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.

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.

Washington, Sep 12 : Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, in her first interview since becoming the Republican vice-presidential candidate, said that she never hesitated to take the spot on the ticket and that she’s ready for the job of vice president and, if necessary, the President.

“I’m ready,” Palin answered without any hesitation in an interview with ABC News on Thursday.

Palin said she had felt no doubt about accepting Senator John McCain’s offer to run as his vice-presidential nominee.

Washington, Sept 12 : While it is believed that biological and societal factors influence choice of partners, a new study has suggested that immunity traits may be more involved in selecting a mate.

The study by scientists in China, France, and the United Kingdom have shown that the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), a large genomic region involved in immune response, influences mating selections and that this may be mediated by preferences based on body odor.

It was shown in some previous studies that humans have a tendency to prefer MHC-dissimilar mates, encouraging heterozygosity at MHC loci in offspring and resulting in improved immune response.

Miranshah, Sept 12 : Despite repeated warnings from Pakistan army and government against US attacks on Pakistani soil, at least 12 people were killed and 10 injured in yet another US drone attack at Miranshah in North Waziristan today.

The attack was carried out despite US assurance not to conduct any further raid inside Pakistan’s territory, reported The News.

US drones launched an attack inside Pakistan''s area at 4:00am early in the Friday morning, the paper quoted sources as saying.

Two missiles were fired at a house in Tol Khel area on the outskirts of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan district, killing dozen people and injuring 10.

Washington, Sep 12 : Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, in her first interview since becoming the Republican vice-presidential candidate, had no knowledge about the Bush Doctrine ans was visibly stumbled when asked about it.

Speaking at length with ABC’s Charles Gibson, Palin was most visibly stumbled when she was asked by if she agreed with the Bush Doctrine. Palin did not seem to know what he was talking about.

Gibson, sounding like an impatient teacher, informed her that it meant the right of “anticipatory self-defence.”