Cop Warns Nuclear Attack Is Inevitable

A nuclear attack by terrorists causing widespread panic, chaos and death is inevitable and will happen soon, a senior Scottish police officer has warned. Ian Dickinson, who leads the police response to chemical, biological and nuclear threats in Scotland, has painted the bleakest picture yet of the dangers the world now faces. Efforts to prevent terrorist groups from obtaining materials that could be made into radioactive dirty bombs - or even crude nuclear explosives - are bound to fail, he said. And the result will be horror on an unprecedented scale.

Holy Land overdue for major quake

Based on 400-year historical cycles a the pattern of recent tremors, the Middle East should be expecting a major earthquake in the near future, a geologist said. A leading Israeli geologist has assessed that the Middle East, particularly, the Levant, was ripe for a major earthquake. The geologist based his forecast on seismological data as well as historical patterns. "All of us in the region should be worried," Shmuel Marco, a geologist at Tel Aviv University, said. Seismologists have often warned of the prospect of a major earthquake in the Middle East. The Levant has undergone a series of serious tremors on the magnitude of five on the Richter Scale, but without causing significant damage. On Nov. 20, an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter Scale shook Israel and Jordan. The earthquake, whose epicenter was in the area of the Dead Sea, did not cause major damage. Marcos a member of Tel Aviv University's Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, has sought to predict the next major earthquake in the Levant through historical examination. The geologist has examined ancient records from the Vatican and other religious sources in his research. The major earthquakes in the Levant took place along the Jordan Valley. Earthquakes were reported in 31 BCE, 363 CE, 749 CE and 1033 CE. "So roughly, we are talking about an interval of every 400 years," Marcos said. "If we follow the patterns of nature, a major quake should be expected any time because almost a whole millennium has passed since the last strong earthquake of 1033." Based on history, Marcos predicts a major earthquake that would affect Israel, Jordan, Palestinian Authority and Syria. He said the sites important to Christianity, Islam and Judaism could be particularly vulnerable.

Human Radio Tagging Ethics Needed

An area requiring urgent attention is the issue of implanting humans with radio frequency identification tags to enable remote identification or enable access to information.... California has recently become the third US state to pass legislation prohibiting employers or others from requiring individuals to submit to an RFID implant under their skin. The bill, signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last month, which comes into force on January 1, seeks to balance the potential benefits of RFID technology with individual rights and personal security. It follows reports of RFID chips being used in nightclubs, hospitals, and even by governments, to identify individuals and access personal records. The Baja Beach nightclub in Barcelona reportedly uses RFID implants to track regular patrons and allow them to pay for drinks electronically, while the Mexican Attorney-General's Office implanted 18 of its staff with tags to control access to a secure data room.

Sheriff Investigated for Christmas

A county sheriff who had publicly expressed frustration with "politically correct" antagonism from secular America toward the religious foundations of Christmas now is under investigation for his thoughts, according to a county commissioner. Larimer, Colo., County Sheriff Jim Alderden's opinions were expressed in his "Bulls-Eye" website column recently. He had been prompted to write after watching the ongoing dispute in the city of Fort Collins, where a task force recommended white lights, as well as neutral and non-religious decorations such as snowflakes, snowmen, snowballs, ice skates, skis, penguins and polar bears for this time of year. "Penguins? This is dangerous territory. What about those of us who were traumatized by Danny DeVito's performance as Oswald Cobblepot in 'Batman Returns?' Skis? What about the poor who can't afford to go skiing? How elitist and insensitive!" he wrote. "The fact that we are even engaged in a discourse of whether Christmas trees and Christian symbols of faith should be allowed on city property is absurd. When one is sliding down a slippery slope, there comes a time to dig in your heels, grab the nearest branch, and hold on for dear life. Our country, and sadly our own community, has reached that point where people of faith and good conscience can no longer stand silently while a belligerent minority usurps our heritage and dictates how and where we express our religious freedoms. It is time to make a statement – to grab that branch, in this case a pine bough," he said.

Summit will bring destruction to US

A fringe group of prominent ultranationalist rabbis issued a harshly-worded letter to United States President George W. Bush earlier this week, warning him that the upcoming Annapolis peace conference would bring destruction upon America. The rabbis evoke their previous prediction in 2005, when they published an open letter to Bush in the New York Times, demanding the US rescind its support of the disengagement plan. "We wrote to President Bush, a man who believes in the Bible, to warn him against the terrible danger to which he is exposing his country by hosting such a conference," said Rabbi Meir Druckman, one of signatories to the letter. "The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. God punishes anyone who coerces Israel to give up its land," he said. "There is no doubt the New Orleans flood from the Katrina hurricane was God's punishment for evicting the settlements," said Druckman, "with hundreds of thousands left homeless, hundreds killed or wounded and billions of dollars sent down the drain – can we really ignore God's hand collecting an eye for an eye?" The disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank was completed August 23rd, 2005 – which was also the date Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas. "Despite those consequences, yet again we find ourselves facing an initiative to expel Jews from Judea and Samaria and cede their cities to terror organizations. And once again the patrons of the event are President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "This time the Almighty is warning the US in advance: if the plague of water was not enough now he shall send flames. While hundreds of thousands of families have already fled the terrible fires in California, and we ask you, will you really forge ahead with this malevolent plan?" added Druckman. The letter was authored by SOS Israel, a right-wing movement which earlier this year distributed citations to IDF soldiers who disobeyed orders and refused to take part in the disengagement. The rabbis urged Bush's administration to back down from the current direction of the peace process, saying that not an inch of Israeli land should be ceded. "Be merciful to yourselves and the beloved America and its citizens. Lay down the hand you have raised against the Creator in war. Help the people of Israel fight without compromise against the terrorists who rise against it, and then, with a pure heart, you will truly be able to pray: May God bless America," the rabbis said.

Iran Extends Submarine Range

The Iranian Navy plans to deploy two submarine fleets – mini-subs in Persian Gulf waters for attacks on US shipping and Gulf oil facilities, and the Kilo class sub of Russian, Chinese and Iranian manufacture, for long-range targets in the Mediterranean, such as the US Sixth Fleet and Israel coastal towns, primarily Tel Aviv.

Natural disasters have quadrupled

More than four times the number of natural disasters are occurring now than did two decades ago, British charity Oxfam said in a study recently that largely blamed global warming. "Oxfam... says that rising green house gas emissions are the major cause of weather-related disasters and must be tackled," the organisation said, adding that the world's poorest people were being hit the hardest. The world suffered about 120 natural disasters per year in the early 1980s, which compared with the current figure of about 500 per year, according to the report. "This year we have seen floods in South Asia, across the breadth of Africa and Mexico that have affected more than 250 million people," noted Oxfam director Barbara Stocking. "This is no freak year. It follows a pattern of more frequent, more erratic, more unpredictable and more extreme weather events that are affecting more people." She added: "Action is needed now to prepare for more disasters otherwise humanitarian assistance will be overwhelmed and recent advances in human development will go into reverse." The number of people affected by extreme natural disasters, meanwhile, has surged by almost 70 percent, from 174 million a year between 1985 to 1994, to 254 million people a year between 1995 to 2004, Oxfam said. Floods and wind-storms have increased from 60 events in 1980 to 240 last year, with flooding itself up six-fold.

Ethiopia and the Ark of the Covenant

"They shall make an ark of acacia wood," God commanded Moses in the Book of Exodus, after delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. And so the Israelites built an ark, or chest, gilding it inside and out. And into this chest Moses placed stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, as given to him on Mount Sinai. Thus Jews came to revere the ark as an earthly manifestation of God. The Old Testament describes its enormous powers—blazing with fire and light, halting rivers, blasting away armies and bringing down the fabled walls of Jericho. (Steven Spielberg's 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark provides a special-effects approximation.) According to the First Book of Kings, King Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem to house the ark. It was venerated there during Solomon's reign (c. 970-930 B.C.) and beyond. Then it vanished. Much of Jewish tradition holds that it disappeared before or while the Babylonians sacked the temple in Jerusalem in 586 b.c. But through the centuries, Ethiopian Christians have claimed that the ark rests in a chapel in the small town of Aksum, in their country's northern highlands. It arrived nearly 3,000 years ago, they say, and has been guarded by a succession of virgin monks who, once anointed, are forbidden to set foot outside the chapel grounds until they die."

Child Aborted To Help Save the Planet

Giving birth is a burden on the world. This is according to British born, Toni Vernelli, 35, who had an abortion 10 years ago to ensure her carbon footprint would be kept to a minimum, the U.K.'s Daily Mail reported recently. Vernelli -- who works for an environmental charity -- was later sterilized to help "protect the planet", the Mail reported. "Having children is selfish. It's all about maintaining your genetic line at the expense of the planet," Vernelli told the Daily Mail, adding she believes bringing new life into the world only adds to the problem. The Mail also reported that Sara Irving, 31, also underwent sterilization to because she felt "a baby would pollute the planet". Irving’s become an environmentalist as a teenager, it was reported, when she realized saving the environment was her top and foremost priority in life. After going through several boyfriends she finally found her now husband Mark Hudson who is also an advocate of the ‘no kid’s policy'.

Cloning Could "Return" Deceased Beings

Now that biologists in Oregon have reported using cloning to produce a monkey embryo and extract stem cells, it looks more plausible than before that a human embryo will be cloned and that a cloned human will be born some day. But not necessarily in the Americas or Europe. While some critics have been fretting about the morality of stem cell research and genetic engineering, prominent Western scientists have been going to Asia, like the geneticists Nancy Jenkins and Neal Copeland, who left the National Cancer Institute in the United States and moved last year to Singapore. Asia offers researchers new labs, fewer restrictions and a different religious viewpoint. In South Korea, when Hwang Woo Suk reported creating human embryonic stem cells through cloning, he justified it by citing his Buddhist belief in recycling life through reincarnation. His claim was later exposed as a fraud, but before that happened, his approach was supported by the Venerable Ji Kwan, executive director of South Korea's largest Buddhist order, the Jogye, who said research with embryos was in accord with Buddha's precepts and urged Korean scientists not to be guided by Western ethics. "Asian religions worry less than Western religions that biotechnology is about 'playing God,' " says Cynthia Fox, the author of "Cell of Cells," a book about the global race among stem cell researchers. "Therapeutic cloning, in particular, jibes well with the Buddhist and Hindu ideas of reincarnation."

Palm-Print Biometrics Aid Atlanta Police

The Police Department of Atlanta, which makes 63,000 arrests per year, is getting a new kind of weapon to catch criminals: a workflow-based biometrics system that can scan palm prints in addition to fingerprints. "A lot of criminals will leave a palm print when they try to break into a car or door," says Capt. Shirley Britton, chief of the Atlanta Police Deptartment. "The benefit of our new system is we can put the palm print into the system along with the fingerprints we now hold."

Iran Produces Nuclear Pellets

An official in Iran's nuclear program says Tehran has produced its first nuclear fuel pellets for use in a nuclear reactor currently under construction. Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's atomic energy organization, said recently there would be enough enriched uranium pellets by September of 2008 to power the 40 megawatt Arak research reactor. The issue of uranium enrichment is the basis for the standoff between Iran and the West. Iran says it is processing uranium in order to generate electricity for its population. Western countries believe Tehran is developing the technology needed to build nuclear weapons. Recently, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said that in spite of greater cooperation from Tehran in key areas, the agency is not able to confirm that Iran's nuclear work is entirely peaceful.

North American Union 'coming fast'

The next giant step toward world government will be integration of the U.S., Canada and Mexico in European Union-style merger in the next few years, says the author of a best-selling book on the power of shadowy international organizations promoting the move. "I would say [it's just] a couple of years away," reports Daniel Estulin, author of "The True Story of the Bilderberg Group." Estulin, a Canadian now living in Europe, says the original plans for a North American Union involved the U.S. and Canada as the prime participants. It was motivated primarily by the desire to harvest Canada's abundant natural resources. In his new book, Estulin reveals the first efforts in this plan date back to 1996 when the elite Bilderberg Group first discussed plans for the dismantlement of Canada as an independent nation and proposed its merger – minus Quebec – with the United States into a Greater North America. "Actually, the North American Union, or rather a Canada-U.S. merger, was initially discussed shortly after the Reagan-Bush candidacy won the White House," he says in an interview with WND. "Upon taking over the reins of the country, George Bush and Ronald Reagan called in the presidents of the key trans-national companies and asked them for the real picture. The money people told them that if the United States were a corporation it would have to be shut down immediately, as it was bankrupt."

