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Flag of the United States

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:15:52 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com

“American Flag” redirects here. For the song "American Flag" by Cat Power, see Moon Pix.

The flag of the United States of America is one of the most recognized national flags in the world. It consists of 13 equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars (top and bottom) alternating with rows of five stars. The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 U.S. states and the 13 stripes represent the original Thirteen Colonies that rebelled against the British crown and became the first states in the Union.^[1] Nicknames for the flag include "the Stars and Stripes" and "Old Glory".^[2

US missile hits 'toxic satellite'

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:45:14 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

US missile hits 'toxic satellite'

The Pentagon used a missile to shoot down the satellite

Enlarge Image

The US has successfully struck a disabled spy satellite with a missile fired from a warship in waters west of Hawaii, military officials say.

Operatives had only a 10-second window to hit the satellite - USA 193 - which went out of control shortly after it was launched in December 2006.

Officials were worried its hydrazine fuel could do harm, but it is not yet known if the fuel tank was destroyed.

The controversial operation has been criticised by China and Russia.

Self-healing rubber bounces back

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:41:25 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Self-healing rubber bounces back

By Roland Pease
BBC Radio Science Unit

The material in action

A material that is able to self-repair even when it is sliced in two has been invented by French researchers.

The as-yet-unnamed material - a form of artificial rubber - is made from vegetable oil and a component of urine.

The substance, described in the journal Nature, produces surfaces when cut that retain a strong chemical attraction to each other.

Pieces of the material join together again as if never parted without the need for glue or a special treatment.

This remarkable property comes from careful engineering of the molecules in the material.

The French researchers are already making kilogramme quantities in their Paris laboratories and say the process is almost completely green, and could be completely so with a few adjustments.

'Tiny hands'

The secret of the substance lies in how the molecules are held together.

Adaptation 'key to climate deal'

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:35:35 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Adaptation 'key to climate deal'

By Tim Hirsch
Environment reporter, Brasilia

The commitment needs to rise significantly, says Lord Jay

The UK's former top diplomat has called for a massive increase in the amount of money available to help developing countries to adapt to climate change.

Lord Jay was speaking in Brazil, ahead of a two-day meeting of lawmakers from 13 key countries.

The Global Legislators' Organisation for a Balanced Environment conference will discuss the shape of a long-term deal to tackle global warming.

The discussions will not determine policy but they may influence it.

Planet-hunters set for big bounty

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:27:21 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Planet-hunters set for big bounty

By Helen Briggs
Science reporter, BBC News, Boston

Scientists say there may be many more worlds in our galaxy

Rocky planets, possibly with conditions suitable for life, may be more common than previously thought in our galaxy, a study has found.

New evidence suggests more than half the Sun-like stars in the Milky Way could have similar planetary systems.

There may also be hundreds of undiscovered worlds in outer parts of our Solar System, astronomers believe.

New global push sought to scrap chemical weapons

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:55:40 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: africa.reuters.com

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Nations including Syria, Iraq and Israel should join a landmark pact for destroying stockpiles of chemical weapons as they serve hardly any security or strategic purpose, a watchdog agency said on Friday.

Rogelio Pfirter, director-general at the Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), made the appeal ahead of a review conference next week.

So far 183 countries have ratified the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention banning the use, development, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons but the OPCW wants more states to join up.

"Chemical weapons basically terrorise civilians, they are of relatively little security or strategic use these days," Pfirter told Reuters in an interview.

Villages 'discovered' in DR Congo

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:53:35 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Villages 'discovered' in DR Congo

Putting villages on the map

Enlarge Map

Hundreds of villagers are helping to map parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo where thick forest and conflict have prevented effective mapping.

So far about 190 villages have been found in one area of Bandundu province where old maps show only 30, UK-based charity The Rainforest Foundation says.

Most maps are produced from satellite images taken from above, but this project is using handheld GPS units.

The map is intended to aid post-war planning and timber permit allocations.

A five-year conflict in DR Congo ended in 2003.

Many die in Morocco factory fire

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:20:53 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Many die in Morocco factory fire

The blaze was so strong it took fire-fighters hours to get inside

A fire has killed at least 55 people in the Moroccan city of Casablanca, state news agency MAP reports.

Twelve others were seriously injured in the fire, which broke out on the ground floor of a mattress factory in the Hay Hassani district of the city.

More than 100 fire-fighters were sent to tackle the blaze, which spread rapidly because of the chemical products stored in the factory.

The cause of the fire is unclear. An inquiry has been launched.

The fire was so intense that it took fire-fighters many hours to get inside, the BBC's James Copnall reports from Rabat.

According to a local radio report, it was impossible to open the doors, and holes had to be knocked through an adjoining building.

About 100 of the factory's 150 staff were believed to have been on site at the time.

