Washington, July 31: The NASA - French space agency Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM)/Jason 2 oceanography satellite has produced its first complete maps of global ocean surface topography, surface wave height and wind speed.

The new data will help scientists monitor changes in global sea level and the distribution of heat in the ocean.

This information is used to monitor climate change and ocean circulation, and to enable more accurate weather, ocean and climate forecasts.

Washington, July 31: A team of scientists has found the first indication for embalming in Roman Greek times.

By means of physico-chemical and histological methods, the Swiss-Greek research team showed that various resins, oils and spices were used during embalming of a 55-year-old female in Northern Greece.

The remains of the 55-year old female, which date back to 300 AD, shows the preservation of various soft-tissues, hair and part of a gold-embroidered silk cloth.

This unique find allows multidisciplinary research on these tissues.

In addition to macroscopic and anthropological analyses, electron microscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry examinations were also performed.

Washington - The top leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq has left the country for Afghanistan, the Washington Post reported Thursday, citing named sources in both the Sunni militant group and the Iraqi military.

The report quoted the group's local leader in Fallujah, Abdullah al-Ansari, as saying in an interview with a Washington Post special correspondent that the group's national leader since 2006, an Egyptian known by the aliases Abu Hamza al-Muhajer or Abu Ayyub al- Masri, had departed Iraq and was now in Afghanistan, having transited through Iran. It was "not known yet" if his departure was permanent.

Washington, July 31: A new research has indicated that a Greek machine, sometimes called the world's first computer, could have helped sports fans track the cyclical schedule of ancient athletic contests-including the Olympic games.

According to a report in National Geographic News, this particular Greek machine used what is known as the Antikythera mechanism.

Dating back to around 150 to 100 B. C., it is a complex amalgamation of bronze gears, dials, and text inscriptions that was created perhaps a thousand years before the next known device of similar sophistication.

Washington, July 31: U. S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates believes that terrorism will continue to be “Enemy No. 1”.

According to a new National Defense Strategy that he approved last month, Gates says that winning the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will not end the "Long War" against violent extremism and that the fight against al-Qaeda and other terrorists should be the nation''s top military priority over coming decades.

The strategy document, which is yet to be released, calls for the military to master "irregular" warfare rather than focusing on conventional conflicts against other nations.

Washington - US President George W Bush will leave Monday on his ninth trip to Asia in nearly eight years in office, a White House official said.

The opening of the Beijing Olympics will be the highlight of the seven-day tour that also includes stops in South Korea and Thailand.

The president and First Lady Laura Bush will arrive on Wednesday in Seoul, said Dennis Wilder, senior director for Asian affairs in Bush's National Security Council.