Washington, September 30: Biological engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a method of producing smell receptors in the laboratory, showing the possibility of creation of “artificial noses” for use in a variety of settings.

The breakthrough may also be helpful in discerning how the senses of smell can recognize a seemingly infinite range of odours, say the researchers.

Washington, September 30: A scientist of Indian origin, along with his team, is designing a robotic aircraft inspired by a 225-million-year old crested pterodactyl.

According to a report in Discovery News, the scientist in question is Sankar Chatterjee of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, US.

The dinosaur that has inspired Chatterjee is the Tapejara wellnhoferi, whose body looked like the typical flying lizard frame - light, airy wings stretched taut with skin, and a slender avian neck, with an 8-inch-high fleshy crest on its head.

Chatterjee said that recently discovered fossils of the dinosaur found in Brazil showed the crest intact, and that it probably functioned as a form of rudder.

Washington - A massive government rescue of the US financial system failed in Congress amid both doubts that Wall Street's dire straits would affect the lives of ordinary Americans, and outrage in any case that taxpayers should bail out corporate titans.

Government officials and congressional leaders from both parties warned that, however distasteful, it would take an unprecedented government intervention in the financial sector to keep the US economy afloat.

Washington - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the architect of a 700-billion-dollar rescue plan that failed in Congress Monday, warned that the federal government does not have the means to address the massive financial crisis arresting the US economy.

Paulson said he was "very disappointed" in the House of Representatives rejection Monday. He promised to continue working with congressional leaders to find some kind of compromise "as soon as possible."

Washington  - US stocks plunged and the Standard & Poor's 500 index tumbled the most on Monday since the 1987 crash after the US House of Representatives rejected the biggest government intervention into capital markets since the Great Depression.

The hotly debated 700-billion-dollar rescue plan, which was intended to thaw out the frozen credit flow, failed in a 228-205 vote in the House. US President George W Bush has warned the country faces a long and painful recession without the plan.

Washington  - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko played down the political rift in his country's Parliament, saying during a meeting with US President George W Bush that Ukrainian democracy is strong enough to survive the uncertainty.

"We also discussed the domestic political situation in Ukraine, which in my opinion is far away from being tragic, and not dramatic," Yushchenko said at the White House.

"Ukraine has enough democratic resources and tools to give sufficient response to any crisis that may occur in the Ukrainian Parliament."