Astronaut confirms ET's are here

Space Shuttle Columbia during STS-80 took a crew of five astronauts into a 17 day, 15 hour and 54 minute mission around the earth, the longest flight in the history of this vehicle. During this lengthy flight a very strange event occurred that even had crewman Dr. Story Musgrave unable to explain what he observed from the shuttle windows. A large disc shaped object appeared below the Columbia. The shuttle was approximately, 190 Nautical miles high. The disc was first observed to miraculously appear from out of nowhere, flying through the clouds below and progressing from right to left as the astronauts stared in utter amazement. The outer rim of the craft appeared to be rotating counter-clockwise. It was very large (compared to common space junk and breakaway ice), approximately 50 to 150 feet in diameter.

Get Ready For US Martial Law

New federal legislation shows the Bush administration has begun systematically putting in place authorization for the president to federalize the National Guard and use the U.S. military in domestic emergency situations. A provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (H.R. 1585) requires the secretary of defense to prepare and submit to Congress by March 1, 2008, and each subsequent March 1 a plan to coordinate the use of the National Guard and members of the Armed Forces on active duty when responding to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters.

Metal Storm reaches Navy test range

After years of development, a new class of weapon that uses computer-controlled electronic ignition instead of primers to fire projectiles may be finally taking its much coveted place in the U.S. military inventory. Brisbane, Australia-based Metal Storm has delivered a four-barrel weapon to the Naval Surface Warfare Center for testing that uses a small electrical current instead a conventional firing pin to deliver stacked rounds at an astounding rate. How astounding? Try 1 million rounds per minute. That's the rate, by the way, not the volume; still, there's no way you want to be anywhere near the wrong end of one of these puppies. One version, the Redback, features a remotely operated 40mm that can automatically track targets by slewing around at almost 2 complete revolutions per second, according to the company. "The employment of Metal Storm's stacked round technology for a U.S. military weapon system is a huge step for us," Metal Storm CEO Lee Finniear said in the company's press release.

Chipping People Can Be Great?

Technology has advanced to the point where it is technologically feasible to implant advanced microchips in humans, explains analyst Matthew Sollenberger in a recently released brief—part of a series on “wildcard” events by the futurist research and consulting firm Social Technologies. “GPS, medical implant technology, and radio frequency identification (RFID) chips could be used for a variety of functions, from surveillance to identification,” Sollenberger says. “Chipping people would be simple, and could assist with child and elder safety, debit and credit payment, and personal medical records.

Virulent cold virus worries experts

A new and virulent strain of adenovirus, which frequently causes the common cold, killed 10 people in parts of the United States earlier this year and put dozens into hospitals, U.S. health officials said recently. A U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report detailed cases of people ill in May of 2006 and from March to June of 2007 with a strain of the virus called adenovirus 14 in New York, Oregon, Washington state and Texas. "Whether you're a healthy young adult, an infant or an elderly person, this virus can cause severe respiratory disease at any age," said John Su, who investigates infectious diseases for the CDC and contributed to the report. "What makes this particular adenovirus a little different is that it has the capability of making healthy young adults severely ill. And that's unusual for an adenovirus, and that's why it's got our attention," Su said in a telephone interview. Two of the 10 people who died from the new strain were infants, Su said. The CDC report said about 140 people were sickened by the virus and more than 50 hospitalized, including 24 admitted to intensive care units. One of those who died was a 19-year-old female recruit at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas where other cases were found.

Chavez, Ahmadinejad: US power on decline

Venezuela's outspoken president joined with Iran's leader recently in boasting that they are "united like a single fist" in challenging American influence, saying the fall of the dollar is a sign that "the U.S. empire is coming down." Hugo Chavez also joked about the most serious issue the U.S. is confronting regarding Iran — nuclear weapons — during his get-together with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The visit came after a failed attempt by the firebrand duo to move OPEC away from pricing its oil in dollars. OPEC's weekend summit displayed the limits of their alliance — their proposal was overruled by other members, led by Saudi Arabia — but it also showed their potential for stirring up problems for the U.S. and its allies. Making his fourth trip to Tehran in two years, Chavez has built a strong bond with Ahmadinejad that has produced a string of business agreements as well as a torrent of rhetoric presenting their two countries as an example of how smaller nations can stand up to the U.S. "Here are two brother countries, united like a single fist," Chavez said upon his arrival in Tehran, according to Venezuela's state-run Bolivarian News Agency. "God willing, with the fall of the dollar, the deviant U.S. imperialism will fall as soon as possible, too," Chavez said after a two-hour closed meeting with Ahmadinejad, the Iranian state news agency IRNA reported. As the dollar weakens, oil prices have soared toward $100 a barrel. Chavez said at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that prices would more than double to $200 if the U.S. attacked Iran or Venezuela. "The U.S. empire is coming down," he told Venezuelan state television, calling the European Union's euro a better option and saying Latin American nations were also considering a common currency.

Robotic Bugs coax the real things

Here's a first: Bug-size robots have been used to coax cockroaches into unnatural acts. Research reported recently in the journal Science described how a team of European scientists placed tiny robots in a colony of laboratory cockroaches. Using behavioral modification methods, the whirring, partly-disguised faux insects were able to induce the real creepy-crawlies to follow their lead in seeking shelter in bright spaces. Bent behavior, indeed, for critters famous for lurking in dark, moist cracks. No one cares too much if cockroaches can be hoodwinked into acting against their own interests. Still, it's surprising that robots can insinuate themselves into colonies of living things, however wee-witted, and more or less take charge. Although not designed to address major philosophical issues, the research nonetheless points to how robot science appears headed in weird and unpredictable directions. Some scientists say it is inevitable that advances will ultimately affect the fundamental relationship between humanity and its machines. And many analysts say it is high time that societies start seriously considering the ethical dimensions of the technological advances, although others contend the dangers are exaggerated.

Witness to Roswell Tells His Story

Retired Air Force veteran Milton Sprouse clearly remembers the summer day in 1947 when he returned to Roswell Army Air Field aboard the B-29 bomber Dave's Dream from a three-day maneuver in Florida. Sprouse, then a corporal and engine mechanic in the Army Air Forces, could not believe what his ground crew was telling him: A UFO had crashed in the New Mexico desert, on a ranch 70 miles away... A staff sergeant in his barracks was called to the hospital shortly after the crash, he said. "He and two doctors and two nurses were in the emergency room, and they brought in one of those five humanoid bodies that they had recovered," he said. "They said, 'We want this dissected and we want a complete history of how it functions and the parts and everything.'" The next day, the man from his barracks was transferred from the base, Sprouse said. "We never heard from him again," he said. "We asked and (they said), 'Oh, we don't know nothing about it.' ... I heard later that both nurses and both doctors were shipped different directions and nobody ever knew where they went."

EU 'should expand beyond Europe'

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has suggested the European Union should work towards including Russia, Middle Eastern and North African countries. He said enlargement was "our most powerful tool" for extending stability. In his first major speech on the UK's relationship with Europe, he said the EU should be a "role model" for the world. It could be a "model power of regional co-operation" dedicated to free trade, the environment and tackling extremism. He said the EU must "keep our promises to Turkey", adding: "If we fail.... it will signal a deep and dangerous divide between east and west. "Beyond that we must keep the door open, retaining the incentive for change and the prospect of membership provides."

China Doing Vast Industrial Spying

China is running an "aggressive and large-scale industrial espionage campaign" against American technology, a US congressional commission says, in a report that will exacerbate growing tensions between the two countries. The hard-hitting report, by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, accused China of backsliding over free trade reforms and of using spies to enable its companies to get hold of technology without having to pay for the research.

School puts a chip on pupils

School pupils are having their "every step traced" under a new monitoring system which sees a microchip embedded in their school uniform. Currently ten pupils at Hungerhill School in Edenthorpe are having their movements monitored by radio technology, but its Doncaster makers hope the system could soon be attached to every school uniform in the country, if the pilot scheme proves successful. Under the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) surveillance system the Hungerhill pupils have a memory microchip discreetly embedded onto their school badge which produces a radio signal. It means the pupils can be identified the moment that they step into a classroom. Its inventor, Trevor Darnborough, says the technology has many advantages including; offering accurate and speedy registration of pupils, ensuring child security, providing visual confirmation of attendance to help cover teachers and easy data input for the school's behavioural and reporting system.

Arms Underway For Space Battles

While wrestling with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon is preparing weapons to fight the next battle from space, according to information in the 621-page House-Senate conference report on the fiscal 2008 defense appropriations bill. The $459 billion bill, which awaits President Bush's signature, provides $100 million for a new "prompt global strike" program that could deliver a conventional, precision-guided warhead anywhere in the world within two hours. It takes funds away from development of a conventional warhead for the Navy's submarine-launched Trident Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and from an Air Force plan for the Common Aero Vehicle.

Software To Back Up Your Brain

As any Baby Boomer will tell you, Americans have more information to cram into their memories than ever. Yet, as we age, our capacity for recall grows weaker. But what if you could capture every waking moment of your entire life, store it on your computer and then recall digital snapshots of everything you've seen and heard with just a quick search? Renowned computer scientist Gordon Bell, head of Microsoft's Media Presence Research Group and founder of the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, thinks he might be able to do just that. He calls it a "surrogate memory," and what he considers an early version of it even has an official name: MyLifeBits. "The goal is to live as much of life as possible versus spending time maintaining our memory system," Bell explains. Perfect surrogate memory would be supplemental to, but ultimately as good as, your original memory. It could let you listen to every conversation you had when you were 21 or find that photograph of the obscure date you had on summer vacation. As Bell says, it would "supplement (and sometimes supplant) other information-processing systems, including people." MyLifeBits isn't quite there yet, but Bell's nevertheless "gone paperless" for the past decade as part of the project, keeping a detailed, digitized diary that documents his life with photographs, letters and voice recordings. So that he doesn't miss out on important daily events, Bell wears a SenseCam, developed by Microsoft Research, that takes pictures whenever it detects he may want a photograph. The camera's infrared sensor picks up on body heat and takes snapshots of anyone else in the room, adjusting itself as available light changes. Not only does MyLifeBits record your life's digital information, but the software, developed by Bell's researchers Jim Gemmell and Roger Lueder, also can help you retrieve it. "MyLifeBits is a system aimed at capturing cyber-content in the course of daily life with the goal of being able to utilize it in various ways at work, in our personal life — e.g. finances, family, health and for our future memory," Bell says. Simply enter a keyword such as "pet," for example, and the search engine will find all available information on your childhood puppy.

VeriMed Expands to ER Medical Responders

VeriMed Patient Identification System has expanded to Emergency Medical Responders. The Company has equipped 27 American Medical Response (AMR) ambulances in three counties in the Atlanta metro area with Bluetooth®-enabled scanners. These ambulances are the first fleet of its kind in the country to be equipped with the VeriMed system for both emergency and non-emergency transport of residents and patients from more than 20 senior independent living facilities, assisted living facilities and nursing homes in Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton Counties.

Control The Electro-Magnetic Spectrum

Defence Donald Rumsfeld signed a document called the Information Operation Roadmap which outlined, among other things, the Pentagon's desire to dominate the entire electromagnetic spectrum... "We Must Improve Network and Electro-Magnetic Attack Capability. To prevail in an information-centric fight, it is increasingly important that our forces dominate the electromagnetic spectrum with attack capabilities."... "Cover the full range of EW [Electronic Warfare] missions and capabilities, including navigation warfare, offensive counterspace, control of adversary radio frequency systems that provide location and identification of friend and foe, etc."... "Provide a future EW capability sufficient to provide maximum control of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, denying, degrading, disrupting, or destroying the full spectrum of globally emerging communication systems, sensors, and weapons systems dependant on the electromagnetic spectrum."

