in the week,...

Ted Gavrilis To Retire, Marshall Byrd To Head Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NEWTOWN, Pa., Sept. 5 (SPX) -- Lockheed Martin said Friday that Marshall Byrd has been appointed vice president and general manager of its Commercial Space Systems line of business, effective September 1. Byrd...

The Eternal Life Of Stardust Portrayed In New NASA Image.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 5 (SPX) -- A new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope is helping astronomers understand how stardust is recycled in galaxies. The cosmic portrait shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a...

Unique Solution Against Remotely Activated Explosive Devices.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MSPO, Kielce, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- The Elisra Group has announced that it will display its unique Explosive Device solution at the MSPO Exhibition. This innovative and sophisticated solution utilizes Elisra Group's...

Weather Forecast Accuracy Gets Boost with New Computer Model.
September 4, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers LOS ANGELES, Sept. 5 (SPX) -- An advanced forecasting model that predicts several types of extreme weather with substantially improved accuracy has been adopted for day-to-day operational use by civilian and military...

A Cognitive Strategy Shared By Human Infants And Our Great-Ape Kin.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NIJMEGEN, Holland, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- In a comparative study that investigates ways in which our cognitive skills and characteristics as humans have been shaped by our primate ancestry, researchers report new findings...

Alcatel Wins Contract For German Military Satcom BW Satellites.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Alcatel Alenia Space today announced that it has been granted a satellite contract for the next step of the German Armed Forces' satellite communications program Satcom BW Stufe 2 by EADS...

Allen-Vanguard Wins Canadian Military Robot Program.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers OTTAWA, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Allen-Vanguard Corporation of Ottawa, Canada has announced that it has received notification from the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) that the Company's Vanguard Mk2 bomb...

CSEPR Examines Movement To Set Aside IAU Planet Definition Ruling.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 6 (SPX) -- On August 24, a session of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly in Prague passed a resolution re-defining the planets of our solar system. Only 428 of the IAU's...

Edible Coatings Will Be The Packaging Of The Future.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PAMPLONA, Spain, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- The growing demand by consumers for healthier and more ecological foods has driven researchers to develop new systems of packaging that prolong the useful life of the products and...

Embosymbiont Offers Clues To How Plants Came To Be.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers IOWA CITY, Iowa, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Plastids are the photosynthetic engines in all algae and plants, and their origin and spread among eukaryotes, ultimately giving rise to land plants, was fundamental to the evolution...

Enceladus Exhales Water Ice Into Saturn Orbit.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Enceladus continues to exhale water ice into Saturn orbit, keeping the E ring topped off with tiny particles. Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across) is a source of much...

Eutelsat Confirms Sea Launch Agreements For 2008-9.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Eutelsat Communications confirmed today that it has signed launch agreements with Sea Launch for two launch opportunities as part of its ongoing satellite deployment programme for which...

Eutelsat Selects Alcatel Alenia Space For The Delivery Of W2A Satellite.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Eutelsat Communications and Alcatel have announced that Eutelsat has retained Alcatel Alenia Space, the European leader in satellite systems, for the design, manufacturing, assembling, tests...

Inmarsat And ACeS Announce Low-Cost Hand-Held And Fixed Voice Services.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers LONDON, UK, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Inmarsat and Asia's ACeS International have announced collaboration arrangements to offer low-cost hand-held and fixed voice services, initially in the Asian market with extended coverage...

Lockheed Martin Awarded Contract For Sonar Upgrades For UK Nuke Missile Submarines.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MANASSAS, Va., Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Lockheed Martin UK has been awarded a seven-year contract to provide combat system upgrades to the sonar systems aboard four Royal Navy Vanguard Class ballistic missile submarines....

New Clue To Tiniest Particles.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers ADELAIDE, Australia, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Particle physicists around the world will be designing their next generation of billion-dollar experiments following new findings from a University of Adelaide-led research team....

New Evidence Shows Antarctica Has Warmed In Last 150 Years.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SEATTLE, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Despite recent indications that Antarctica cooled considerably during the 1990s, new research suggests that the world's iciest continent has been getting gradually warmer for the last 150...

