AP - A rare astronomy tool that helped medieval scientists tell time will remain in Britain after the British Museum scrambled to come up with the money to buy it. Read more…

SPACE.com - A total eclipse of the sun Friday should fascinate millions of lucky skywatchers in Greenland, Siberia, Mongolia and China. Read more…

AP - A rare total solar eclipse will pass just west of Russia's third-largest city Friday, but crowds of tourists in Novosibirsk to witness the event may find their view of the event obscured by clouds and rain. Read more…

SPACE.com - SETI Institute planetary astronomer Mark Showalter is rabid about rings. Read more…

AP - An astronomical calculator, considered a technological marvel of antiquity, was also used to track dates of the ancient Olympic games, researchers have found. Read more…

AFP - NASA scientists said Wednesday they had found liquid on Saturn's moon Titan, only the second body in the solar system after Earth to have fluid on its surface. Read more…

Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples. Read more…

Twenty-five graduate and undergraduate students have been selected as the first recipients of NASA's Aeronautics Scholarship. Read more…

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, also known as LRO, has completed the first round of environmental testing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Read more…

NASA's Lunar Science Institute at Moffett Field, Calif., has announced its first international affiliate partner for conducting lunar science activities. Canada's University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, will represent the Canadian lunar science community as part of the newly established Canadian Network for Lunar Science and Exploration. Read more…

NASA scientists have concluded that at least one of the large lakes observed on Saturn’s moon Titan contains liquid hydrocarbons, and have positively identified ethane. Read more…

Less than a month after launch, the NASA-French space agency Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason 2 oceanography satellite has produced its first complete maps of global ocean surface topography, surface wave height and wind speed. Read more…

That's the nocturnal Kakapo in the photograph on the right. The Kakapo probably recognizes the fruit it eats according to the fruit's aroma. The Kakapo was one of the birds that was part of a recent research project that determined that birds likely have a much more developed sense of smell than was previously thought. The study by Silke Steiger (Max Planck Institute for Ornithology) and her colleagues found that the sense of smell may be as important to our feathered friends as it is to fish or mammals. Recent behavioural studies have shown that some bird species use their sense of smell to navigate, forage or even to distinguish individual birds. Silke Steiger and her research team focused on the olfactory receptor (OR) genes in their study. The total number of thse OR genes in a genome may reflect how many different scents an animal can detect or distinguish. The researchers compared the OR genes of the chicken as well as eight distantly related bird species. They estimated the total number of OR genes in each species' genome using a statistical technique adapted from ecological studies where it is used to estimate species diversity. They found considerable differences in OR gene number between the nine bird species. The brown kiwi from New Zealand, for example, has about six times more OR genes than the blue tit or canary. "When we looked up the relative sizes of the olfactory bulb in the brain, we also noticed similar big differences between species," said Steiger. "It is likely that the number of OR genes correlates with the number of different smells that can be perceived. As the olfactory bulb is responsible for processing olfactory information, we were not too surprised to see that the number of genes is linked to the size of the olfactory bulb." Another finding from the research was that a large majority of the OR genes in birds are functional. By comparison human have a poor sense of smell and only about 40% of human OR genes are thought to be functional. The researchers also found a new class of OR genes that exists in birds but does not present itself in mammals or fish. You can read more about the study here on RedOrbit.com. Photo credit: Don Merton Permalink | Recent Headlines | News Feeds Read more…

Dr. Edgar Mitchell is a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission and he was the sixth man to walk on the Moon. Dr. Mitchell also insists that aliens have visited Earth and that governments are actively covering it up. "I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real," Dr Mitchell said. "It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it. "I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit." Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated. He told the astonished Kerrang! radio host Nick Margerrison: "This is really starting to open up. I think we're headed for real disclosure and some serious organisations are moving in that direction." NASA issued a quick denial. In a statement, a spokesman said: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe. "Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue." If Dr. Mitchell is correct about a cover-up than this is exactly the type of denial one would expect NASA to make. You can listen to the interview with Dr. Mitchell where he discusses the UFO phenomena here. Permalink | Recent Headlines | News Feeds Read more…

PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Source: COM DEV International Ltd COM DEV announces $27 million increase in value of civil space contract COM DEV International Ltd. Read more…

PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Source: Rocket Racing League Rocket Racing League Takes Flight! Read more…

PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Monday, July 28, 2008 Source: Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic Rolls Out Mothership "Eve" WhiteKnightTwo launch vehicle for SpaceShipTwo heralds a new era in aerospace fuel efficiency, performance and versatility Mojave Air and Spaceport, California July 28th 2008 ... Read more…

STATUS REPORT Date Released: Monday, July 28, 2008 Source: Stennis Space Center NASA Stennis Solicitation: Tugboat Synopsis - Jul 22, 2008 Requirement for NASA Tug Boat - Posted on Jul 22, 2008 General Information Solicitation Number: NNS09AA03R Posted Date: Jul 22, 2008 FedBizOpps Posted Date:... Read more…

PRESS RELEASE Date Released: Friday, July 25, 2008 Source: COM DEV Selected To Supply Payload Equipment For SAPPHIRE Satellite COM DEV International Ltd. (TSX: CDV) today announced that it has been awarded a $12.3 million dollar contract by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. Read more…

AP - A chunk of ice spreading across seven square miles has broken off a Canadian ice shelf in the Arctic, scientists said Tuesday. Read more…

AP - This isn't how a jet pack is supposed to look, is it? Hollywood has envisioned jet packs as upside-down fire extinguishers strapped to people's backs. But Glenn Martin's invention is far more unwieldy — a 250-pound piano-sized contraption that people settle into rather than strap on. Read more…

LiveScience.com - As if the San Andreas Fault weren't long and menacing enough, newly found mud pots and mud volcanoes now suggest it extends another 18 miles, going under the Salton Sea and beyond, in the desert southeast of Palm Springs. Read more…

AP - A federal judge in Wyoming has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the booking company for a Cheyenne rodeo against an animal-rights group. Read more…

Reuters - Soft tissue taken from preserved dinosaur bones may not be dinosaur protein at all, but bacteria, paleontologists said on Tuesday. Read more…

Reuters - President George W. Bush on Tuesday again called on Congress to pass legislation that would give energy companies access to billions of barrels of oil in U.S. waters where energy exploration is now banned. Read more…