'Greens' Movement May Have Darker Agenda

Some environmentalists, such as Britain's Prince Phillip, formerly the president of the World Wildlife Fund, are showing us the hidden hand behind the eco-environmental movement. When asked what he would be were he to be reincarnated, he said he would wish to return as "a killer virus to lower human population levels." Unfortunately, as a longtime proponent of population control, he was not kidding. To find out about the "Greens," we have to pay attention to what those who purport to be its leaders are saying. Does this movement to save the planet have another, darker agenda such as population control? Everyone wants clean air and water. Everyone is for not trashing our planet. Not everyone, however, is of the extreme opinion that in order to accomplish these things, we must drastically reduce human population levels.

Proving Einstein's Relativity Of Time

In 1905, Albert Einstein wrote his own treatise on the relativity of time, famously theorising that time speeds up or slows down according to how fast an object is moving in relation to another object. Thus, according to his hypothesis, a clock which is in motion ticks more slowly than an identical clock which is at rest -- a phenomenon that Einstein called time dilation. In a study published on Sunday, the most accurate experiment yet into time dilation has proven the great German physicist to be bang on target. An international team of researchers used a particle accelerator to whizz two beams of atoms around a doughnut-shaped course to represent Einstein's faster-moving clocks. They then timed the beams using high-precision laser spectroscopy and found that, compared with the outside world, time for these atomic travellers did indeed slow down. "We were able to determine the effect more precisely than ever before," said lead researcher Gerald Gwinner of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada. "We found the observed effect to be in complete agreement."

Yellowstone: Time Bomb Under America

Deep beneath Yellowstone National Park lies a vast super-volcano which, if it blew up, could devastate much of the US. Recently, it's been a bit too restless for comfort. Startling new geological data published recently in the journal Science suggests that it might be a good idea for most of us – and certainly those living in the region – to be aware that there is more to Yellowstone than grand vistas and abundant wildlife. The hot springs are a clue to what lies beneath: seething layers of molten magma, super-heated gases and hydrothermal liquids. Yellowstone straddles one of Earth's most studied "hot-spots", where fissures in the crust, created by volcanic eruptions of eons past, have allowed giant streams of molten rock, or magma, to push closer than normal to the planet's surface. In recent years something intriguing – if not to say thoroughly nerve-rattling – has been going on. The magma is on the move. And so is Yellowstone. Over the past three years, according to the report, the ground in the volcanic caldera that spans about 925 square miles and accounts for much of the park's terrain has been rising towards the sky at the rate of almost three inches per year. That is three times faster than has ever been observed before. It raises the obvious question: what is happening under the park? And what might be about to happen?

Researchers to look into warp speed

Captain Kirk and his crew may someday be followed on their travels across the universe at warp speed by the rest of us. If scientists meeting for a one-day international conference next week have their way, the starship Enterprise's warp drive will no longer be the stuff of science fiction but a viable means of travelling vast distances at faster than the speed of light. Anyone wanting to boldly go on a trip to a far-off galaxy should not hold their breath though. Scientists admit there is little chance of anyone building a warp drive this century, but there is serious academic interest in the subject. The British Interplanetary Society is bringing together physicists for a conference entitled Faster than Light: Breaking the Interstellar Distance Barrier. "The main purpose is to raise awareness of this obscure field of research within general relativity and quantum field theory and attract new and particularly young researchers to work on the technical problems," said organiser Kelvin Long. Although the subject is firmly in the realm of exotic physics, he said previously controversial ideas often find their way into the mainstream eventually. "Historically, black holes and worm holes were not taken seriously. Now, dozens of papers are published every year on these topics. It is desirable for warp field theory to receive similar attention, if we are to realistically appraise its potential," he said. The theory behind travelling at warp speed is that you bend the fabric of space and time in a small region around a space craft by creating an anti-gravitational field. This causes space behind the warp bubble to expand away from the vehicle. In front space collapses like in a black hole. This theoretically allows you to move your craft across enormous distances at a faster spped than light. One of the central tenets of Einstein's theory of special relativity is that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light within spacetime, but the idea with warp speed is that a small region of spacetime itself moves. It is a bit like standing on a moving walkway at an airport: because the walkway is moving you travel forward faster than you could by walking the same distance on solid ground.

High-Tech Policing To Britain’s Borders

The Eborders system will link the databases of government departments to those of transport providers to allow the speedy identification of passengers the government would want to exclude. It is part of the wider strategy that includes biometric passports and visas and the controversial identity-card scheme. Meanwhile, two defence contractors, BAE Systems and Thales, are understood to have made the Home Office’s long list for a “roster” of companies that will provide the ID-card system.

Shell: Payments With Biometric Scan

If you happen to run low on gas in Chicagoland and you stop at a Shell, you'll be able to pay for your fill-up with a simple scan of your fingertip. Shell is the world's first gasoline retailer to adopt secure biometric payment technology. The pilot project is a collaboration between Shell and a company called Pay By Touch- a world leader in biometric authentication, data management and payment solutions. Biometrics is a means of verifying personal identity by measuring and analyzing unique characteristics like fingerprints or voice patterns. Chicagoland shoppers are largely familiar with such technologies already, and if set up with PBT elsewhere, they can use the payment method at Shell without having to sign up again. The system simply associates each registered customers fingerprint with their preferred method of payment- like a Shell Card or Mastercard.

World's Largest Database For Police Use

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approved recently the establishment of a police search engine, which, if passed by the Knesset, would be the largest legal database in the Western world for police use. The database is to include names, unlisted and listed phone numbers, Internet addresses, computer and modem numbers, and cell-phone identifiers to pinpoint signals and allow the police to track individual conversations. Access to the information will be given not only to police, but to several investigative authorities, including the military criminal investigation department, the Police Investigation Unit, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Justice Ministry, the Tax Authority and more.

CBS News Asks: Could We Live Forever?

Although Ponce de Leon never found the legendary fountain of youth, today in labs like the one at the University of California, San Francisco, scientists are trying to stop the clock or at least slow it down. In San Francisco, Professor Cynthia Kenyon is conducting experiments on microscopic worms. Their usual life span is little more than 13 days, but she has been able to get some to live as long as six times that by altering one specific gene.... But to some people, like inventor Ray Kurzweil, a pill like that is just the first of innovations that he and others think could extend our lives for hundreds - yes hundreds - of years. "We've gone 20,000 years without significantly changing the software that runs in our body. We have the tools now to do that," he said. Kurzweil - you may have heard of his keyboards - foresees what he calls "the singularity," when technology and human biology merge. He's banking on the advance of technology continuing to accelerate, yielding devices like nanobots - microscopic robots that would roam your blood stream, curing what ails you.

Breakthrough In Cloning Primates

A technical breakthrough has enabled scientists to create for the first time dozens of cloned embryos from adult monkeys, raising the prospect of the same procedure being used to make cloned human embryos. Attempts to clone human embryos for research have been dogged by technical problems and controversies over fraudulent research and questionable ethics. But the new technique promises to revolutionise the efficiency by which scientists can turn human eggs into cloned embryos. It is the first time that scientists have been able to create viable cloned embryos from an adult primate – in this case a 10-year-old male rhesus macaque monkey – and they are scheduled to report their findings later this month. The scientists will also demonstrate that they have been able to extract stem cells from some of the cloned embryos and that they have managed to encourage these embryonic cells to develop in the laboratory into mature heart cells and brain neurons. Scientists who know of the research said it was the breakthrough that they had all been waiting for because, until now, there was a growing feeling that there might be some insuperable barrier to creating cloned embryos from adult primates – including humans.

NJ School Cameras Fed Live To Cops

Surveillance cameras rolling inside our local schools is nothing new, but what's taking place inside Demarest's public schools is truly cutting edge: a live feed from more than two dozen cameras with a direct connection to the police. It's an expensive, but effective tool that could be a sign of the times with an increase in school shootings over the years. The system, which cost about $28,000, can even track movement in a crowded room. "When they arrive, they can pull up the school's live feed and do a sweep instantly," Patrolling officers have access to the video feed from headquarters and several laptops. To address privacy concerns, all of the cameras are installed in public areas and are not equipped to pick up audio. The video capabilities are extremely impressive. Each of the laptops can pick up 16 different angles at one time, turning a single operator into a mobile surveillance team. In an emergency situation, Powderley says the cameras -- complete with zoom and pan functions -- also cut down search and response times. "One officer has 17 eyes in multiple locations. It's amazing," he says. Schools Superintendent Larry Hughes says if nothing else, the ability to digitally timestamp and archive the video should discourage bad, even criminal behavior. "It doesn't hurt that people know and that if something is going to take place at your facility, if it does deter people from doing that, it's an added benefit," says Hughes. Students seem pleased with the high-tech devices. "I would want the police to be there right away if something happened to our school. Especially with all these bomb scares happening now, I know the high school had a couple," says one student. Plans are already underway to install a more advanced system in Northern Valley High school, which can alert a patrolling officer when someone is in distress or suddenly falls down.

Pentagon Wants Missiles In Space

Buried in the 621-page House-Senate conference report on the Defense Department appropriations bill -- and page A19 of Monday's Washington Post, is a $100 million request to enhance space warfare. As if it didn't already have enough work in Iraq, the Pentagon plans to divert funds from an appropriation to improve submarine-launched Trident missiles to develop a "global strike" program which would allow the US to target and dispatch a "precision-guided" warhead anywhere in the world within two hours.

Swiss Offers Suicide In A Parked Car

The Swiss suicide charity Dignitas has been forced to reinvent its assisted death operation after losing its lease on the apartment in a Zurich suburb where hundreds of people had gone to die. Other residents in the building had complained about having to use the same elevator as "customers" going up to the third floor flat, and dead bodies being taken down to ambulances or hearses parked below. Dignitas had hoped to book a suite of hotel rooms to carry out the assisted deaths but withdrew when the Association of Zurich Hoteliers threatened legal action if clients checked in to die. Use of their former premises in an industrial area was also denied them by local authorities. With nowhere to turn, the group has been reduced to offering its killing service in rental vans where clients are given a concoction of chemicals which they voluntarily drank - which means there is no possibility of prosecution under Swiss law. Assisted suicide, where the patient carries out the final act himself, is legal in Switzerland while active euthanasia, or deliberate killing to end suffering, is not. The organization intends to continue offering mobile suicide services until it finds a permanent base.

Bush Talk: Prelude To War?

President George W. Bush is developing a new strategy for tackling Iran’s determined pursuit of a nuclear weapons program. He sounded out French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on his new ideas when they came over separately for talks in the last few days. He is also in rapport with Russian president Vladimir Putin through confidential channels. DEBKAfile’s Washington sources report that the US president’s plan is to put before the public new findings on Iran’s nuclear secrets, drawn from data gathered by the United States, Russia, France, Germany and Israel... US naval, air and marine forces are again beginning to pile up around Iran’s Gulf shores, while Tehran threatens to unleash “wave upon wave” of suicide fighters against “aggressors.” DEBKAfile’s military sources report that in recent months, the USS Enterprise was the only US nuclear carrier cruising Gulf waters with its strike force. It has now been joined by the USS Nimitz Strike Group, one of the largest warships afloat today. Furthermore, on Nov. 5, a third nuclear carrier, the USS Harry S. Truman set out quietly from its Norfolk base for the Gulf with 7,500 sailors and marines aboard the carrier and its strike force. All three carrier groups are escorted by fast nuclear submarines, cruisers and missile destroyers.