Northrop Grumman Confirms AEHF Compatibility With Milstar Terminals.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers REDONDO BEACH, Calif., Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Nearly two months of rigorous tests conducted by Northrop Grumman Corporation showed that Milstar terminals operated by the U.S. Army and Air Force can send and receive data...

Northrop Grumman Wins Joint Warfighting Center Contract Worth Up To $686 Million.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers HAMPTON ROADS, Va., Sept. 6 (SPX) -- The U.S. Joint Forces Command has selected Northrop Grumman Corporation to continue providing technology support to the Joint Warfighting Center (JWFC) in Suffolk, Va. The initial...

Perfect Debut For Saab Space Sounding Rocket Guidance System.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Space's fourth generation S19L Guidance and Control System performed flawlessly in its first two suborbital flights within a period of four days at White Sands Missile Range in New...

Plan For Cyberspace Available In Near Future.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MAXWELL AFB, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Air Force leaders soon will define the service's plan for cyberspace. "I would expect, in a matter of weeks, to see us rolling out what I would call a cyberspace campaign plan on where we...

Spirit Recovers From Reset And Makes Finishing Touches To Winter Panorama.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Spirit experienced a software reset during the evening overpass of the Odyssey orbiter on sol 944 (Aug. 29, 2006). The rover was in the process of receiving command sequences for the...

STS-115 Mission Management Team Briefing Update.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept. 6 (SPX) -- During this morning's status briefing from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Space Shuttle Program Director Wayne Hale said that the mission management team had a really good...

What Is It Like To Be On A NASA Hurricane Mission.
September 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Sept. 6 (SPX) -- The NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) mission is a field research investigation where scientists are investigating how hurricanes are born off the African...

Andrew Introduces 1.2 Meter Auto Deploy Satellite Antenna System.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers WESTCHESTER, Ill., Sept. 7 (SPX) -- Andrew Corporation has introduced a 1.2 meter auto acquisition earth station antenna system that is ideal for transportable applications serving communications networks worldwide....

CPI Opens Third India Service Center For Satellite Communications Customers.(Company overview)
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 7 (SPX) -- Communications and Power Industries recently opened a new service center in Bangalore, India for its satellite communications customers. Communications and Power Industries (CPI) is...

Greenhouse Gas Bubbling From Melting Permafrost Feeds Climate Warming.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sept. 7 (SPX) -- A study co-authored by a Florida State University scientist and published in the Sept. 7 issue of the journal Nature has found that as the permafrost melts in North Siberia due to...

How Did Our Ancestors' Minds Really Work.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NIJMEGEN, Holland, Sept. 7 (SPX) -- How did our evolutionary ancestors make sense of their world? What strategies did they use, for example, to find food? Fossils do not preserve thoughts, so we have so far been...

Intelsat Wins Right To Offer Managed Networking Services In Brazil.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PEMBROKE, Bermuda, Sept. 7 (SPX) -- Driven by the growing demand for Voice over IP (VoIP), broadband and cellular backhaul services via satellite, Intelsat announced today that it has secured rights, through The...

Japanese Researcher Finds Massive Black Hole 12.7 Billion Light-years Away.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers TOKYO, Sept. 7 (SPX) -- Astronomer Tomotsugu Goto from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA) has used the Subaru telescope to identify a distant quasar powered by a massive black hole. The quasar is almost 12.7...

NASA And NOAA Data Indicate Ozone Layer Is Recovering.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (SPX) -- A new study using NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data finds consistent evidence that Earth's ozone layer is on the mend. A team led by Dr. Eun-Su Yang of...

NASA Drop Test Proceeds Well For Ares I First Stage Booster.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Sept. 7 (SPX) -- A CH-47 Chinook helicopter lifts a parachute drop test vehicle to an elevation of 10,000 feet above a Yuma, Ariz., test range as part of a series of tests that will aid in...

NASA Rover Nears Martian Bowl Goal.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers INDICATES OPPORTUNITY'S LOCATION AS OF THE ROVER'S 930TH MARTIAN DAY, Or sol, Sept. 6 (SPX) -- Pasadena CA (SPX) Sep 07, 2006 NASA's Mars rover Opportunity is closing in on what may be the grandest overlook and...

