Washington, June 11 : Physicists have uncovered new secrets about the properties of graphene—a form of pure carbon that may one day replace the silicon in computers, televisions, mobile phones and other common electronic devices.

Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycombed lattice, has a number of advantages over silicon.

Because it is an optically transparent conductor of electricity, graphene could be used to replace current liquid crystal displays that employ thin metal-oxide films based on indium, a rare metal that is becoming increasingly expensive and likely to be in short supply within a decade.

Washington, June 11 : Researchers at Northwestern University in the US have developed new transistors that hold up well when exposed to radiation, which could prove helpful on long space missions.

These transistors, that have been based on a new kind of material, have already been lifted into outer space on the space shuttle Endeavour and attached to the outside of the International Space Station for radiation testing.

The transistors, which used a new kind of gate dielectric material called a self-assembled nanodielectric (SAND), were placed on the space station during a spacewalk on March 22 this year.

The transistors will remain there for a year as part of a NASA materials experiment to see how they and other materials hold up to the harsh space environment.

Washington, June 11 : University of Missouri archaeologists have discovered that early man, on the way to perfecting the performance of the bow and arrow, engaged in experimental research, producing a great variety of projectile points in the quest for the best, most effective system, a precursor to today’s “cutting-edge” weapons.

When the “cutting-edge” technology of the bow and arrow was introduced to the world, it changed the way humans hunted and fought.

According to R. Lee Lyman, professor and chair of the University of Missouri Department of Anthropology, “When the bow and arrow appeared in North America, roughly
1,500 years ago, it eventually replaced the atlatl (spear thrower) and dart.”

London, June 11 : The historic India-US civil nuclear deal is almost dead, according to a senior US official.
Asked whether it was now impossible to push the deal through, one Bush Administration official said: “That is probably correct,” The Financial Times reported.
“Even if the Indian Government were suddenly to turn around and get the IAEA stage completed, there would be no time for the remaining two stages,” said Ashley Tellis, one of the original architects of the deal and now an adviser to John McCain’s presidential campaign.
Tellis said that the collapse of the deal would jeopardise India’s access to sensitive US technology, which could have an impact on defence sales and civil nuclear development.

Amsterdam, June 11 : Astronomers have re-discovered one of the youngest and brightest supernova remnants in the Milky Way, the corpse of a star that exploded around 1000 years ago.

The supernova was observed by ESA’s (European Space Agency’s) orbiting X-ray observatory XMM-Newton.

Exploding stars seed the Universe with heavy chemical elements necessary to build planets and create life. The expanding cloud of debris that each explosion leaves behind, known as a supernova remnant (SNR), is a bright source of X-rays and radio waves.

Generally, the debris is thought to appear as an expanding bubble or ring.

Washington, June 11 : NASA is collaborating with a UK company in developing an early warning system for earthquakes, which would be able to predict major quakes two weeks in advance.

According to a report in Discovery News, the project is based on a controversial theory that may gain traction in light of new findings described in a leaked NASA memo about the May 12 earthquake in China’s Sichuan province.

The researchers hope to create a global network of roughly 20 satellites that would scan for telltale activity that some scientists say precedes large earthquakes.

The goal is to create an early warning system that would give up to two weeks notice before a quake anywhere in the world, potentially saving thousands of lives.