More People Talking with the dead

The age-old practice of mediumship has received a pop-culture boost in recent years. The TV shows "Ghost Whisperer" and "Medium" explore the theme, and high-profile psychics — including John Edward of "Crossing Over" fame and Lisa Williams and Sylvia Browne — are nabbing TV contracts and book sales. "People are more aware of [mediumship] since it's caught on with the mainstream," said Sue Fattarini, a self-described psychic who works at the Crystal Barn in Visalia. What are customers looking for? "The main thing is that they need to know that their loved one is doing OK," Fattarini said. "It gives them a sense of closure." Skeptics remain, of course. Father Ray Dreiling, pastor at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Visalia, likened the determination of many to contact the dead to primitive people's use of spirits or phantasms to explain the unknown. "Without knowing the reality of the situation, people looked toward the spirits for some kind of omen," he said. "They wanted the best answer they [could get]." Today, he said, many turn to the occult as a problem-solving shortcut.

Potter books read more than the Bible

More people re-read Harry Potter than the Bible, new research has shown. Almost 80 per cent of UK readers re-read books they have enjoyed, with JK Rowling's magical series topping the list. Lord Of The Rings and Pride And Prejudice were second and third in the top 20 re-read books, with the Bible at number 16. Almost a fifth of readers read their favourite book more than five times. Coffee shop chain Costa studied the reading habits of Britain to mark their 2007 Book Awards. It also shows that 43 per cent of the 2034 people questioned decide whether they will finish the book after only the first chapter. Simon Trewin, a literary agent, said: "There has never been a more important time to remind the reading public not to judge a book by its cover."

Area 52, The Secret Sister of Area 51

Some of the greatest and most secretive airplanes in history have been developed in the Nevada desert, most of them at the now-infamous base known as Area 51. It turns out Area 51 has a sister facility -- Area 52 -- and it's a place with secrets of its own. Area 52 isn't quite as secretive as Area 51. For one thing, you can at least find it on some maps. But it's off limits to most of us because of the classified work that goes on out there. The base has been bombed, blasted, poisoned, and nuked in the pursuit of cutting edge technology that probably can't be tested anywhere else.

Protect Rights Of Human Clones

'Human reproductive cloning could profoundly impact humanity,' said UN Under-Secretary-General Konrad Osterwalder. 'This report offers a plain language analysis of the opportunities, challenges and options before us - a firm and thoughtful base from which the international community can revisit the issue before science overtakes policy.' Without a global ban, the International Court of Justice could judge human reproductive cloning in certain countries perfectly legal, warned Brendan Tobin, Chamundeeswari Kuppuswamy, Darryl Macer and Mihaela Serbulea, co-authors of the report. Tobin of the National University of Ireland said: 'Failure to outlaw reproductive cloning means it is just a matter of time until cloned individuals share the planet. If failure to compromise continues, the world community must accept responsibility and ensure that any cloned individual receives full human rights protection. It will also need to embark on an extensive awareness building and sensitivity program to ensure that the wider society treats clones with respect and ensure they are protected against prejudice, abuse or discrimination.'

Hotel Bibles Being Replaced With Porn

In the rooms of Manhattan's trendy Soho Grand Hotel guests can enjoy an eclectic selection of underground music, iPod docking stations, flat-screen TVs and even the living company of a complimentary goldfish. But, alas, the word of God is nowhere to be found. Unlike traditional hotels, the 10-year-old boutique has never put Bibles in its guest rooms, because "society evolves," says hotel spokeswoman Lori DeBlois. Providing Bibles would mean the hotel "would have to take care of every guest's belief." What might be surprising to many Americans is that the Bible-free room isn't a development just in hip New York City hotels. Across the country upscale accommodations are doing away with the Bible as a standard room amenity. And in its stead have arrived a slew of "lifestyle" products that cater to a younger, hipper (and presumably less religious) clientele. Since 2001 the number of luxury hotels with religious materials in the rooms has dropped by 18 percent, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association. The Nashville-based Gideons International, which has distributed copies of the Christian scripture to hotels since 1908, declined to comment on this trend. Edgier chains like the W provide "intimacy kits" with condoms in the minibar, while New York's Mercer Hotel supplies a free condom in each bathroom. Neither has Bibles. Since its recent renovation, the Sofitel L.A. offers a tantalizing lovers' dice game: roll one die for the action to be performed (for example, "kiss," "lick") and the other for the associated body part. The hotel's "mile high" kit, sold in the revamped gift shop, includes a condom, a mini vibrator, a feather tickler and lubricant. The new Indigo hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz., a "branded boutique" launched by InterContinental, also has no Bibles, but it does offer a "One Night Stand" package for guests seeking VIP treatment at local nightclubs and late checkout for the hazy morning after.

Russia Reasserts Power

During the past few months, the Russian Federation has implemented a new doctrine of increased military activity, as well as the development of new thermobaric bombs. There are a number of political implications for Russia's close neighbors and for the international community. The renewed bomber runs, which have been a regular occurrence since June 2007, have skirted U.S., British, and Norwegian airspace. Besides their provocative nature, Russia has not violated any international laws since the bombers have never entered the airspace of another country. Instead, the bombers have remained in international airspace, and only come close to U.S., British, and Norwegian airspace. Nevertheless, the bombers have caused sufficient concern, as has been seen by the scrambling of Norwegian, British, and U.S. interceptors to "escort" the Russian bombers back toward Russian airspace. The perception of these flights has been summed up by Gene Renuart, commander of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (N.O.R.A.D.), who told the media last month that "any time you have an unidentified aircraft approaching sovereign airspace of the country there's some concern about the intentions of the airplane."

Oil Price Creates A New World Order

As the price of oil hovers around the symbolic milestone of $US100 ($106) a barrel - with Malaysia's TAPIS crude hitting $US100.54 recently - it is creating new winners and losers across the globe. In southern China, high oil prices forced Wang Pui, a truck driver, to wait in line 90 minutes the other day to fill up, just to be told he could pump only 98 litres, as China faced spot shortages of petrol and diesel. When Vladimir Putin was making Russia's bid to be host of the 2014 Winter Olympics last July, he reached into the country's deep pockets, bulging with oil profits, and pledged $US12 billion to turn a Black Sea summer resort into a winter-sports paradise. Russia, which was nearly bankrupt a decade ago, won the Games.

New Planet Could Hold Life

Planet-hunters say they have detected a giant world that is nestled among four others in a planetary system 41 light-years from Earth. This newfound world is in the "Goldilocks zone" - a place that's not too hot, not too cold, but just right for the existence of liquid water and conceivably life. The fresh discovery, announced Tuesday during a NASA teleconference, focuses on a star and planetary system called 55 Cancri, in the constellation Cancer. The system is already well-known to astronomers who search for the telltale signs of planets beyond our own solar system - but the newly detected planet has taken the search to a new level.

Outsourcing Wombs in India

In a new twist to the outsourcing for which India has become renowned, poor Indian women are renting out their wombs to foreigners. Surrogate motherhood -- carrying to term and giving birth to another woman's baby - once was limited in India to helping close relatives who couldn't complete a pregnancy due to medical difficulties. But leading gynecologist Dr. Kamla Selvaraj says it's now becoming a regular "profession" in India, with more and more women willing to carry babies for others, for a fee. India has for years been providing foreigners with in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment at a cheaper rate than the equivalent services in Western countries. "Foreigners find Indian legal procedures easy and less exploitative, unlike [in the] U.S., where any complication could cost a fortune," she said. Although surrogacy cases have been reported from various regions, one area that appears to be over-represented is Anand district in the western state of Gujarat, where more than 50 economically deprived women are reported to be presently carrying babies for foreigners and non-resident Indians. While a couple in the U.S. will generally pay tens of thousands of dollars to a surrogate mother and affiliated agencies, in India the cost could be around $5,000, plus medical and attendant costs.

S. Florida Will Be Underwater

Scientists and economists recently warned lawmakers of consequences Florida faces from climate change, including more destructive hurricanes and a rising sea level, but they also said the state could be a leader in reducing global warming. Harold Wanless, chairman of the University of Miami's Department of Geological Sciences, predicted a 1.5 foot rise in sea level in 50 years and a three- to five-foot increase by the end of the century. "Three feet's going to get messy," he said. "Four feet becomes extremely difficult to live in South Florida and five feet probably impossible."

Dogs Have Some Ability To Read Minds

Dog owners who think their beloved pooch can read their mind may be right. Canterbury University psychology student Michelle Maginnity has just completed a masters research project looking at whether the domestic dog has a theory of mind — that is, whether they can think about the thoughts and feelings of self and others. She said after carrying out a range of experiments which tested the cognitive skills of dogs, she believed they were not only sensitive to human cues, but also had the ability to think about what their human companions may be thinking. “So, in a way, dogs may be able to read minds,” she said. Michelle’s research involved testing the social-cognitive skills of 16 dogs, some pure bred and others of mixed breed, in a food-finding task. In four different experiments the dogs had to decide where the food was hidden by following cues from people who either did or didn’t know where the food was. Michelle said a range of scenarios were tested, for example, one person watched food being hidden while the other covered their eyes, and in each test the dogs showed a preference for the person who they believed knew where the food was. “What this showed was that the dogs were able to take the perspective of the humans involved in the experiment, and attribute states of knowledge to those people,” Michelle said. “This means dogs may possess a functional theory of mind.”

Navy Getting For Possible War With Iran

The U.S. Navy launched a series of exercises in the Gulf to enhance skills required in any war with Iran which, according to British press reports, could occur in early 2008. The U.S. Fifth Fleet conducted a crisis response exercise that included amphibious, air and medical forces. The five-day exercise by the USS Wasp, led by Commander Task Force 59, was scheduled to end on Nov. 5. The U.S. Fifth Fleet has been operating two strike groups in the Gulf. The USS Enterprise and USS Kearsarge have also been training in the region.

Dividing Jerusalem, Destroying Israel

The agenda of the Bush continues to move forward as a "whirlwind" whose destiny is to cause havoc. There is no doubt today the easy lifestyle of Americans have made them lazy. For many do not believe that God would actually hold any nation accountable for what they do. This month Rice is pushing the administration’s line to bring the two state solution to the Land of Israel. It is there that this group of uninformed politicians from America would like to make its last stand, which for Israel would be the last.
In an interview the Israeli Journalist and author, Barry Chamish the subject of Israel always comes up. The subject is one, which Barry, who describes himself as a secular journalist, doesn’t put any religious ideas into what he writes. When the idea that Israel would actually continue to be in existence, Barry has a short, terse answer. "She will be completely destroyed". Further, Barry insists, that by "December", he expects Israel to be non existent. In our office we receive first hand reports from Israel all the time. The conclusion for many is that the United States is on the verge of completing its plan to bring in the two state solution, come hell or high water. Jerry Golden, a messianic Jewish minister in Jerusalem recently spoke on this subject. He said, and I agree that: "The politicians would like for you to believe that nothing has been decided on Israel’s surrender to the Islamic Arabs on the division of Jerusalem." Jerry continues by saying "but thanks to George Bush, Rice and God only knows who else, the lines have been drawn and Border Crossings and walls are going up as you read this article."

Homeschoolers facing $6,300 fine

Government officials determined to stamp out "parallel societies" have in the past ordered police to take children from their homes to school and have placed a teenager involuntarily in psychiatric care for being homeschooled. Now they are fining a German husband and wife $6,300 for refusing to require their children to attend public schools. The Home School Legal Defense Association has written a letter to Mrs. Senatorin Renate Jurgens-Pieper in Bremen, asking for a continuation of previous permission for the Neubronner family to teach their children at home. "I understand that this family would like to homeschool their children and that while you previously allowed them to do so you are refusing to permit them to homeschool this year," the letter from HSLDA President J. Michael Smith said. "We also ask you to use your influence to modify the Bremen City-State [law] to make homeschooling possible for anyone who chooses it. To deny parents the right to homeschool their children is to deny them a basic and fundamental human right. Will you consider setting an example for your whole nation that respects the rights of parents and children to be home educated?" German officials targeted an American family of Baptist missionaries for deportation because they belong to a group that refuses "to give their children over to the state school system." The teenager, Melissa Busekros, also returned to her family months after German authorities took her from her home and forcibly detained her in a psychiatric facility for being homeschooled.

