Madikeri, Jan 31 : The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to establish 15 weather forecasting units by next month at a cost of 20 lakh rupees.

Addressing the media in Madikeri in Karnataka on Saturday, Meteorology Programme Director of ISRO T G K Murthy informed, that the organisation is searching for a suitable place where the units could be set up to help farmers in the district monitor daily weather through a satellite.

ISRO owns 750 forecasting units across the country and 600 units have been set up by the central government.

Vienna/New Delhi  - India is set to sign its nuclear inspection agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Monday, bringing the country a step closer to enlarging its nuclear power sector, a diplomat said Thursday in Vienna.

Nuclear exporting countries decided last September to supply India, even though the country has not signed the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty, on the condition that its civilian nuclear facilities come under IAEA controls.

Washington, Jan. 29 : A new study published in The American Naturalist suggests that mammals that hibernate or that hide in burrows are less likely to turn up on an endangered species list.

The study''s authors -- Dr. Lee Hsiang Liow of the University of Oslo and Mikael Fortelius of the University of Helsinki - claimed that the ability of such "sleep-or-hide" animals to buffer themselves from changing environments may help them avoid extinction.

In the study, Liow and his colleagues wanted to see if this trend holds for mammals living today.

Berlin, Jan 27 : The results of a recently conducted study by scientists have indicated that climate change can lead to enhanced grass productivity.

The study, by researchers at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ), the University of Bayreuth and the Helmholtz Center in Munich, Germany, has found that more frequent freeze-thaw cycles in winter can increase biomass production.

For their experiment at the Ecological-Botanical Garden of the University of Bayreuth, the researchers installed underground heating on their plots, thereby enabling five additional thawing periods to take place in the winter of 2005/2006.

London, January 26 : Science experts have predicted that X-Ray vision and Harry Potter-style invisibility cloaks may be among some of the inventions that will become part of everyday life by 2039.

Compiled by News Scientists experts, the list of predicted inventions also includes an affordable and readily-available jet pack, like that used by James Bond in the film Thunderball.

It would allow users to travel short distances quickly and to avoid roads.

The experts believe that X-Ray vision's realisation could be possible because of an extention of existing research on ultrasound. They say that it would allow people to see through walls.

Washington, January 26 : A laser-based system called LightLane, which can help keep cyclists safe from fast moving vehicles, is being proposed as one of the newest technologies that can improve that morning commute.

The system clearly mark, in bright red lights, where car lanes end and bike lanes begin, helping keep cyclists safe even at night when reflective devices don''t quite cut it.

Second top new technology in the same field is for the benefit of commuters who have to choose between breakfast and catching the bus, reports Fox News.