China to plant vegetables on Mars

Four kinds of vegetables were grown in an "ecological life support system", a 300 cubic metre cabin which will allow astronauts to develop their own stocks of air, water and food while on space missions, Xinhua news agency said Monday. The system, which relies on plants and algae, is "expected to be used in extra-terrestrial bases on the moon or Mars", the report said.

 Participants in the experiment could "harvest fresh vegetables for meals", Xinhua quoted Deng Yibing, a researcher at Beijing's Chinese Astronaut Research and Training Centre, as saying. "Chinese astronauts may get fresh vegetables and oxygen supplies by gardening in extra-terrestrial bases in the future," the report said, adding that the experiment was the first of its kind in China. China has said it will land an exploratory craft on the moon for the first time next year, as part of an ambitious space programme that includes a long-term plan for a manned moon landing.

 The Asian superpower has been ramping up its manned space activities as the United States, long the leader in the field, has scaled back some of its programmes, such as retiring its iconic space shuttle fleet. In its last white paper on space, China said it was working towards landing a man on the moon—a feat so far only achieved by the United States, most recently in 1972—although it did not give a time frame. China's first astronaut Yang Liwei said last month that Chinese astronauts may start a branch of China's ruling Communist Party in space, state media reported. "If we establish a party branch in space, it would also be the 'highest' of its kind in the world," Xinhua quoted Yang as saying. The astronaut was launched into space and orbited the earth aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft in 2003

Source: AFP

Britain and France to Recall Envoys from Israel

Britain and France are considering recalling their ambassadors to Israel over its plans to build new settler homes in a highly controversial area of the West Bank, Hareetz newspaper reported on Monday.

Reports of a decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to build 3,000 homes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank emerged on Friday when an official source confirmed that it was in retaliation for the Palestinians winning the rank of a UN non-member state a day earlier

.The decision to build in a key area east of Jerusalem, called E1, sparked a storm of diplomatic protest from Washngton and Brussels as well as from UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who on Sunday warned it would deal an "almost fatal blow" to the prospects of resolving the conflict

.And on Monday, Haaretz reported that Britain and France were considering recalling their ambassadors for consultations over the plans to build in E1, which the newspaper said they considered a "red line."

"This time it won’t just be a condemnation, there will be real action taken against Israel," a senior European diplomat told the paper, which also quoted another diplomat as saying: "London is furious about the E1 decision."

Quoting diplomatic sources, the paper said Britain and France were coordinating their moves and had "discussed the extraordinary step of recalling their ambassadors from Tel Aviv for consultations" and had informed Washington accordingly.

A final decision would be taken by the countries' foreign ministers on Monday, it said.There was no immediate confirmation of the report from either embassy.

E1 is a highly contentious area of the West Bank that runs between the easternmost edge of annexed east Jerusalem and the Maaleh Adumim settlement.

Palestinians bitterly oppose the E1 project, as it would effectively cut the occupied West Bank in two, north to south, and sever it from Jerusalem, and make the creation of a viable Palestinian state even more problematic.
Source..Daily Star

NASA says doomsday is a hoax

NASA has assured the public that the world will not end on 21 December 2012.

NASA addresses the “Mayans predicted the end of the world” theory on a new section of their website entitled “Beyond 2012: Why the World Won’t End.”

NASA says that the rumour of the imminent doomsday centres around a planet called Nibiru, which doesn’t actually exist.

Rumours suggest that Nibiru will align with Earth, resulting in solar flares. All of this is tied to the supposed end of the Mayan calendar.

“The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012,” said NASA.

NASA space scientist David Morrison was interviewed about the rumoured impending 2012 doomsday. “I’m disturbed by letters from kids who are afraid. I think that is the worst part of this hoax, and it is a hoax.”

NASA also urged people to be more concerned about climate change and the current threats our planet faces.

Source: NASA

Pope Joins Twitter

 He already has a billion followers.

Now, Pope Benedict XVI will join the Twitter-sphere, tweeting from a personal account along with the world's celebrities, leaders and ordinary folk.

Vatican spokesperson the Reverend Federico Lombardi made the announcement on Thursday, saying details about Benedict's handle and other information will come when the Vatican officially launches the account, perhaps before the end of the year.

The 85-year-old Benedict sent his first tweet from a Vatican account in 2011 when he launched the Vatican's news information portal, aimed at the world's 1.1 billion Catholics. 

The new Twitter account will be his own, though it's doubtful Benedict himself will wrestle down his encyclicals, apostolic exhortations and other papal pronouncements into 140-character bites.

Benedict, who writes longhand and doesn't normally use a computer, will more likely sign off on tweets written in his name.

Source...AP