| February 21, 2007 |
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our time will build eternity |
| PREVIOUS ISSUE OF TERRADAILY |
The Extend Congo Mission
United Nations (UPI) Feb 16, 2007The U.N. Security Council has renewed its peacekeeping mission -- the largest in the world -- in impoverished Congo, scene of on-again, off-again armed confrontations, mostly in the east of the huge nation. But this time the extension is for only two months. The panel of 15 Thursday unanimously approved the new mandate as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to enhance security and tighten mining industry oversight because it funds armed conflict. Tough Test For Liberia 
Washington (UPI) Feb 20, 2007Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf returned from Washington scoring an international victory over her male African counterparts. Her week-long visit saw her achieve objectives aimed at improving Liberia's current state of affairs. At a time when corruption continues to increase in most of Africa, the Johnson-Sirleaf administration has exceeded the expectations of her well-wishers and the criticisms of her opponents by working hard at reducing her country's huge international debts. Russia, Kyoto Protocol And Climate Change 
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Feb 21, 2007Two years have passed since the Kyoto Protocol (KP) went into force. A total of 150 nations have ratified this extraordinary international document. It embodies humankind's pragmatism, and is aimed at reducing the negative anthropogenic influence on the biosphere and the climate. Preparations for its implementation will be completed this year, and monitoring of compliance with KP commitments will start in 2008. |
3D Upstart Eyes Google Earth With Helicopter
Beijing (XNA) Feb 21, 2007Move over Google Earth, there's a new kid in town. Shanghai scientists have developed a three-dimensional (3D) mapping system that will allow users to see the sides of buildings, which is not possible to do using Google Earth. The Shanghai Evening Post reported the development under the headline "Shanghai map challenging Google Earth", but Shu Rong, the leader of the team at Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics that developed the program, described the headline as a bit of an exaggeration. Indonesia To Use Concrete Balls To Plug "Mud Volcano" 
Jakarta (AFP) Feb 20, 2007Hundreds of concrete balls will be dropped into a "mud volcano" on Wednesday, although experts warned it is unlikely to stop a massive mud flow which has swallowed villages and left 15,000 people homeless. Officials said the concrete balls would be lowered by crane into the main source of the mud spill near Surabaya, in East Java. "Preparations are just about done," Rudi Novrianto, spokesman for the government team handling the crisis, told AFP Tuesday. Scientists On The Way To Sifting Out A Cure For HIV 
Brisbane, Australia (SPX) Feb 16, 2007HIV may one day be able to be filtered from human blood saving the lives of millions of people, thanks to a world-first innovation by Queensland University of Technology scientists. QUT scientists have developed specially designed ceramic membranes for nanofiltration, which are so advanced they have the potential to remove viruses from water, air and blood. |
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2006 Was China's Hottest Year In A Half-Century
Beijing (AFP) Feb 20, 2007The year 2006 was China's hottest in half a century, with more than a third of climate observation stations on the Tibet plateau registering all-time high temperatures, state media reported Tuesday. China's average temperature was 9.9 degrees Celsius (49.8 Fahrenheit) last year, making it the hottest since 1951, Xinhua news agency said, quoting data supplied by the China Meteorological Bureau. The report offered few other details. European Ministers Uphold Hungary's Right To Ban GMO Crop 
Brussels (AFP) Feb 20, 2007European environment ministers on Tuesday upheld Hungary's right to ban a genetically modified product (GMOs), dealing a policy defeat to the EU's executive arm which wanted the measure to be lifted. A "qualified majority" of the 27 EU member states rejected the European Commission demand that a "safeguard clause" which Budapest invoked in 2005 to keep Monsanto GMO maize out of the country be lifted. The maize has been authorised for use in the EU since 1998. Resolving The Twin Paradox Of Einstein 
Baton Rouge LA (SPX) Feb 21, 2007Subhash Kak, Delaune Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at LSU, recently resolved the twin paradox, known as one of the most enduring puzzles of modern-day physics. First suggested by Albert Einstein more than 100 years ago, the paradox deals with the effects of time in the context of travel at near the speed of light. Einstein originally used the example of two clocks - one motionless, one in transit. |
Rat Like Senses A Whisker Away From Humans
Western Bank, UK (SPX) Feb 21, 2007The sophisticated way in which rats use their whiskers in their surrounding environments show significant parallels with how humans use their fingertips, according to new research carried out at the University of Sheffield. Rats are tactile animals that use their facial whiskers as their primary sense. These whiskers are swept back and forth, or `whisked� many times each second. Making Operating Rooms Safer With Open Communication Among Equipment 
Durham NH (SPX) Feb 21, 2007New research at the University of New Hampshire aims to make hospital operating rooms safer by opening the lines of communication between computerized hospital beds and blood pressure monitors. "We're trying to get pieces of equipment that don't normally talk to each other to do so," says John LaCourse, professor of electrical and computer engineering at UNH. "We're doing something that we feel is going to save peoples' lives." Malawi Ropes In Army To Save Its Forests 
Blantyre, Malawi (AFP) Feb 19, 2007Malawi, which has the highest deforestation rate in southern Africa, has roped in its army to save the trees, environmental officials said Monday. The natural resources ministry over the weekend inked a deal with the Malawi army for soldiers to be deployed to protect 16 of the country's prime forest reserves and step up re-afforestation. |
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