Washington, Sept 30 : Engineers from Georgia Tech Research Institute have developed a new honeycomb like materials that can reduce aircraft engine noise more effectively than conventional methods.

A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen.

The new microchanneled material developed by research engineer Jason Nadler can reduce engine noise by wearing it down through a process called viscous shear.

Viscous shear involves the interaction of a solid with a gas or other fluid. In this case, a gas - sound waves composed of compressed air - contacts a solid, the porous medium, and is weakened by the resulting friction.

Anchorage (Alaska, US), Sept. 30 : The small town common folk tag that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has been touting across the American political landscape while introducing her family, is not true.

A check of the financial records shows the Palins live anything but a common life when compared with their fellow residents of their hometown of Wasilla.

Their combined income of nearly a quarter-million dollars last year was five times the median household income for Wasilla''s 7,000 residents.

New York, Sept. 30: The latest FOX News/Rasmussen Reports indicate that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has increased his lead over Republican rival John McCain in the key battleground states of Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The candidates are within a single point of each other in three other battleground states -- Colorado, Florida and Ohio.

In Pennsylvania, Obama now leads by eight percentage points, 50 percent to 42 percent.

In Virginia, it's Obama 50 percent and McCain 47 percent.

In 2006, when the nation was at the height of its housing boom, Wachovia went on to acquire Golden West Financial Corp. - mortgage lender for $25-billion, and also inherited its deteriorating speciality $122-billion portfolio of Pick-a-Payment loans, which allows borrowers to skip payments and in large part, the possible cause of Wachovia's current problems.
 
But, Wachovia too like other banks stands to benefit from the government’s proposed $700 billion rescue plan.
 
Earlier this summer, Wachovia announced a slash in dividends and plans to cut 11,350 jobs, mostly in its mortgage business, after reporting a $9.11 billion loss for its second quarter.
 

Aksh Optifibre, an Indian provider of optical fibre solutions, has entered into 3-year agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment to bring Hollywood content for iControl, to provide the best possible entertainment to the viewers.

Icontrol is a television connection allowing viewers to control television programmes as per their convenience with more than 130 channels, value added services like video on demand, time-shifting, live television voting etc.

Chennai-based Orchid Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals has entered into an arrangement with US drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. for discovery and development of novel anti-infective drugs.

Under the terms of deal, Orchid will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and will be eligible to get payment totaling more than $100 million in different milestones.

Apart from this, the Indian drug maker will also receive royalties on global sale of the drugs.