India, US Discuss Building US-Designed Nuclear Power Plants in India
New Delhi (Sputnik) Dec 18, 2014 -
Indian and US experts have discussed a number of issues regarding nuclear cooperation between the two countries, including the establishment of US-developed nuclear power plants in India, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a press statement Wednesday.
Experts from both sides "held detailed discussions on a range of implementation issues, including administrative issues, liabil ...
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Penn Research Outlines Basic Rules for Construction With a Type of Origami
Philadelphia PA (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
Origami is capable of turning a simple sheet of paper into a pretty paper crane, but the principles behind the paper-folding art can also be applied to making a microfluidic device for a blood test, or for storing a satellite's solar panel in a rocket's cargo bay.
A team of University of Pennsylvania researchers is turning kirigami, a related art form that allows the paper to be cut, into ...
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Conversion process turns biomass 'waste' into lucrative chemical products
West Lafayette IN (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
A new catalytic process is able to convert what was once considered biomass waste into lucrative chemical products that can be used in fragrances, flavorings or to create high-octane fuel for racecars and jets. A team of researchers from Purdue University's Center for Direct Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels, or C3Bio, has developed a process that uses a chemical catalyst and heat to s ...
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ORNL microscopy pencils patterns in polymers at the nanoscale
Oak Ridge TE (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have used advanced microscopy to carve out nanoscale designs on the surface of a new class of ionic polymer materials for the first time. The study provides new evidence that atomic force microscopy, or AFM, could be used to precisely fabricate materials needed for increasingly smaller devices.
Polymerized ionic liquids ...
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Japan nuclear watchdog greenlights more reactors
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
Japan's nuclear watchdog on Wednesday gave the green light to restarting two more atomic reactors, days after pro-nuclear Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swept to election victory.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said it believed the two units at Takahama nuclear power plant in central Fukui prefecture met toughened safety standards introduced after the tsunami-sparked disaster at Fukushima ...
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NTU invents smart window that tints and powers itself
Singapore (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) scientists have developed a smart window which can darken or brighten without the need for an external power source.
This unique self-tinting window requires zero electricity to operate and is also a rechargeable battery. The window's stored energy can be used for other purposes, such as to light up low-powered electronics like a light emitting diode ...
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Israel, US in abortive missile defence test
Jerusalem (AFP) Dec 16, 2014 -
Israel and the United States on Tuesday tested the Jewish state's Arrow 3 ballistic missile interception system, the defence ministry said, with local media reporting the trial was cut short.
"A target missile was successfully launched and tracked by the Arrow Weapon System, as part of the planned joint testing programme," the ministry said in a statement, providing no further details.
A ...
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Lockheed Martin opens MUOS application development facility
Sunnyvale CA (SPX) Dec 16, 2014 -
With the U.S. Navy's Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) expected to achieve global communications coverage next year, Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] recently established a new radio terminal development and certification facility to help put MUOS' new capabilities into warfighters' hands faster.
Developed by Lockheed Martin, MUOS operates like a satellite-based, smart-phone cell network, vas ...
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Atlas 5 launches spysat payload for NRO
Vandenberg AFB CA (SPX) Dec 16, 2014 -
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-3 on Dec. 12 at 7:19 p.m. PST. Designated NROL-35, the mission is in support of national defense.
"We are honored to deliver the NROL-35 spacecraft to orbit together with our customers, the NRO Office of Space Launch and the Air Force," said Jim ...
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Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty Between USSR, US in Details
Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 16, 2014 -
On December 13, 2002, US President George W. Bush announced that the United States will unilaterally withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty with the USSR. The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) between the Soviet Union and the United States was signed on May 26, 1972 in Moscow and entered into force on October 3, 1972.
The treaty barred the parties from deploying ant ...
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SpaceX to try to 'precision-land' rocket in ocean
Miami (AFP) Dec 17, 2014 -
SpaceX said Wednesday it will for the first time try to land its Falcon 9 rocket on a floating platform in the ocean after launching cargo to the International Space Station.
Just a 50-50 chance of success in Friday's attempt was predicted by the California-based company led by billionaire Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk.
Currently, most rockets burn up on re-entry, but SpaceX is trying ...
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ESA scientists say Philae lander will wake up in 2015
San Francisco (UPI) Dec 17, 2014 -
The team of scientists and engineers responsible for this fall's historic comet landing are confident Philae's current slumber is only temporary.
"I think within the team there is no doubt that we will wake up," lead lander scientist Jean-Pierre Bibring told reporters at the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting, held this week in San Francisco. "And the question is OK, in what sh ...
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The gold standard
Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Dec 16, 2014 -
Precious elements such as platinum work well as catalysts in chemical reactions, but require large amounts of metal and can be expensive. However, computational modeling below the nanoscale level may allow researchers to design more efficient and affordable catalysts from gold.
