Digital Fusion Solutions to help U.S. Army with laser project
San Diego (UPI) Sep 9, 2015 -
A subsidiary of Kratos Defense & Security Solutions is to help the U.S. Army with the development of high-energy laser systems.
Under a $32 million task order, Digital Fusion Solutions will provide the Army's Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command with systems engineering, software support, training and new development enhancements.
It will also perform o ...
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Reviving extinct Mediterranean forests
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 09, 2015 -
The Mediterranean has cradled humanity and our cities, farms, domesticated animals, and logging habits for many thousands of years. During the last 5 to 8 millennia, as people developed farming and settled in cities, the landscape has gradually changed from a thick canopy of trees to open grass and shrubs.
The ghosts of Sicily's extinct evergreen forests of holm oak (Quercus ilex) and oliv ...
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Artificial 'plants' could fuel the future
Berkeley CA (SPX) Sep 09, 2015 -
Imagine creating artificial plants that make gasoline and natural gas using only sunlight. And imagine using those fuels to heat our homes or run our cars without adding any greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. By combining nanoscience and biology, researchers led by scientists at University of California, Berkeley, have taken a big step in that direction.
Peidong Yang, a professor of chemi ...
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Tensions to mark Xi's White House visit
Washington (AFP) Sept 10, 2015 -
President Barack Obama will offer his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a full state welcome at the White House later this month, belying tensions fueled by Beijing's increased military assertiveness.
The commanders-in-chief from the world's two largest economies will meet amid global financial unease and with mounting US disquiet about Beijing's behavior in cyberspace and on the high seas.
...
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Slam dunk for Andreas in space controlling rover on ground
Paris (ESA) Sep 09, 2015 -
Putting a round peg in a round hole is not hard for someone standing next to it. But yesterday ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen did this while orbiting 400 km up aboard the International Space Station, remotely operating a rover and its robotic arm on the ground.
Andreas used a force-feedback control system developed at ESA, letting him feel for himself whenever the rover's flexible arm met ...
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JAXA and UNOOSA to Offer Small Satellite Deployment Opportunity
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Sep 09, 2015 -
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) agreed to cooperate in providing opportunities to deploy cube satellites (CubeSats) from the Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo" of the International Space Station (ISS).
The Kibo is equipped with a special airlock system and robotic arm; hence a small satellite can be released to spa ...
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Republican bid to block Iran nuclear deal fails in US Senate
Washington (AFP) Sept 10, 2015 -
A Democratic minority in the US Senate staved off a united Republican effort to sink the Iran nuclear deal Thursday, handing President Barack Obama a welcome foreign policy victory.
As expected, Senators fell two votes shy of the 60 needed to advance a resolution disapproving of the international accord, meaning the legislation aimed at sabotaging the deal is essentially dead.
"The Senat ...
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Orbital ATK producing more AARGM missiles
Dulles, Va. (UPI) Sep 9, 2015 -
Additional Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles are to be produced by Orbital ATK for the U.S. Navy and the Air Forces of Italy and Australia.
The U.S. Navy contract for full-rate production of the Lot Four and Lot Five missiles has a combined total value of $260 million, the company said.
"With the rapid proliferation of threats emerging around the world, AARGM provides signi ...
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Israeli nuclear whistle-blower under house arrest over interview
Jerusalem (AFP) Sept 10, 2015 -
An Israeli court put nuclear whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu under seven days' house arrest Thursday for giving a TV interview more than a decade after completing an 18-year jail term, media said.
Army radio said he was arrested in the morning after an interview on privately owned Channel 2 last week in defiance of the terms of his 2004 release.
He later appeared in a Jerusalem court and ...
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To Watch and to Strike: Russia Developing Multi role Heavy Drone
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 11, 2015 -
Russia is developing a heavy drone that could be used both as reconnaissance and combat aircraft, one of its designers said in an interview Wednesday.
The two ton Avius-1 UAV will bristle with hi-tech gear including an onboard radar and a satellite communications system, Igor Bevzyuk, deputy director of the RTI Holding Company told RIA Novosti news agency.
"This will be a multirole m ...
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Russia Builds Unified Air Defense for CIS Collective Security
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 10, 2015 -
Russia has long been leading efforts to build a joint air defense shield for the CIS, a loose organization of former Soviet republics.
A pertinent agreement has already been drawn up with Armenia, similar accords are being worked on with Kirgizia and Tajikistan, and Russian and Belarusian air defense units will start joint combat duty late next year, the deputy head of the Russia's Air Spa ...
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US Tests New Cerberus Electronic Attack System on Drones
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 11, 2015 -
US Navy scientists and the Raytheon Company have developed and tested a new electronic attack system called CERBERUS that can be carried on an air-launched unmanned decoy vehicle, Raytheon stated in a news release.
"The US Naval Research Lab and [the] Raytheon Company have demonstrated successful captive flights of a modular, rapid replacement architecture for electronic warfare (EW) paylo ...
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British Military to Buy Solar-Powered Drones Flying on Edge of Space
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 11, 2015 -
Britain's Ministry of Defense (MoD) will acquire three solar-powered drones that can fly on the edge of space for up to three months, the drone's manufacturer said on Wednesday.
The Zephyr 8 drones being supplied by Airbus Defence and Space will be capable of flying at a height of about 70,000 feet.
