Politics

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2985345.stm Supercomputer modelling of DNA formation from RNA has shown that a 4 Base DNA is actually preferable. The Bases of DNA are Adeninge, THymine, Guanine and Cytosine, but many have asked why we don't have 6 or even 8 bases instead. In the end the answer seems to come down to stability. four and six bases seem to be far better and less prone to errors in reproduction that eight bases. from this it is thought that life could have come about with 6 bases, had they developed error checking routines early on.

Astronomers from Canada and the United Kingdom have measured the mass of a black hole swallowing a quasar 13 billion light years away. They used the UKIRT Imager Spectrometer to measure the infared spectrum emitted from the quasar. Dr. Chris Willott explained "We can determine the mass of the black holes in these distant quasars by looking at the MgII emission line and comparing it with the same emission line in closer quasars. The basic idea here is that the width of the line gives an indication of the speed of the gas close to the quasar. More massive black holes will have faster moving material." The team of researchers determined the black hole is one quadrillion time…

It is the topic of the town all over the world. Do we support the US? Should the US go to war (invade) Iraq? Is America Power Hungry? Is GB a gready oil merchant? These might be some of the questions which may be surrounding you at this present time, regarding a potential war with Iraq. Personally I think that there should not be a war. There is an inprobable solution that I wouldn't mind seeing happen. Countries in dispute = Iraq and United States of America Solution = They BOTH (Not Just Iraq) Forfeit any of the weapons of mass destuction and have them destroyed. Also, the USA should allow weapons inspectors from Iraq to inspect the USA for weapons and Iraq…

Is there a real reason for war? Besides this whole "weapons of mass destruction" and "axis of evil". Bush told the people of Iraq not to destroy the oil and stuff so is he just after the oil? So what is it that that Bush's wants and why?

An interesting study of people with a certain form of epilepsy has shown that they are prone to religious visions, and a connection made with one of the founders of a religious sect (the Seventh Day Adventists) seems to confirm this. The study is in more detail here, and seems to point to a 'source' in the brain for religious type thoughts. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2865009.stm

August 21, 2002 Posted: 8:14 AM EDT (1214 GMT) (CNN) -- In an eerie recreation of Steven Spielberg's blockbuster movie "Jurassic Park", scientists are planning to clone an extinct animal to be the central attraction of a wildlife park. The Times of London reports that Japanese scientists are planning to use tissue from the legs and testicles of a dead mammoth to clone the extinct creature and display it at an Ice Age wildlife park in Siberia. Mammoths became extinct about 10,000 years ago, but using a technique that involves impregnating an Indian elephant -- its closest genetic relative -- with mammoth sperm and then repeating the procedure with its offspri…

Scientists in Italy have discovered 350,000-year-old tracks that may be the oldest known footprints made by Stone Age man. The prints were made by three early, upright-walking humans as they descended the treacherous side of a volcano -- perhaps to escape an eruption, researchers reported in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. Other scientists said that while the prints appear well-preserved, they add little to knowledge about human evolution, since footprints of far older human ancestors have been found. But they said the tracks are still a sobering testament to long-ago journeys across a harsh terrain Scientists in Italy have discovered 350,000-year-ol…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2949735.stm For the first time, Gamma ray bursts have been directly linked with Super Novas. Previously the two could not be linked because rapid analysis of the GRB data has to be handed to astronomers to look for it with an optical telescope, The recent burst was relatively near and long in comparison to others, which facilitated it's study more easily.

...and now, a message from your state-run television.. "The infidel forces of the great satan are lying to you! What you are seeing is fake, like their moon landing! Our mighty republican guard is slaughtering the US troops this very moment! Saddam himself is fighting a whole division of these beasts!! Hail Saddam! They are killing themselves to avoid our wrath!! I will show you later, after we get the place cleaned up. (does this guy crack anyone else up?) ======

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2936401.stm recent research on monkeys has not produced a single pregnancy after hundreds of attempts, shedding much doubt on the recent claims by several groups, the raelians amongst them, that a human clone is possible, and indeed has been achieved. The obstacle according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine appeqrs to be the way the genetic information is parcelled up when the cell divides.

Interesting article: telegraph.co.uk Top secret documents obtained by The Telegraph in Baghdad show that Russia provided Saddam Hussein's regime with wide-ranging assistance in the months leading up to the war, including intelligence on private conversations between Tony Blair and other Western leaders. Moscow also provided Saddam with lists of assassins available for "hits" in the West and details of arms deals to neighbouring countries. The two countries also signed agreements to share intelligence, help each other to "obtain" visas for agents to go to other countries and to exchange information on the activities of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qa'eda leader. …

The RAF air base at Flyingdales, Yorkshire, is to receive radar software and hardware upgrades to bring it up to spec with the rest of the "Son of Star Wars" system, it was announced yesterday. The UK has now formally - and controversially - agreed to host the system on behalf of the US as part of a missile detection screen designed to give the USA an early warning of incoming attacks from the East. Read the full article here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2729029.stm That thing is up the road from me

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - Ex-Iraqi Information Minister, Mohammad Said al-Sahhaf has just completed a press briefing in Baghdad, announcing a change in career. al-Sahhaf, now that his duties keeping the Iraqi population informed of the real facts of the conflict are complete, has decided to go into advertising. His first commercial, to be aired on Qatar-based al-Jazeera television on April 25th, 2003 will be for "Honest Ali's Car Warehouse", in Kuwait. After completing his briefing, al-Sahhaf was taked into custody by US forces for questioning. He could be heard saying "I have you all surrounded. I have bound my hands as not to destroy you and give you a chanc…

From the pictures I see on TV and the things I hear this war is not as "human" as was promised I think by the US and GB. I mean, one of Bush's main intentions was to "free" the Iraqi people. I do not know what he means by this but as I think freeing people does not include to kill them (even if they might be freed in a way as well). What do you think about it?