Bibles banned from 2008 Olympic village

Chinese officials have announced athletes who compete in the 2008 Beijing Games will be banned from having Bibles in their Olympic village housing, and even visitors are being warned not to bring more than a single Bible with them when they come to China. According to a report from the Catholic News Agency, Bibles will be among the list of "prohibited objects" for athletes at the Beijing housing complexes being built now for the thousands of athletes expected to participate. "According to the Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, organizers have cited 'security reasons' and have prohibited athletes from bearing any kind of religious symbol at Olympic facilities," the report said. "The Spanish daily La Razon said the rule was one of a number of 'signs of censure and intolerance' towards religious objects, particularly those used by Christians in China," the report said. "Currently in China five bishops and 15 priests are in prison for opposing the official [government-run] church."

Iran 'could have atom bomb in a year'

President Ahmadinejad of Iran claimed on October 7, that his country had developed 3,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium - a sufficient number, according to scientists to allow it to build an atomic bomb within a year. In a defiant speech, Mr Ahmadinejad also vowed to continue ignoring UN Security Council resolutions to stop Iran's nuclear programme, claiming that "the Iranian nation could not care a less" about two rounds of sanctions that had been imposed. "We have now reached 3,000 machines," the Iranian leader told a rally in the north eastern city of Birjand. Enriched uranium can fuel power plants but also, if refined further, provide fissile material for bombs, although Iran says that its nuclear programme is for generating electricity. Western experts say that, in ideal conditions, Iran's 3,000 centrifuges could enrich enough uranium within a year to make a nuclear warhead. The centrifuges are located at an underground nuclear facility at Natanz in central Iran.

Schools to use face-recognition cameras

The Metro Nashville school system plans to become the first in the nation to use security cameras that spot intruders by using controversial, cutting-edge, face-recognition technology. Starting Dec. 1, the 75,000-student district will equip Harpeth Valley Elementary, Gra-Mar Middle and Antioch High School and an administration building with cameras that sound alarms when they detect an unfamiliar face or someone barred from school grounds, Assistant Superintendent Ralph Thompson said. "This will give us an edge in providing safety for our students and teachers," Thompson said. Several intruders have entered Nashville schools in the past year, he said. A successful test in Nashville could prod other schools to try the technology, said Peter Pochowski, executive director of the National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers. He said, "The vendors are out there looking for customers," calling Nashville the first school system to use face-recognition cameras.

Russia Pours Billions Into Nanotech Race

Back in the mid-1980s, a joke made the rounds that the Kremlin was preparing a major announcement: After a decade-long top-secret crash program, socialist science had succeeded in building the world's largest microprocessor. That was then. After sleeping through the high tech revolutions of the late 20th century, the Russian government is dumping billions into the burgeoning science of nanotechnology. The Kremlin last June announced the creation of Rosnanotekh, a state nanotechnology corporation slated for $5 billion in initial funding -- an outlay that propels Russia past China in nanotech spending, and puts the country on a par with the United States in government-funded nano research.

Hollywoods Attack on Christian Values

According to the Biblical Guide, not only has there been an increase in the number of explicitly left-wing, anti-American, anti-Christian documentaries in the last two years (such as “The Road to Guantanamo,” “Jesus Camp,” “Jimmy Carter Man from Plains,” and “For the Bible Tells Me So”), but there has also been an increasing number of anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-American mainstream movies such as “The Da Vinci Code,” “Brokeback Mountain,” and the recent box office bombs “In the Valley of Elah” and “Rendition.”

Chinese military boosts hacking

Senior military commanders at the U.S. Pacific Command here said China's recent test of an anti-satellite weapon and increased computer-hacking activities prompted increased defenses for U.S. forces in the region and in space. "U.S. space capabilities are an asymmetric advantage that we have to maintain," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Daniel Leaf, deputy commander of the U.S. Pacific Command. "There has been significant discussion and activity to assess the impact of [the anti-satellite test] and other [Chinese] space developments, and how to protect our extraordinarily important space capability," he said in an interview at the command's headquarters at Camp H.M. Smith. Pentagon officials have said Chinese military hackers in recent months carried out computer-based attacks on Pentagon and U.S. military and civilian government computer networks, as well as on foreign government networks. Without naming China, Gen. Leaf said the problem of computer attacks is growing. "We're very concerned about that — for the information that may be contained on [the networks] or for the activities we conduct that are command and control and situational awareness related."
Details of recent computer attacks, including those on Pacific Command networks, are classified, Gen. Leaf said. But the issue was raised in meetings with Chinese military officials.

Teachers ordered to dress up as Muslims

Teachers at a primary school have been ordered to dress up as Muslims to promote multi-culturalism. The West Midlands school is belatedly celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid and told its pupils and teachers to don traditional Muslim dress for the day. All 257 pupils, most of whom are Christians, and 41 teachers - two of whom are Muslims - dressed up. A morning assembly was held to mark the event and an afternoon party was strictly for women only, because Muslim husbands object to wives mixing with other men. Sally Bloomer, head of Rufford primary school in Lye, West Midlands, told The Sun: "I have not heard of any complaints. It's all part of a diversity project to promote multi-culturalism." But a relative of one of the staff reportedly said: "Who would put their job on the line? They have been told they have to embrace the day to show their diversity.

Concerns About Pakistan's Nukes

The United States continues to be concerned about the "state of emergency and curtailment of basic freedoms" in Pakistan, National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said recently. Another U.S. concern, NPR national security correspondent Jackie Northam reports, is Pakistan's nuclear weapons. (The country is believed to have 50.) Jackie told me U.S. officials are worried what might happen if Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is overthrown or becomes too weak. But their biggest worry isn't that the weapons will fall into the hands of the Islamic militants the United States has been relying on Musharraf to help fight.

Adaptive Battlefield Wireless Nets

Project WAND, for Wireless Adaptive Network Development, will exploit commercial radio components, rather than custom ones, and use a variety of software techniques and algorithms, many of them only just now emerging in mature form. These $500 walkie-talkie-size radios will form large-scale, peer-to-peer ad hoc nets, which can shift frequencies, sidestep interference, and handle a range of events that today completely disrupt wireless communications.

Science Creates Mighty Mouse

Scientists have been astounded by the creation of a genetically modified "supermouse" with extraordinary physical abilities – comparable to the performance of the very best athletes – raising the prospect that the discovery may one day be used to transform people's capacities. The mouse can run up to six kilometres (3.7 miles) at a speed of 20 metres per minute for five hours or more without stopping. Scientists said that this was equivalent of a man cycling at speed up an Alpine mountain without a break. Although it eats up to 60 per cent more food than an ordinary mouse, the modified mouse does not put on weight. It also lives longer and enjoys an active sex life well into old age – being capable of breeding at three times the normal maximum age. American scientists who created the mice – they now have a breeding colony of 500 – said that they were stunned by their abilities, especially given that the animals came about as a result of a standard genetic modification to a single metabolism gene shared with humans. They emphasised that the aim of the research was not to prepare the way to enhance the genes of people.

Chinese sub sneaks up on U.S. Navy

When the U.S. Navy deploys a battle fleet on exercises, it takes the security of its aircraft carriers very seriously indeed. At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world's only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders. That is the theory. Or, rather, was the theory. American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close to the vast U.S.S. Kitty Hawk - a 1,000ft supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board. By the time it surfaced the 160ft Song Class diesel-electric attack submarine is understood to have sailed within viable range for launching torpedoes or missiles at the carrier. According to senior Nato officials the incident caused consternation in the U.S. Navy. The Americans had no idea China's fast-growing submarine fleet had reached such a level of sophistication, or that it posed such a threat. One Nato figure said the effect was "as big a shock as the Russians launching Sputnik" - a reference to the Soviet Union's first orbiting satellite in 1957 which marked the start of the space age. The incident, which took place in the ocean between southern Japan and Taiwan, is a major embarrassment for the Pentagon. The lone Chinese vessel slipped past at least a dozen other American warships which were supposed to protect the carrier from hostile aircraft or submarines. And the rest of the costly defensive screen, which usually includes at least two U.S. submarines, was also apparently unable to detect it.

People Are Human-Bacteria Hybrid

Most of the cells in your body are not your own, nor are they even human. They are bacterial. From the invisible strands of fungi waiting to sprout between our toes, to the kilogram of bacterial matter in our guts, we are best viewed as walking "superorganisms," highly complex conglomerations of human cells, bacteria, fungi and viruses. That's the view of scientists at Imperial College London who published a paper in Nature Biotechnology Oct. 6 describing how these microbes interact with the body. Understanding the workings of the superorganism, they say, is crucial to the development of personalized medicine and health care in the future because individuals can have very different responses to drugs, depending on their microbial fauna.

Beating victim guilty of 'evangelism'

An Iranian judge has concluded a woman who was attacked and beaten and had her sewing shop equipment destroyed by vandals has no legal recourse because she was guilty of "evangelism". The woman, whose name was not revealed, was running a tailoring business, and had volunteered to teach three young ladies how to sew. As part of the conversations that arose, her testimony about Christianity came up, and in response to a number of questions, she started teaching them about Christianity. However, one of the students was from "a fanatic Muslim family," and when they discovered the teaching, they first opposed it. "But this young lady was seriously following her Christian beliefs. Things got worse, to the extent that her parents started beating her up and threatening her if she didn't leave her faith. "They told her, 'If you don't return to Islam, we will keep beating you until you die. She eventually fled to another city, and in their subsequent search for her, the parents and other family members sought the sewing instructor. "They thought she might have taken refuge in the home of the lady who was teaching her how to sew. They had heard about her and the fact that she had evangelized their daughter. In any case, they contacted that lady and threatened her by telling her that if she did not send their daughter back to them, they would close down her shop and would even arrange to kill her. "Within fundamentalist Islam, the penalty of someone who turns from Islam is death. That is why they had the right to kill her if they wanted to.

Cancer Breakthrough: Ultraviolet Light

Beams of ultraviolet light could be used to destroy tumours following a breakthrough by British scientists. They have developed light-activated "magic bullets" which could give hope to millions of cancer victims by allowing surgeons to target tumours much more effectively. The special molecules are injected into the bloodstream and then "switched on" by shining ultraviolet light on the part of the body where they are needed.

Israel minister: 'Apocalyptic scenario'

Egyptian and Saudi Arabian intentions to begin or revive their nuclear programs in the face of Iran's continued race toward nuclear power present an ‘apocalyptic scenario’ for Israel as well as for the rest of the world, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman said recently. Lieberman's remarks came a week after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced a decision to restart his country's nuclear program. On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country had begun operating 3,000 centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium. ‘If Egypt and Saudi Arabia begin nuclear programs, this can bring an apocalyptic scenario upon us,’ Lieberman told the Post. ‘Their intentions should be taken seriously and the declarations being made now are to prepare the world for when they decide to actually do it.’ Lieberman also said Pakistan was a major threat to Israel due to the political instability there and the fact that the country had ‘missiles, nuclear weapons and a proven capability.’ ‘We hope there will be stability and the [Pakistani] nuclear weapons won't fall into radical hands,’ he said. ‘If the Taliban or [al-Qaida leader Osama] bin Laden get control [of Pakistan] they will have nuclear weapons for terror use and they don't hide their opinions about Israel.’

EU To Ban Creationism In Schools

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has adopted a resolution to ban creationism from receiving any discussion in schools outside of religion classes. "The Parliamentary Assembly is worried about the possible ill-effects of the spread of creationist ideas within our education systems and about the consequences for our democracies," said the resolution adopted recently by the Parliament made up of 626 members elected from each European Member State. "If we are not careful, creationism could become a threat to human rights which are a key concern of the Council of Europe," said the resolution. The CoE, an advisory body without power to mandate its resolutions, calls on all nations of Europe "to firmly oppose the teaching of creationism as a scientific discipline on an equal footing with the theory of evolution and in general resist presentation of creationist ideas in any discipline other than religion."