The months-long flight time gives military customers the capability to conduct persis ...
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Preemptive drug should be routine in AIDS fight: study
Paris (AFP) Sept 9, 2015 -
Gay men at high risk of contracting HIV should have access to a daily dose of a drug used to treat the AIDS-causing virus, but as a preventive measure, researchers recommended Thursday.
The medicine, sold under the brand name Truvada, proved almost 90 percent effective at protecting men taking part in a British study, they wrote in The Lancet medical journal.
However, some worry that pr ...
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Big China payouts for Tianjin firefighters' families
Beijing (AFP) Sept 10, 2015 -
China will give unusually large payouts to the families of firefighters killed in giant explosions in Tianjin last month, local media reported, after the disaster raised questions over whether the young men's training was inadequate.
Each family will receive 2.3 million yuan ($360,000) in compensation, a payment that includes extra money for "martyrdom", the Beijing News reported late Wednes ...
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Hundreds trapped as floods sweep Japan
Joso City , Japan (AFP) Sept 10, 2015 -
Nearly 700 people were awaiting rescue and at least 12 missing in Japan Thursday after torrential rains that saw a river burst its banks and deluge a city north of Tokyo.
Dramatic aerial footage showed whole houses being swept away by raging torrents in scenes eerily reminiscent of the devastating tsunami that crushed Japan's northeast coast in 2011.
Television images from Joso, a small ...
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Breaking a vicious circle in once-lush Haiti
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) Sept 10, 2015 -
Every day, come rain or shine, Yvon Elie checks on the tens of thousands of seedlings that hope to herald a greener future for Haiti, a once-verdant land stripped bare by deforestation.
"Here we have 60,000 pine saplings, as well as coffee plants and fruit trees like avocado and peach," the agronomist says proudly of the lush green nursery situated some 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) above sea l ...
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Lebanon's 'You Stink' campaigners trash crisis plan
Beirut (AFP) Sept 10, 2015 -
Organisers of mass protests in Lebanon over trash festering in the streets said Thursday the government's long-awaited plan to deal with the crisis is too vague and does not meet their demands.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Beirut in recent weeks to demand an end to long-standing political divisions that have affected even basic public services.
After a six-hour sessio ...
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New clues as to how crew survived 1813 shipwreck in Alaska
Sitka, Alaska (UPI) Sep 10, 2015 -
In January 1813, just miles from its destination, the Russian-American Company frigate Neva floundered and sank.
More than a third of the ship's crew were able to make it to the shores of Alaska's Kruzof Island, but with limited supplies. Most lived to tell the story.
The wreck killed 32 men, 15 crew members had already died at sea. But 26 men made it to safety. Of those 26, only ...
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Activists find Taiwanese ship with 'illegal' shark fins: Greenpeace
Port Moresby (AFP) Sept 10, 2015 -
Greenpeace said Thursday they boarded a Taiwanese ship allegedly operating illegally near Papua New Guinea, finding bags of shark fins onboard in what could be the latest example of the lucrative poaching trade in the region.
The reported discovery of 75 kilogrammes (165 pounds) of shark fins by the activist group on Wednesday night came as regional leaders met in Port Moresby for the Pacifi ...
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Ancient human shoulders reveal links to ape ancestors
San Francisco (UPI) Sep 9, 2015 -
As one new study shows, the ape-like shoulders of early humans highlight the transition from trees to tools.
Humans evolved from apes. That much is certain. But zeroing in on the evolutionary link between human and monkey isn't easy.
Now, new research suggests humans and apes shared an ape-like ancestor farther back along the primate lineage. The revelations may explain some of t ...
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Tree planting can harm ecosystems
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 14, 2015 -
The world's grassy biomes are key contributors to biodiversity and ecosystem services, and are under immense pressure from conversion to agriculture and tree planting, report Joseph W. Veldman, of Iowa State University, and his colleagues in an article for the October issue of BioScience. The authors argue that forest- and tree-focused environmental policies and conservation initiatives have pot ...
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Ocean acidification weighing heavily upon marine algae
Plymouth, UK (SPX) Sep 14, 2015 -
Ocean acidification can weaken algal skeletons, reducing their performance and impacting upon marine biodiversity, say scientists in a new research paper published this week.
Even a small loss of skeletal calcification caused by exposure to corrosive waters can have a significant impact and leave algae at risk of losing access to light and nutrients.
Scientists at Plymouth University ...
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Seal pups listen for long distance calls to locate their mothers
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 03, 2015 -
Antarctic fur seal pups identify the mother's vocal pitch at longer distance and use other components of the vocal signature at closer range to identify their mother in densely populated breeding colonies, according to a study published September 2, 2015 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Thierry Aubin from University of Paris-Sud and colleagues.
Antarctic fur seals breed in dense colo ...
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Reconstructing a vanished bird community from the Ice Age
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 14, 2015 -
Visit Peru's Talara Tar Seeps today and you'll see a desert, but 15,000 years ago, the area was grassland and forest, roamed by dire wolves and saber-toothed cats. If you had gone for a walk in the Talara during the last ice age, what birds would you have heard singing?
For a new study published in The Auk: Ornithological Advances, Jessica Oswald (now at Louisiana State University) and Dav ...
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