According to this press release, Sandia National Laboratory's Z Machine (pictured, click here for full size) has produced the first steps towards a viable fusion process. Highly dense plasmas were compressed into a small (2mm) capsule called a hohlraum, which is at the center of the 120ft in diameter machine. This is bringing us closer to achieve ignition, the point at which the fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining. The Z Machine uses large pulses of electricity that compress tungsten wires into X-ray emitting foam cylinders. The X-rays then compress deuterium in the capsule enough to fuse the atoms and produce neutrons.

Once the war is over what will become of Iraq and how will the population react?(no they don' all like the States)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2906621.stm yet another bbc site, the source aof all things good REcent advances have been made by british scientists, who have produced nanowires with a diameter of just a billionth of a metre, by modifying prion proteins to accept a thin layer of Gold. Also important is that these wired have a resistance of 80 Ohms, which is very important, as when one considers microtubules the resistance is much higher.

Most of us are aware of the footage Al-Jazeera aired of US soldiers killed. Mainstream American (and I believe British too) media has censored this footage. While their moral justification for this is sound, I believe full understanding of the reality of war justifies viewing these images. That said, I will provide links to the censored content. You know what these images and videos are, if you do not want to view it do not click the links. WARNING: This content is extremely graphic and offensive on many levels. If this content offends you, DO NOT CLICK ANY OF THE BELOW LINKS. http://cryptome.org/us-blackout/us-blackout.htm (images) http://movies.ogrish.c…

granted this isnt exactly current affairs but ive always been interested in it none the less. The Americans on the forum will probably view this differently but when the Soviet Union put missle bases on Communist Cuba, how was the American backlash justified considering they had Nuclear bases in Turkey on the Soviet border and always had nuke armed planes in the air over europe 24 hours a day for the best part of half a century. My dad remembers living near an air base in England and seeing two planes with big ass bombs strapped to their fuselages take off whenever another two landed, screaming down the runway. Im a bit of a socialist myself and I dont want to incur …

I'm just wondering, as you do, about the 'axis of evil'tm that we now seem committed to looking into. Libya, Syria, Iran, Iraq and North Korea all seem to have legitimate reasoning behind seeing them as a threat. However, Colin Powell has admitted that Washington is not accusing Cuba of having biological weapons but of possessing the capability to conduct biological research. Is that not a bit tenuous? Is Cuba a genuine threat to anyone, in reality? I just assumed it had turned into a nice holiday destination and the backdrop for bond films. Isn't Somalia or Uganda a more legitimate focus of the worlds attention?

Researchers have created the highest resolution optical image ever, revealing structures as small as just tens of billionths of a metre across. "This is the highest resolution optical spectroscopic measurement ever made," said Lukas Novotny, professor of optics at Rochester University, US. The novel technique should allow a new insight into the world of the small, for example examining the proteins embedded in a cell's membrane. "There are other methods that can see smaller structures, but none use light, which is rich in information," said Professor Novotny. "With this technique, we have a detailed spectrum for every point on a surface." Gold point Other ultra-high…

Images of the slopes around Olympus Mons, Mars' largest volcano, appear to show water flowing down them. A researcher named Tahirih Motazedian speculates that geothermal activity melts the subsurface ice. The water then dissolves some of the surrounding minerals to form a brine with a depressed freezing point. BBC has a full writeup here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2820085.stm The Pope appeals to halt the efforts to provoke war with Iraq. President Bush, as a born again Christian, ignores God's one representative on earth. Is Bush leading us into a religious war? To whom does Bush answer to? What precisely will it take for a reconsideration of the state of play? Bush has stated that he doesn't require the consent of the United Nations to respond to threats to American security and plans to move against Iraq without the support if necessary. Where will this conflict lead us if it is instigated?

SEOUL, South Korea (March 2) - North Korea warned Sunday of ''nuclear disasters'' around the world if Washington attacks the communist state, while its civilian leaders urged greater cooperation between Pyongyang and Seoul to ease the crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The North's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper accused the Central Intelligence Agency of preparing a surprise attack on the nation's nuclear facilities that are suspected of being used to make atomic bombs. ''If the U.S. imperialists ignite a war on the Korean Peninsula, the war will turn into a nuclear war,'' Rodong said. ''As a consequence, the Koreans in the north and south and the people in Asia and…

After more than 30 years in space heading away from Earth, Pioneer 10 has sent its last signal home. Pioneer's last, very weak signal was received on 22 January, after which US space agency (Nasa) engineers reported that its power source had decayed such that it might not be capable of sending another message. Following its encounter with Jupiter, Pioneer 10 explored the outer regions of the Solar System, studying the solar wind as well as cosmic rays from deep space. Since its official science mission ended on 31 March, 1997, Pioneer's weak signal has been tracked by Nasa's Deep Space Network as part of a new study of communication technology in support of a f…