These novel computer simulations to better explore how catalysts function at the nanoscale, led by researchers at ...
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China drives growth in patent applications worldwide
Geneva (AFP) Dec 16, 2014 -
China made one third of the world's patent applications last year, once again driving strong global growth despite stalling innovation in Europe and Japan, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said Tuesday.
New figures confirm that "strategically, the country... is on a journey from 'made in China' to 'created in China', away from manufacturing to more knowledge intensive indu ...
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Surprising Theorists, Stars Within Middle-Aged Clusters Are of Similar Age
Oxnard CA (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
A close look at the night sky reveals that stars don't like to be alone; instead, they congregate in clusters, in some cases containing as many as several million stars. Until recently, the oldest of these populous star clusters were considered well understood, with the stars in a single group having formed at different times, over periods of more than 300 million years.
Yet new research p ...
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Rosetta Reignites Debate on Earth's Oceans
Huntsville AL (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
Where did our planet get its oceans? Among planetary scientists, this is one of the most important and perplexing questions about the origins of Earth. One popular theory holds that water was brought to Earth by the ancient impacts of comets and asteroids. However, new data from the European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft indicate that terrestrial water did not come from comets like 67P/Chury ...
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NASA Satellites Measure Increase of Sun's Energy Absorbed in the Arctic
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
NASA satellite instruments have observed a marked increase in solar radiation absorbed in the Arctic since the year 2000 - a trend that aligns with the steady decrease in Arctic sea ice during the same period.
While sea ice is mostly white and reflects the sun's rays, ocean water is dark and absorbs the sun's energy at a higher rate. A decline in the region's albedo - its reflectivity, in ...
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'Perfect Storm' Quenching Star Formation around a Supermassive Black Hole
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
High-energy jets powered by supermassive black holes can blast away a galaxy's star-forming fuel, resulting in so-called "red and dead" galaxies: those brimming with ancient red stars yet containing little or no hydrogen gas to create new ones.
Now astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered that black holes don't have to be nearly so powerful ...
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Fifth SpaceX Mission Lets the CATS Out on the International Space Station
Houston TX (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
Not like cats that you might pet in your lap at night, International Space Station CATS study the atmosphere's plight. CATS and new research including flatworms, wearable technology, an external radiation monitor and tools to use the station as a microbial observatory will head to the orbiting outpost on the fifth SpaceX mission. Additionally, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will deliver equipment fo ...
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Australian university students aim to generate first 'breathable' air on Mars
Melbourne, Australia (XNA) Dec 18, 2014 -
A Mars One astronaut candidate and a team of Western Australian students aiming to generate the first breathable air on Mars have reached the finals of the international competition that will land vital experiments on the Red Planet.
Josh Richards, a physicist from Perth, plans to send a system that produces oxygen from water to the Martian surface, as part of the Mars One project that aim ...
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NASA awards Launch Services Contract for Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
NASA has selected SpaceX to provide launch services for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. TESS will launch aboard a Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle, with liftoff targeted for August 2017 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The total cost for NASA to launch TESS is approximately $87 million, which includes the launch service, spacecraft processing, payload ...
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Asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs nearly knocked off mammals
Albuquerque NM (SPX) Dec 18, 2014 -
The extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago is thought to have paved the way for mammals to dominate, but a new study shows that many mammals died off alongside the dinosaurs.
Metatherian mammals--the extinct relatives of living marsupials ("mammals with pouches", such as opossums) thrived in the shadow of the dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period. The new study, by an internatio ...
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Rosetta Orbiter to Swoop Down On Comet in February
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 18, 2014 -
The European Space Agency's orbiting Rosetta spacecraft is expected to come within four miles (six kilometers) of the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in February of next year. The flyby will be the closest the comet explorer will come during its prime mission.
"It is the earliest we could carry it out without impacting the vitally important bound orbits that are currently being ...
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Venus Express goes gently into the night
Paris (ESA) Dec 18, 2014 -
ESA's Venus Express has ended its eight-year mission after far exceeding its planned life. The spacecraft exhausted its propellant during a series of thruster burns to raise its orbit following the low-altitude aerobraking earlier this year.
Since its arrival at Venus in 2006, Venus Express had been on an elliptical 24-hour orbit, traveling 66 000 km above the south pole at its furthest po ...
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India launches biggest ever rocket into space
Bangalore, India (AFP) Dec 18, 2014 -
India successfully launched its biggest ever rocket on Thursday, including an unmanned capsule which could one day send astronauts into space, as the country ramps up its ambitious space programme.
The rocket, designed to carry heavier communication and other satellites into higher orbit, blasted off from Sriharikota in the southeast state of Andhra Pradesh.
"This was a very significant ...
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