Washington, Dec 17 : Data collected during several recent flybys of Titan by NASA''s Cassini spacecraft has revealed new evidence for existence of cryovolcaones on the Saturnian moon that spew a super-chilled liquid into its atmosphere.

Rather than erupting molten rock, it is theorized that the cryovolcanoes of Titan would erupt volatiles such as water, ammonia and methane.

"Cryovolcanoes are some of the most intriguing features in the solar system," said Rosaly Lopes, a Cassini radar team investigation scientist from NASA''s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

"To put them in perspective - if Mount Vesuvius had been a cryovolcano, its lava would have frozen the residents of Pompeii," Lopes explained.

Melbourne, Dec. 17 : The top-order batsmen for Australia and South Africa will hold the key for who will be the victor, as both sides have good new-ball bowlers, says former Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph, Warne says that this is where the series will be won or lost, and added that South Africa versus Australia battles have always had hype, but the Proteas have never lived up to the billing and have not been able to deliver.

New Delhi, Dec 17 : India and Iran will hold talks on the proposed 7.4 billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project here today.

The two sides are expected to discuss ways to break the deadlock over the project during a high-level meeting.

The Foreign Office Consultations are also expected to deliberate on ways to step up cooperation in various other fields.

Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will lead the Indian delegation while the Iranian side will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh.

Earlier, both sides had decided to set up a trilateral Ministerial mechanism to resolve various issues related to the project.

Washington, Dec 17 : A new study has suggested that rock varnish could provide a niche habitat for microbial life on Mars and in other extraterrestrial environments devoid of liquid water.

The study was undertaken by a research team led by Kimberly R. Kuhlman, of the Tucson-based Planetary Science Institute.

The team found bacteria associated with rock varnish in an area where the surrounding soils were essentially devoid of life.

Rock varnish is an extremely slow-growing coating that forms on the surfaces of rocks in arid and semiarid climates.

In Southwestern deserts, it often appears as a tough, dark stain on light-colored canyon walls. Ancient petroglyphs are often found etched into rock varnishes.

Perth, Dec. 17 : In an explosive claim leading into the first South Africa-Australia Test at the WACA Ground in Perth, South African captain Graeme Smith says Warne has told him how he should go about bringing down Australia''s batting champions Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden.

Writing an exclusive column in The Daily Telegraph, Smith reveals he used his stint at the Rajasthan Royals under Warne''s captaincy to gain inside information on Australia''s batsmen.

Tel Aviv/Ramallah - The Middle East peace process is hanging by a thread as 2009 is nearing - just one year after negotiations were revived following seven years of violence.