NASA Vodcasts Deliver Launches To Portable Media Players.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept. 7 (SPX) -- For the first time, NASA is making space shuttle launch footage available to anyone who has a portable media player with video capability. A video podcast, or "vodcast," of the...

Teal Group Predicts World UAV Market Will Top $54 Billion Over Next Decade.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 7 (SPX) -- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will continue to be the most dynamic growth sector of the world aerospace industry. A forthcoming Teal Group market study, previewed today during this...

The Subtleties Of Tropical Forest Demise.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (SPX) -- "It's not just that tropical forests are being rapidly destroyed, but also that most of the remaining forests and nature reserves are being severely degraded," said William Laurance of the...

Trauma Expert Crusades For Changes In Disaster Preparedness And Recovery.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 7 (SPX) -- A nationally known trauma expert and member of the research team that released the results of a comprehensive mental health study of Hurricane Katrina survivors suggests the...

Well Educated More Interested In Designing Babies.
September 6, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NORWICH, England, Sept. 7 (SPX) -- The well-educated are significantly more open to the idea of "designing" babies than the poorly educated, according to a new study by psychologists at the University of East Anglia....

17 Million Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Facilities Project Approved.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers CANBERRA, Australia, Sept. 8 (SPX) -- The proposed Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) facilities project at Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera has today received parliamentary approval. This follows the Parliamentary...

After The Flash Came The Dust.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, Sept. 8 (SPX) -- Through infrared observations with its newly installed infra-red mosaic camera WIRCam, the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope offered a stunning image of the crash of the European spacecraft...

Call For Fair Pricing Policies In The Commercial Launch Services Industry.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, Sept. 8 (SPX) -- Arianespace had a major impact at the World Satellite Business Week conference in Paris, where CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall called on the launcher industry to apply fair pricing policies for its...

Climate Change Rocked Cradles Of Civilization.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NORWICH, UK, Sept. 8 (SPX) -- Severe climate change was the primary driver in the development of civilisation, according to new research by the University of East Anglia. The early civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia,...

Decompression-Driven Crystallization Warms Pathway for Volcanic Eruptions.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers EUGENE, Ore., Sept. 8 (SPX) -- The reason may be counter-intuitive, but the more magma crystallizes, the hotter it gets and the more likely a volcano will erupt, according to a team of scientists that includes a...

DMC International Imaging Wins 2nd Year Contract To Monitor Amazonian Rainforest.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS, Brazil, Sept. 8 (SPX) -- The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has placed a contract for a second year with DMC International Imaging to acquire high-resolution satellite...

Earth-Like Planets May Be More Common Than Once Thought.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 8 (SPX) -- More than one-third of the giant planet systems recently detected outside Earth's solar system may harbor Earth-like planets, many covered in deep oceans with potential for life,...

ESA Steps Towards A Great Black Hole Census.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, Sept. 8 (SPX) -- Astronomers using ESA's orbiting gamma-ray observatory, Integral, have taken an important step towards estimating how many black holes there are in the Universe. An international team, lead...

Future Force Warrior Passes Major Milestone.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NATICK, MA, Sept. 8 (SPX) -- The Army's Future Force Warrior (FFW) system is one step closer to being fielded as the Ground Soldier System following a successful demonstration in August of its electronic networking...

Genetic Surprise Confirms Neglected 70-Year-Old Evolutionary Theory.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers ROCHESTER, N.Y., Sept. 8 (SPX) -- Biologists at the University of Rochester have discovered that an old and relatively unpopular theory about how a single species can split in two turns out to be accurate after all,...

Hot Dust And Moisture Collide To Fuel Asian Summer Rainy Season.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers GREENBELT, Md., Sept. 8 (SPX) -- Who would think that something like dust in the air could trigger rain? According to a new NASA study, this is just what's happening over South Asia's Tibetan Plateau. Very small dust...

Large-Scale Farming Now Causes Substantial Forest Loss in Amazon.
September 7, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers COLLEGE PARK, Md., Sept. 8 (SPX) -- A University of Maryland-led study of Amazon deforestation in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso shows that direct conversion of forest to cropland in the state totaled over 2000...