Tennessee Town Has Run Out of Water

As twilight falls over this Tennessee town, Mayor Tony Reames drives up a dusty dirt road to the community's towering water tank and begins his nightly ritual in front of a rusty metal valve. With a twist of the wrist, he releases the tank's meager water supply, and suddenly this sleepy town is alive with activity. Washing machines whir, kitchen sinks fill and showers run. About three hours later, Reames will return and reverse the process, cutting off water to the town's 145 residents. The severe drought tightening like a vise across the Southeast has threatened the water supply of cities large and small, sending politicians scrambling for solutions. But Orme, about 40 miles west of Chattanooga and 150 miles northwest of Atlanta, is a town where the worst-case scenario has already come to pass: The water has run out. The mighty waterfall that fed the mountain hamlet has been reduced to a trickle, and now the creek running through the center of town is dry. Water restrictions in Orme are nothing new. But residents say it's never been this bad. Even last summer, as the water supply dwindled, city leaders cut off water only at night. But in August, Reames took the most extreme step yet and restricted use to three hours a day. "It's not a short-term solution," Reames says. "It is THE solution." He says the crisis in Orme could serve as a warning to other communities to conserve water before it's too late. "I feel for the folks in Atlanta," he says, his gravelly voice barely rising above the sound of rushing water from the town's tank. "We can survive. We're 145 people. You've got 4.5 million people down there. What are they going to do? It's a scary thought."

Using Nanotech To Stop Bullets

A research paper published in the Institute of Physics’ Nanotechnology details how engineers from the Centre for Advanced Materials Technology at the University of Sydney have found a way to use the elasticity of carbon nanotubes to not only stop bullets penetrating material but actually rebound their force. Most anti-ballistic materials, like bullet-proof jackets and explosion-proof blankets, are currently made of multiple layers of Kevlar, Twaron or Dyneema fibres which stop bullets from penetrating by spreading the bullet’s force. Targets can still be left suffering blunt force trauma - perhaps severe bruising or, worse, damage to critical organs.

TB - HIV have merged into an epidemic

Drug-resistant tuberculosis and HIV have merged into a double-barreled epidemic that is sweeping across sub-Saharan Africa and threatening global efforts to eradicate both diseases. Over-burdened health systems are unable to cope with the epidemic and risk collapse, said the report, which calls for urgent measures to curb its spread. A third of the world's 40 million HIV/AIDS sufferers also have TB, and the death rate for people infected with both is five times higher than that for tuberculosis alone. The situation is aggravated by surging rates of multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB precisely in those areas where the rates of HIV infection are highest. MDR and XDR tuberculosis are resistant to some or all of the standard drugs used to fight the disease. "Now the eye of the storm is in sub-Saharan Africa, where half of new TB cases are HIV co-infected," said Veronica Miller, co-author of the report and director of The Forum for Collaborative HIV Research, which issued the study.
"Unlike bird flu, the global threat of HIV/TB is not hypothetical -- it is here now," she said. One third of the world's population carries the tuberculosis bacterium, but the disease remains latent in nine out of 10. HIV, however, changes the equation: Of those whose immune systems have been compromised by HIV, 10 percent will develop active tuberculosis each year, according to the report. "In today's world, a new TB infection occurs every second. When one considers that much of this transmission occurs in areas with high HIV prevalence, the imminent danger of a global co-epidemic is clear," said Diane Havlir, head of the World Health Organisation's TB/HIV working group.

Comet Draws Scientific, Amateur Interest

A comet that has unexpectedly brightened in the past couple of weeks and now is visible to the naked eye is attracting professional and amateur interest. Paul Lewis, director of astronomy outreach at the University of Tennessee, is drawing students to the roof of Nielsen Physics Building for special viewings of Comet 17P/Holmes. The comet is exploding and its coma, a cloud of gas and dust illuminated by the sun, has grown to be bigger than the planet Jupiter. The comet lacks the tail usually associated with such celestial bodies but can be seen in the northern sky, in the constellation Perseus, as a fuzzy spot of light about as bright as the stars in the Big Dipper. "This is truly a celestial surprise," Lewis said. "Absolutely amazing."

Pilots to Tell Their UFO Stories

The American public is not alone when it comes to sighting what the US Air Force has labeled Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). So too have former governors, high level military and government officials, highly trained airplane pilots and aviation experts. The phenomenon is real. It happens worldwide. No one is sure about its nature. Experts from seven countries will divulge what they have discovered about UFOs at a November 12 panel discussion moderated by former Arizona Governor Fife Symington (R) at the National Press Club. Just one year ago, pilots, mechanics and managers from United Airlines witnessed a metallic disc-shaped object hovering over the United Airlines Terminal at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. The clearly observed object shot straight up leaving a hole through the clouds. Despite the clear aviation safety issues involved, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) never investigated the incident and dismissed it as weather. This head-in-the-clouds refusal to investigate stands in sharp contrast to efforts by governments of other countries to understand these incidents. “I believe that our government should take an active role in investigating this very real phenomenon,” said Symington, who was a witness to the famed ‘Phoenix Lights” incident seen by hundreds in Arizona while he was governor. “This panel consists of some of the most qualified people in the world with direct experience in dealing with this issue, and they will bring incredible, irrefutable evidence, some never presented before, that we simply cannot dismiss or ignore,” he said. The group, using previously classified documents, will discuss many well-documented cases, including two investigated by the US government. The first involves a Peruvian Air Force pilot who fired many rounds at a UFO which was not affected. The second was an Iranian Air Force pilot’s attempt to fire at a UFO, but whose control panel became inoperable. “This case is a classic that meets all the necessary conditions for a legitimate study of the UFO phenomenon,” stated the US Defense Intelligence Agency document on the Tehran incident. Both pilots will come forward to speak about these events publicly for the first time.

Army's Robotic, Armed Combat Vehicle

Enter the Black Knight -- a very early prototype of an "Unmanned Combat Vehicle," developed by arms-maker BAE Systems for the U.S. Army. From the outside, the Knight doesn't look all that different from the armored vehicles used by the American military in combat zones around the world. But soldiers can also get out of the nine-and-a-half-ton Knight, and control the vehicle from afar -- including a custom, one-off 30mm gun and coaxial machine gun. Or the troops can stay just chill out, and let the thing drive itself. The Knight uses "advanced robotic technology for autonomous mobility," according to BAE. "This capability allows the Black Knight to plan routes, maneuver on the planned route, and avoid obstacles - all without operator intervention."

Israel Plans Nuclear Attack On Iran

Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons. Two Israeli air force squadrons are training to blow up an Iranian facility using low-yield nuclear “bunker-busters”, according to several Israeli military sources. The attack would be the first with nuclear weapons since 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Israeli weapons would each have a force equivalent to one-fifteenth of the Hiroshima bomb. Under the plans, conventional laser-guided bombs would open “tunnels” into the targets. “Mini-nukes” would then immediately be fired into a plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce the risk of radioactive fallout. “As soon as the green light is given, it will be one mission, one strike and the Iranian nuclear project will be demolished,” said one of the sources.

Microchip Tech. Foils Bank Robberies

Initially, it seemed like an easy bank robbery. After stealing $7,000 from a PNC Bank in Evendale, Ohio, Kenneth Maples climbed into a white Ford pickup driven by his wife, Jewell, according to a police report. No dye pack exploded, no police sirens screamed in pursuit as the couple’s truck slipped into the anonymity of heavy traffic on Interstate 71 just after 10 a.m. on Sept. 14. But the suspects never had a chance. A Global Positioning System tracking device had been tucked inside the stolen cash, according to the report, allowing a small army of local police officers and F.B.I. agents to follow the signal from on-ramps and overpasses as it moved south into downtown Cincinnati. Police put up a roadblock, closing five lanes of traffic. As hundreds of vehicles stopped, police converged on the suspects’ truck, sitting just five cars behind the police line. “It was incredibly precise,” said Mark Fisk, a Cincinnati resident who photographed the arrest from his delivery van, three cars behind the suspects.

Ground Is Rising at Yellowstone Park

Yellowstone National Park, once the site of a giant volcano, has begun swelling up, possibly because molten rock is accumulating beneath the surface, scientists report. Smith and colleagues report in Friday's issue of the journal Science that the flow of the ancient Yellowstone crater has been moving upward almost 3 inches per year for the past three years. That is more than three times faster than ever observed since such measurements began in 1923, the researchers said. "Our best evidence is that the crustal magma chamber is filling with molten rock," Smith said in a statement. "But we have no idea how long this process goes on before there either is an eruption or the inflow of molten rock stops and the caldera deflates again."

Experimenting with the Van Allen Belts

Ever since the Van Allen radiation belts were discovered, the U.S. armed forces have been interested in understanding—and maybe even controlling—how the belts influence wireless communication. For example, the U.S. Air Force, wanting to keep in touch with airborne fighter pilots at all times, would like to understand exactly how geomagnetic storms in the atmosphere will cause disruptions. Today, the armed forces are sponsoring two big experiments to gain more knowledge about the Earth's ionosphere. The first of them is the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), located in Gakona, Alaska, about 300 kilometers from Fairbanks.
Built on an old Cold War site meant to house an over-the-horizon radar, HAARP's main job is to produce radio waves to probe the ionosphere. Gakona is a particularly interesting location for HAARP, because “the Earth's magnetic field lines come down to Earth there,” says Paul Kossey, HAARP's program manager for the Air Force Research Laboratory. One of the chief instruments at HAARP is a multimegawatt radio transmitter operating in the high-frequency (HF) range, known as the Ionospheric Research Instrument, which reached full power only last March. The idea is to beam radio signals into the ionosphere and thereby stimulate or heat small, well-defined volumes of ionosphere. Back on the ground, an array of geophysical research instruments—such as low-frequency receivers, magnetometers, an ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) diagnostic radar, optical, and infrared spectrometers and cameras—try to see what happens to the ionosphere as a result of these signals. “A lot of things we are doing are to mimic natural processes in a controlled fashion,” says Kossey. He says that the transmitter would be able to radiate about 3 to 4 megawatts—“about three times the power of Radio Moscow or Voice of America.” In the future, HAARP scientists hope to complete a UHF radar to allow measurement of electron and ion temperatures and electron densities, which are important to understanding the origins of satellite-damaging so-called killer electrons. The other Air Force Research Lab ionosphere experiment is a spacecraft called the Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) satellite, which is set to launch in 2009. DSX is designed primarily to investigate the sometimes harsh radiation that environment satellites are subject to in a medium Earth orbit. The satellite will also have an instrument designed to monitor very-low-frequency (VLF) transmissions in the magnetosphere—the magnetic shell surrounding the Earth—and will explore whether natural and man-made VLF waves, including those from HAARP, can reduce satellite-damaging space radiation. Several years ago, Stanford University electrical engineering professor Umran S. Inan theorized that low-frequency electromagnetic radiation injected into the lower Van Allen belt could cause the high-energy electrons there to prematurely rain out into the atmosphere, potentially ending a monthlong geomagnetic storm in a matter of days.

CFR President: $200 Oil If War With Iran

Richard Haass the President of the Council on Foreign Relations and Bilderberg luminary was recently interviewed by Katie Couric on the situation with Iran. During the interview, Haass predicted that the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program could come to a head within the next few months and that war with Iran would result in oil prices rising to $200 a barrel. Haass also made it clear that sanctions would not be effective in changing Iran’s stance on their nuclear program and that there was a real possibility of a U.S. military strike on Iran using aircraft and cruise missiles. When Couric specifically asked Haass if he thought we would see a war with Iran, he responded. “I don’t think we are talking about invasion, the U.S. doesn’t have ground troops. There could be a military strike using aircraft and cruise missiles, but if you ask me over the next year can I imagine the U.S. and Iran moving to conflict? The short answer is yes.

