United States

Sarah Palin links Iraq to 9/11

Sarah PalinFort Wainwright (Alaska), Sept. 12: Republican vice-presidential nominee and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has told an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that the war in that country is similar to horror associated with the 9/11 terror strikes in the United States, and urged them to "defend the innocent from enemies who rejoice in the death of thousands of Americans.

The same train of thought was once promoted by the Bush administration, but now the president himself has rejected it.

Ocean floor sediments may trigger off megaquakes and tsunamis

Washington, September 12: Scientists in the US has found compelling evidence that ocean floor sediments may be the cause of megaquakes, including the earthquake and tsunami that struck the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004.

According to a report in Discovery News, the scientists include David Scholl, an emeritus scientist at the United States Geological Survey, and his team, who have been looking closely at subduction zones.

These areas are where the ocean crust grinds beneath an adjacent tectonic plate, plunging in fits and starts into the mantle.

The zones are infamous for their catastrophic temblors, called ''megathrusts,'' which often generate powerful earthquakes and devastating tsunamis.

Obama's grandmother under 24-hour guard after Kenya break-in

Nairobi -Obama's grandmother under 24-hour guard after Kenya break-in Kenyan police have set up a 24-hour guard outside the home of US presidential candidate Barack Obama's grandmother after thieves targeted her home, reports said Friday.

Obama's grandmother Sarah, 86, said burglars broke in through her kitchen door in the western Kenyan village of Kogelo and attempted to steal a solar panel from her roof.

Local police chief Johnston Ipara told the Daily Nation that two tents had been set up outside Sarah Obama's home until a permanent police station was built nearby.

70,000 yr old ice core analysis shows correlation between CO2 and abrupt climate changes

Washington, September 12 : An analysis has been completed of the global carbon cycle and climate for a 70,000 year period in the most recent Ice Age, showing a remarkable correlation between carbon dioxide levels and surprisingly abrupt changes in climate.

The findings shed further light on the fluctuations in greenhouse gases and climate in Earth’s past, and appear to confirm the validity of the types of computer models that are used to project a warmer climate in the future, according to researchers.

World''s most powerful magnet under construction

Washington, September 12 : Using the strongest materials known to man, scientists in the US are building the most powerful electromagnet in the world, one that won''t blow up a split second after it''s turned on.

According to a report in Discovery News, the entire magnet will be a combination of coil sets weighing nearly 18,000 pounds and powered by jolts from a massive 
1,200-megajoules motor generator.

Once activated, the new magnet should be about two million times more powerful than the average refrigerator magnet.

New technology would enable crops to grow using salty groundwater

Washington, September 12 : Technology under development at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) could offer new hope to farmers in drought-affected and marginal areas by enabling crops to grow using salty groundwater.

The technology is being developed by Associate Professor Greg Leslie, a chemical engineer at UNSW’s UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science and Technology, who is working along with the University of Sydney.

The technology uses reverse-osmosis membranes to turn previously useless, brackish groundwater into a valuable agricultural resource.

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