Facebook to track Darfur suspects

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:17:17 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Facebook to track Darfur suspects

Sudan's Humanitarian Affairs Minister has been wanted for more than a year

A group hunting war crime suspects has turned to the social networking site Facebook to try to find two Sudanese men sought for crimes in Darfur.

The War Crimes Watch List is asking Facebook users to report sightings of Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman.

The International Criminal Court indicted both men a year ago on 51 counts of crimes against humanity.

The group has also used Google Earth to pinpoint their last known whereabouts.

Cereal prices hit poor countries

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:04:52 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Cereal prices hit poor countries

Wheat prices have risen 83% in the past year

The rising price of cereals such as wheat and maize is a "major global concern", the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says.

Poor countries could see their cereal import bill rise by more than a third. Africa as a whole is expected to see an estimated 49% increase this year.

International wheat prices have risen 83% in the past 12 months.

Demand from emerging countries such as China, and droughts and flooding have pushed cereal prices to record highs

US approves animal clones as food

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:03:07 GMT

clipped by: monizle

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

US approves animal clones as food

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website

The industry believes cloning makes for predictable animals

The US government has given the green light to the production and marketing of foods derived from cloned animals.

After six years of study, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that meat and milk from cloned pigs, cattle and goats and their offspring is safe.

Lack of data meant the agency could not reach a decision on sheep products.

The FDA does not expect to see a lot of products from cloned animals being sold now, because of cost. It expects clones would first be used for breeding

Somaliland zoo lion kills woman

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:30:56 GMT

clipped by: monizle
clipper's remarks: omg

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Somaliland zoo lion kills woman

A minister in the self-declared Republic of Somaliland has expressed regret after a lion from his private zoo killed a woman in the capital.

Civil Aviation Minister Ali Mohammed Waran Addeh says he has shot and killed the lion involved in the incident.

The police commissioner says the victim was Hinde Hassan Isse, 25.

Questions are now being asked about security at the zoo in Hargeisa after it emerged that an employee was injured in a previous lion attack.

The minister says he is also reconsidering whether he should keep the remaining seven lions in the zoo, which also contains leopards and gazelles.

Somaliland has escaped most of the instability seen in southern Somalia since the last national government was overthrown in 1991.

But its declaration of independence has not been internationally recognised.

Analyzing ancient ice in the tropics before it melts

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:24:41 GMT

clipped by: monizle
clipper's remarks: oh

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Analyzing ancient ice in the tropics before it melts

Email Picture

Kiichiro Sato / Associated Press

Lonnie Thompson and his wife and research partner, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, in the “cold room,” where ice cores are stored in the minus-30-degree freezer at Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

A scientist plans an expedition to New Guinea's glaciers to see what global warming has wrought.

By Charles J. Hanley, Associated Press
3:45 PM PDT, April 5, 2008

PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA -- For 5,000 years, great tongues of ice have spread over the 3-mile-high slopes of Puncak Jaya, in the most remote reaches of this remote tropical island. Now those glaciers are melting, and Lonnie Thompson must get there before they're gone.

Measles kills at least 165 children in Nigeria

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:33:01 GMT

clipped by: monizle
clipper's remarks: help Africa!

Clip Source: africa.reuters.com

Measles kills at least 165 children in Nigeria

Fri 28 Mar 2008, 6:57 GMT

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LAGOS (Reuters) - A measles outbreak has killed at least 165 children in the remote northwestern Nigerian state of Katsina, health officials said on Thursday.

About 3,064 other children have been infected with the highly contagious air-borne virus since January when the outbreak was first reported, the state director of disease control Halliru Idris told reporters.

The News Agency of Nigeria quoted the health official as saying the death toll could be much higher because many cases had not been reported.

Apart from causing death, measles is a major cause of blindness among children in Africa and has the potential to damage the brain, leading to deafness and paralysis.

Idris, who blamed the outbreak on the refusal of parents to vaccinate their children during routine immunisation days,

Malawi women charged for burning children to death

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:27:13 GMT

clipped by: monizle
clipper's remarks: again-Africa needs help

Clip Source: africa.reuters.com

Malawi women charged for burning children to death

Mon 31 Mar 2008, 10:49 GMT

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BLANTYRE (Reuters) - Two Malawian mothers have been charged with murder for burning their children to death in a ritual to exorcise demons, police in the southern African country said on Monday.

A police spokesman said the women, members of the Assemblies of God church, conducted the ritual after a week of fasting and prayer. The children killed were aged six and nine. Their siblings survived.

"They both deny the charge, but insist their children had demons that needed exorcising," said Chifundo Chibwezo of the Limbe Police Unit in the country's main commercial city Blantyre.

There has been a rise in the number of people carrying out such rituals in Malawi.