Army tests tank that is 'invisible'

New technology that can make tanks invisible has been unveiled by the Ministry of Defence. In secret trials last week, the Army said it had made a vehicle completely disappear and predicted that an invisible tank would be ready for service by 2012. The new technology uses cameras and projectors to beam images of the surrounding landscape onto a tank. The result is that anyone looking in the direction of the vehicle only sees what is beyond it and not the tank itself. A soldier, who was at the trials, said: "This technology is incredible. If I hadn't been present I wouldn't have believed it. I looked across the fields and just saw grass and trees - but in reality I was staring down the barrel of a tank gun." How the technology works in a combat situation is very sensitive, but the MoD is believed to be testing a military jacket that works on the same principles. It is the type of innovation normally associated with James Bond, and the brains behind the latest technology is the MoD's very own "Q" - Professor Sir John Pendry, of Imperial College London. He said the only drawback was the reliability of the cameras and projectors. But he added: "The next stage is to make the tank invisible without them - which is intricate and complicated, but possible."

UFO Puzzle Has City In Tizzy

The fireball, that moved very rapidly and even seemed to change its shape and size, was photographed by a resident of Kalikapur in east Kolkata. Scientists couldn’t identify the object though some believe it could be a meteor blazing a trail through the morning sky. The object, as shown on a TV channel, seemed to alter its shape from a round object to a triangle and then turned into a straight line. It emitted a bright light that formed a circle - almost a halo - and also radiated a range of colours... Scientists were also puzzled by the phenomenon. They claimed it was too early to hazard a guess on what the object could be. "A cosmic body cannot change its appearance the way this one seemed to do. But an expert needs to observe it for a longer period of time to be able to comment on it. It is very strange and intriguing. Sadly, TV pictures are not enough to make a conclusion," said Kamalesh Kar, astro-particle physicist at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics.

New-Age Armies

The change has been striking. The "transformation" advocated by Donald Rumsfeld, George Bush's first defense secretary, envisaged that the armed forces would be slimmed down and money invested in "smart" weapons, reconnaissance systems and data links. Speed, stealth, accuracy and networks would substitute for massed forces. The Army's idea of its "future warrior" was a kind of cyborg, helmet stuffed with electronic wizardry and a computer display on his visor, all wirelessly linked to sensors, weapons and comrades. New clothing would have in-built heating and cooling. Information on the soldier's physical condition would be beamed to medics, and an artificial "exoskeleton" (a sort of personal brace) would strengthen his limbs.

Threats To Religious Freedom

In a stirring essay on the coming tensions between the secular world and the Catholic Church, Sydney's Cardinal George Pell has outlined threats to the freedom of religion stemming from biotechnology, gay 'rights' and fears of Islamic violence. The must read piece titled, "Prospects for peace and rumours of war: Religion and democracy in the years ahead," is a serious reflection despite Pell's characteristic use of wit.... He points out that in fighting cloning he was "not calling for the "enforcement" of Catholic beliefs, but reminding legislators to fulfil the demands of justice and the common good that follow from the inherent and equal dignity of every member of the human family." He added poignantly, "This is exactly the basis on which the church also calls on legislators to protect the poor or to oppose racial discrimination." Thus he indicates "cloning and biotechnology generally", is one of the "fault-lines" which are "likely to give rise to tension between religion and secularist democracy in the years ahead."

Mail Order Pandemics In Your Future?

Want to create a pathogen? Just download its gene sequence information from the Internet and place an order with a gene sequencing company. The genes arrive in the mail a couple of days later. Mix it in your basement lab and then release on an unprotected public. Is this nightmarish vision of mail-order bioterrorism really possible? Most experts agree that basement bioterrorism is unlikely right now. But rapid improvements in the technologies that allow researchers to generate genetic material starting from just information and raw chemicals could make such bioterror attacks possible in the next decade or so. The synthesis of entire viral genomes—the complete set of genetic information of these microbes—has already been done by legitimate researchers.

Frightening Trend: Ghost Tourism Booms

Just about every city has some supposedly haunted mansion, cemetery or lunatic asylum ("if you listen carefully to the wind on moonless nights, you can hear the screams of the insane…"). Most cities, in fact, have at least one company offering tours of their spookiest places. Ghost tourism has boomed over the past decade, propelled by the public's interest in the mysterious and supernatural. There are hundreds of ghost tours offered across the country, from Hollywood ("Come see Haunted Hollywood and ghosts of the stars!") to New England ("Visit Boston's infamous haunted locales!"). Some places have more historical lore to draw upon than others. Salem, Massachusetts, for example, exploits its infamous witch trials of the 1690s, while tourists, goths, wannabe vampires, and Anne Rice fans flock to New Orleans, Louisiana, with its reputation for mysticism and voodoo. Many tours tout their guides as "Certified Ghost Hunters" or "Certified Paranormal Investigators," though that's like claiming to be a "Certified Kitten Petter." For better or worse (usually worse), anyone can call himself or herself a ghost hunter; there is no accrediting institution, and "certifications" can be bought from online diploma mills for about $50. Ghost tours can be a very lucrative business: It is a service with little overhead and start-up costs. Anyone can offer a ghost tour, and tickets often cost $10 to $30 or more per person. With a large group, a good storyteller can make $500 in one evening for guiding a walking tour and telling ghost stories. Everyone likes a good ghost story, and the tours can be fun. The best ones tell their audiences about fascinating local history, throwing in some spooky lore as well. Tours are often run by self-proclaimed ghost hunters, but no one should confuse telling folklore with doing actual investigation. Ghost tours are one way in which the public learns about "real" ghost hunting, with many companies giving a "Ghost Hunting 101" course or talk along the way.

Unprepared for Large-Scale Disaster

Those on the front line in a disaster -- hospitals, medical personnel, public health officials and local emergency workers -- will be unprepared to seamlessly handle a surge of patient casualties or to orchestrate a timely, cohesive recovery effort, concludes a report issued today by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute on the state of the nation's health system preparedness for disaster. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, despite progress since 9/11 and nearly $8 billion in federal funding for emergency preparedness activities performed by healthcare facilities and agencies, the medical response to a natural or man-made disaster or an act of terror remains sporadic and disconnected. PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted extensive interviews with nearly 50 leading policymakers, a survey of almost 250 health care executives and practitioners and a poll of 1,000 American adults to identify gaps in the system in the event of terrorist attacks, pandemic disease or increasingly extreme weather.

Microchipping Rental Car Users

Patrick Franklin is sick of losing his car keys. The solution? Implant a car-unlocking microchip under his skin. The car sharing service Go Get has ordered a microchip to implant into Mr Franklin, making him a lifetime member of the group. Under their old system, Go Get members would book a car online, pick up a key from a box attached to a telegraph pole and walk to where the nearest Go Get car was parked. After Mr Franklin is microchipped, he will simply swipe a finger or an arm over the car to unlock it and drive off. VeriChip, which manufactures implantable radio frequency identification data chips, similar those embedded in many workplace entry swipe cards, is working with the company. "We're trialling with Patrick and then we want to make it available to all Go Get members. The whole idea is about making cars a lot more convenient and in doing that discouraging car ownership, which is clogging up our cities," Mr Jeffreys said.

100's of 'Super' Black Holes Discovered

An international team of astronomers have unexpectedly found hundreds of expanding "supermassive" black holes buried deep inside galaxies billions of light years from Earth. The astounding discovery is the first direct evidence that most -- perhaps all -- huge galaxies in the far reaches of the universe generated cavernous black holes during their youth, when about 3.5 billion years old.

Finger Vein Authentication Technology

Japanese electronics giant Hitachi is bringing its finger vein authentication technology to steering wheels, fitting them with a biometric reader that only starts the engine for drivers with recognizable vein patterns. Veins can also be used as switches for the car stereo and navigation system, reports Pink Tentacle, as well as to identify driver preferences, such as seat and mirror position or air conditioner setting. Hitachi's system--already used in ATMs, computers and cardless payment systems--relies on image sensors and near-infrared light passing through the finger to measure a person's unique vein configuration.

ET's Caused Sicily Fires, Say Officials

Dozens of experts including scientists, electrical engineers and military boffins, arrived in the village 60 miles east of Palermo to investigate the phenomenon. Arson was quickly ruled out and at one stage an amazed scientist was interviewed after he described how he saw an unplugged electrical cable burst into flames. Locals were quick to blame supernatural forces and at the time the Vatican’s chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth backed up their fears... [but] now in an interim leaked report published by several Italian newspapers it has emerged that the Civil Protection Department has concluded the most likely cause was "aliens". According to the report the fires were "caused by a high power electro magnetic emissions which were not man made and reached a power of between 12 and 15 gigawatts." The report also detailed a possible UFO landing close to the village, citing "burnt imprints which have not been explained were found in a field." "We are not saying that little green men from Mars started the fires but that unnatural forces capable of creating a large amount of electromagnetic energy were responsible. This is just one possibility we are also looking at another one which involves the testing of top secret weapons by an unknown power which are also capable of producing an enormous amount of energy."

Nostradamus: 2012 And The End

The discovery of a book of watercolors attributed to Nostradamus in the National Library in Rome, Italy, by journalist Enza Massa has led to a terrifying History Channel review of the 16th Century prophet's predictions, including the supposed end of the world in the year 2012. The 16th century book, which was discovered at the National Library in Rome by journalist Enza Massa, is filled with extraordinarily gorgeous, brutal renderings of future events up to and including the end of the world. The good news is that they found the book. The bad news is that you may want to kiss your backside goodbye because we may just have five years left. For example, there's one rendering (and remember these were done in the 1500s) of a tower with flying things coming at it, flames leaping from the sides and people tumbling out. Along with that photo is the famous Nostradamus' quatrain that mentions, "Earth shaking fires from the World's Center roar around New City." As one historian says, "To a 16th century guy, our history - how we live now - is totally unrelatable." So the pictures and the quatrains would have made no sense to anyone way back then.

Net Access Brain Implant

11% of the Americans (17% men, 7% women) would be willing to have a device safely implanted in their brain, which would enable them to use their mind to access the Internet. Even more troubling, the idea was thought to be OK even when involving kids. According to the results of the Zogby/463 Internet Attitudes poll, nearly one in five Americans would agree to insert a chip into a child 13 or younger to help track them. But rest assured, there is an explanation: 10% of the respondents claimed that having the Internet in their brain made them closer to God.

Cheney's Plan For Iran Attack

US Vice President Dick Cheney -- the power behind the throne, the eminence grise, the man with the (very) occasional grandfatherly smile -- is notorious for his propensity for secretiveness and behind-the-scenes manipulation. He's capable of anything, say friends as well as enemies. Given this reputation, it's no big surprise that Cheney has already asked for a backroom analysis of how a war with Iran might begin. In the scenario concocted by Cheney's strategists, Washington's first step would be to convince Israel to fire missiles at Iran's uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. Tehran would retaliate with its own strike, providing the US with an excuse to attack military targets and nuclear facilities in Iran. This information was leaked by an official close to the vice president. Cheney himself hasn't denied engaging in such war games. For years, in fact, he's been open about his opinion that an attack on Iran, a member of US President George W. Bush's "Axis of Evil," is inevitable.

Iraq war and ET-inspired religion

It appears that Iraq and Iran are viewed by the human elites of this Extraterrestrial-oriented religious group, to be their ancient religious homeland (like for example, how Jews revere Israel), and that the current Muslim groups there, are little more than "squatters". Dr. Michael Salla also cites numerous reports of alien spacecraft in the Iraq and Iran areas as evidence that region is a "vast energy portal that was strategically chosen for this reason, as the home base for extraterrestrials", during an ancient era.
Apparently, the original “colonizing” of Iraq as the cradle of human civilization, (and of other ancient civilizations in the Middle East like Egypt) was done with the assistance of authoritarian-minded "Aryans", as apparent inter-dimensional human looking "beings from the sky". Aryans, were also apparently "beings from the sky" that in turn inspired Adolf Hitler's racist ideology. Indeed, Dr. Salla further states that the pre-emptive war against Iraq, was inspired by religious reasons to "prepare for an impending series of events corresponding to the 'prophesied return' of an advanced race of Extraterrestrials.

