A swarm of "smart dust" spacecraft, positioned at a sweet spot between the Earth and the sun, could alert us to the approach of dangerous space storms well before a conventional craft can. The first prototypes are due for launch into low-Earth orbit this year, perhaps as early as May.
The subtle signal of ancient helium has shown up for the first time in light left over from the big bang. The discovery will help astronomers work out how much of the stuff was made during the big bang and how much was made later by stars.
The crew includes the British-born astronaut Dr Nicholas Patrick, a former Harrow schoolboy and Cambridge graduate from Yorkshire, who blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on one of the shuttle's last flights.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - At least 20 people have died in floods and avalanches triggered by some of the heaviest rain and snow in Afghanistan for 50 years, an official said Monday.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - Thick clouds thwarted the attempted predawn launch of NASA's space shuttle Endeavour on Sunday, forcing the orbiter's six-astronaut crew to wait at least one more day before rocketing into orbit.
The star TW Hydrae is located about 150 light-years from earth in the direction of the constellation of Hydrae, the Water Snake. This star is relatively young -- at about 10 million years old it has passed out of its infancy but is not yet mature.
LOS ANGELES - Thunderous mudslides swept away cars and pushed furniture out of homes and into the streets in the foothills north of Los Angeles Saturday as an intense winter storm brought down hillsides in wildfire burn areas.
A powerful snow storm unleashed its wrath in and around Washington D.C., pummelling areas outside the U.S. capital with almost a metre of snow Saturday.
MEXICO CITYÂ - Continuous rains have struck Mexico's southwest state of Michoacan for three days, killing at least 18 people, said the authorities on Friday.
