Washington, September 11 : A team of researchers have determined that the magnitude 7.9 earthquake in China’s Sichuan province on May 12 has brought several nearby faults closer to failure and could trigger another major quake in the region.

Researchers analyzing the May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake have found that geological stress has significantly increased on three major fault systems in the region.

Washington, September 11 : A collaborative study has revealed a submicroscopic aberration in a particular region of human chromosome 1q21.1 that is associated with a variety of developmental disorders in children.

Dr. Heather C. Mefford, acting assistant professor of Paediatrics at the University of Washington, and Dr. Andrew J. Sharp of the University of Geneva Medical School in Switzerland say that the aberration can manifest itself as unexplained mild or moderate mental retardation, growth retardation, learning disabilities, seizures, autism, heart defects, other congenital abnormalities, cataracts, small head size, unusual facial features, hand deformities, or skeletal problems.

Washington, September 11 : NASA has taken a major step toward building the nation’s next generation launch vehicle with the successful completion of the Ares I rocket preliminary design review.

Starting in 2015, the Ares I rocket will launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle, its crew of four to six astronauts, and small cargo payloads to the International Space Station. The rocket also will be used for missions to explore the moon and beyond in the coming decades.

Washington, September 11 : NASA researchers have identified feasible emission scenarios that could keep carbon dioxide (CO2) below levels that some scientists have called dangerous for climate.

When and how global oil production will peak has been debated, making it difficult to anticipate emissions from the burning of fuel and to precisely estimate its impact on climate.

To better understand how emissions might change in the future, Pushker Kharecha and James Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York considered a wide range of fossil fuel consumption scenarios.

Washington, Sept. 11 : Inaccurate reporting and picture filing seems to be the order of the day in the ongoing race for the White House.

A Fox News report has suggested that CNN messed up big time by showing a photo of Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin in a bikini and clutching an AK-47 assault rifle.

That photo, it seems, has turned out to be a fake and joins a series of incidents in the recent past that involve apparent misstatements or inaccurate reporting by the news network.

Washington, Sept. 11: A reality check on the McCain campaign’s attack on Senator Barack Obama''s supposed insult of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, suggests that the Republicans may be off target, according to a CBS News report.

According to CBS, the McCain campaign has jumped too hard on Obama''s use of the phrase "lipstick on a pig."