Scientists Develop 'Bionic Nerve'

A 'bionic nerve' that could bring damaged limbs and organs back to life is being developed by British scientists. The breakthrough could be helping road accident victims, cancer patients and those having organ transplants within four years. The bionic nerve would repair broken "peripheral nerves" - those found outside the brain and spinal cord. It is created from the patient's own stem cells, which can be turned into any tissue - from brain cells to skin cells.

Brainwashing, Media Manipulation

The sign that Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz held up on one evening at the Tannenbaum Chabad House read "Please keep off the the grass." When the 40 people in the audience were asked if the sign read "Please keep off the grass," half of them raised their hands. "It's because you're so used to the phrase 'Keep off the grass,' " Kravitz said. "That's what you're accustomed to seeing, so that's what you read." Kravitz identified this behavior, known as "auto-pilot," as an example of methods of persuasion and brainwashing, in his lecture titled, "The Power of Persuasion: What do Cults, Telemarketers and Terrorists have in common?" Kravitz, a chaplain with the Los Angeles Police Department and a founder of "Jews for Judaism," is currently on a speaking tour around Chicago.

Biometrics vs Biometric Policies

“Envision a future in which large-scale portal screening such as at airports is no longer a matter of forming long, snaking lines for serial processing, but more nearly resembles Grand Central Station, with individual travelers moving in a Brownian way,” — that is, any way they want to, William Gravel, a Defense Department consultant, said to the audience at a recent biometrics conference in Baltimore. “It is a vision,” he said, but “it is not a fantasy.” “Believe it or not, a year-and-a-half ago iris [scanning] was viewed as a dicey experiment by many in the policy sector of the defense technology community,” Gravel said. “We all know how very much progress has been made in this regard.” Indeed, Gravel noted that the standard for DOD biometrics is now the “13 biometric template” — which consists of scanning 10 fingers, two eyes and one face.

India, Russia, China: Multi-Polar World

India joined China and Russia on October 24 in calling for a "more just and rational" world order, but India also insisted that their trilateral cooperation was not intended to target "any other country." A meeting in northern China of the three countries' foreign ministers ended with a joint communique containing veiled references to U.S. domination of international affairs. In the years since NATO's war in the Balkans and increasingly since 9/11, Russia and China in particular have voiced unease about American "hegemony." Among other things, they both strongly oppose U.S. ballistic missile defense initiatives, an issue that came up at a press conference after the three-way meeting.

Drones, Everywhere

We tend to think of robotic planes as some kind of American-only invention. But just about every decent-sized military on the planet is building a unmanned air force of their own. The new issue of Defense Update takes a look at all of the new flying robo-spies from around the world. Drones from Switzerland, Turkey, Israel, and Italy are all featured... as are models for a pair of unmanned aircraft from China. One is a "jet-powered High Altitude Long Endurance platform," the other, a fast recce [reconnaissance] super-drone called DarkSword."

Decoding the Human Eye

Artificial retinas are already in human clinical trials at the University of Southern California, where they have helped blind patients distinguish walls from doorways and even watch soccer games, albeit as blurs of motion. But approximating normal vision--and possibly enabling people to read--will require devices that can deliver electrical current with much greater control and precision. A new chip densely packed with electrodes, developed by scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), is the first step in that direction. Currently being used in research, the chip can stimulate and record from individual cells in retinal samples. The technology will provide insight into how the retina codes information and how to mimic that coding--lessons that will be crucial in developing the next generation of retinal implants. Further down the road, some version of the technology might be used to send visual information down the optic nerve.

Israel Preparing for Missile Attack

Israel will launch a public awareness campaign in the coming days, focused on telling people what to do in the event of missile attacks, the army said October 24. Citing "lessons learned" from the 2006 Lebanon war, in which the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah militia fired more than 4,000 rockets at northern Israel, the army said it is now focused on preparing people in advance of actual conflicts.

Air Force Wants Sci-Fi Weapons

Raise_shieldsSusan Thornton, head of the Air Force Research Lab's Directed Energy Directorate, laid out the sci-fi-style vision at the 33rd Annual Air Armament Symposium, held earlier this month. In it, she touts a high-powered microwave munition, capable of destroying of everything from "WMD Production Facilities" to "Cyber War Targets." The blasts from such a weapon "enables attack[s] on high value electronic targets with minimal collateral damage," Thornton notes, "virtually eliminating high post-conflict reconstruction costs!!!!" Energy can also be used a defense, she notes. Using a combination of lethal and non-lethal weaponry, Thornton foresees a layered protection system... to detect, identify, and engage threats with beams of energy. An accompanying illustration shows an energy bubble -- straight out of Star Wars -- shielding a city. Incoming missiles bounce away, presumably harmlessly.

Attack Iran And You Attack Russia

The barely reported highlight of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Tehran for the Caspian Sea summit last week was a key face-to-face meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A high-level diplomatic source in Tehran tells Asia Times Online that essentially Putin and the Supreme Leader have agreed on a plan to nullify the George W Bush administration's relentless drive towards launching a preemptive attack, perhaps a tactical nuclear strike, against Iran. An American attack on Iran will be viewed by Moscow as an attack on Russia. But then, as if this were not enough of a political bombshell, came the abrupt resignation of Ali Larijani as top Iranian nuclear negotiator. Early this week in Rome, Larijani told the IRNA news agency that "Iran's nuclear policies are stable and will not change with the replacement of the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council [SNSC]." Larijani will keep attending SNSC meetings, now as a representative of the Supreme Leader. He even took time to remind the West that in the Islamic Republic all key decisions regarding the civilian nuclear program are made by the Supreme Leader. Larijani actually went to Rome to meet with the European Union's Javier Solana alongside Iran's new negotiator, Saeed Jalili, a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), just like President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

Electromagnetic Wormholes & Invisibility

An "electromagnetic wormhole" could make objects traveling through it invisible, scientists say. A group of mathematicians, including Allan Greenleaf of the University of Rochester, recently thought up a way to build such a device. It would not be what is commonly known as a wormhole—a theoretical bend in space and time that could serve as a shortcut for traveling over vast distances. Instead, once something entered one end of the newly theorized tunnel, the object would be electromagnetically invisible to outside observation until it emerged from the other side, Greenleaf said.

Belief in ghosts high

Those things that go bump in the night? About one-third of people believe they could be ghosts. And nearly one out of four, 23 percent, say they've actually seen a ghost or felt its presence, finds a pre-Halloween poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos. One is Misty Conrad, who says she fled her rented home in Syracuse, Ind., after her daughter began talking to an unseen girl named Nicole and neighbors said children had been murdered in the house. That was after the TV and lights began flicking on at night. "It kind of creeped you out," Conrad, 40, of Hampton, Va., recalled this week. "I needed to get us out." About one out of five people, 19 percent, say they accept the existence of spells or witchcraft. Nearly half, 48 percent, believe in extrasensory perception, or ESP. The most likely candidates for ghostly visits include single people, Catholics and those who never attend religious services. By 31 percent to 18 percent, more liberals than conservatives report seeing a specter. Three in 10 have awakened sensing a strange presence in the room. For whatever it says about matrimony, singles are more likely than married people to say so. Fourteen percent — mostly men and lower-income people — say they have seen a UFO. Among them is Danny Eskanos, 44, an attorney in Palm Harbor, Fla., who says as a Colorado teenager he watched a bright light dart across the sky, making abrupt stops and turns. "I knew a little about airplanes and helicopters, and it was not that," he said. "It's one of those things that sticks in your mind." Then there's Jack Van Geldern, a computer programmer from Riverside, Conn. Now 51, Van Geldern is among the 5 percent who say they have seen a monster in the closet — or in his case, a monster's face he spotted on the wall of his room as a child. "It was so terrifying I couldn't move," he said. "Needless to say I survived the event and never saw it again."

Growing Human Eyeballs

A genetic switch that gives tadpoles three eyes could allow stem-cell scientists to eventually grow human eyeballs or at least create replacement parts needed for repair jobs. If scientists could grow eyeballs from stem cells in the lab, the process would be a boon to individuals with damage to cells within the eye, including retinal disorders. "If you knew all the genes, and how to turn them on, that you needed to make an eye, you could start with very early embryonic cells and turn on all the right genes and grow an eye in a dish," said co-leader of the study Nicholas Dale, a neuroscientist at the University of Warwick in England.

US Lacks Labs to Test for 'Dirty Bomb'

The U.S. has a shortage of laboratories to test the thousands of people who might be exposed to radiation if a ``dirty bomb'' detonated in a major city, according to a recent congressional investigation. The federal government established 15 disaster scenarios for federal, state and local officials to plan for, including one in which a dirty bomb goes off in a major downtown area and potentially exposes 100,000 people to radioactive materials. A dirty bomb would contain some radioactive material that could cause contamination over a limited area but not create actual nuclear explosions. Should this happen in real life, the nation would not be able to quickly conduct tests for these people, because there are few labs capable of doing so in the country; and the tests available only address six of the 13 radiological isotopes that would likely be used in a dirty bomb, according to the report prepared for the House Committee on Science and Technology. Instead, it would take four years to complete all these tests, according to the report.

Pentagon: Massive Bunker Busting Bomb

Citing an "urgent operational need," the Pentagon is seeking funds to modify B-2 stealth bombers to deliver an experimental 30,000 pound (13.6 tonne), satellite-guided bunker busting bomb, officials said October 24. The likely purpose of the new weapon is to strike Iran's underground nuclear facilities, experts said. "It raises a red flag," said Representative Jim Moran, a Democrat from Virginia who called for hearings on the request. "My immediate assumption is that it is a target in Iran, rather than Iraq or Afghanistan."

Fighting witchcraft in African Republic

During a recent visit to the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Peter Marzinkowski of the Diocese of Alindao, a German Holy Ghost Father, described the "fight against witchcraft" as one of the biggest problems for the Church in the Central African Republic. Bishop Marzinkowski told ACN that in the consciousness of many people in the Central African Republic, there is "no natural explanation for death, sickness or natural disasters." Instead, people always look for a scapegoat who must in their view have caused the misfortune through witchcraft. It can happen to anyone, he explained, to be accused on the smallest pretext of having practiced witchcraft in order to harm someone, and they may even be killed in punishment. Such cases can even occur among Christians, he added, for among many of them the Christian faith is not yet sufficiently rooted, with the result that "at the least difficulty they relapse back into their traditional way of thinking." The Church is strengthening her pastoral commitment in order to better convey the Good News of Christ, which rests above all on forgiveness, said Bishop Marzinkowski. "We must help the people to acquire a new image of God and man." Many parishes are already very active in this field, he added, and of their own accord exclude people from the parish community who have accused others of witchcraft, until they finally forgive those who have supposedly harmed them. Nonetheless, he cautioned, at the present time only 38,000 of the 240,000 inhabitants of the diocese are Catholics.

Proof of ET by 2020

No forecast for 2020 would be complete without attempting to answer one of the most enduring questions in science: is there life elsewhere in the cosmos? And, if so, will we find it? The answer, according to Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, in Mountain View, California, is a simple "Yes". By the end of the next decade we will have found evidence of extraterrestrial life. The only issue to be decided is how we will actually make that monumental discovery. And according to Shostak, it will be a three-horse race: between Earth-based radio telescopes, planetary probes, and space telescopes.

1/3 of Americans Under Extreme Stress

In an online survey for the American Psychological Association (APA) nearly half of the 1,848 people questioned believe their stress levels have shot up in the past five years, taking a toll on their personal relationships, work productivity and health. "We see stress as being an increasing problem," Dr Russ Newman, the executive director for professional practice at the APA, told a press briefing.

Nanotechnology Enters the Unexplored

One of science's newest frontiers is tiny - and in this case, size is exactly what matters. As national interest in nanotechnology has increased, a Brown interdisciplinary research team has been looking at so-called "green" nanomaterials to gather more data on their toxicity in consumer products and to find new medical applications. Their research will be part of the work of the University's Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation, which was formed in May to unite the resources from different disciplines involved in nanomaterial research.