Washington, Feb 20 : A new study has found that the cracks in Earth's surface exhale large quantities of gas, perhaps enough to contribute to global warming.

According to a report in Discovery News, Noam Weisbrod of Ben Gurion University of the Negev and a team of researchers monitored a crack about 2 meters long (6.5 feet) and 1 meter (3.3 feet) deep for two years in the Negev Desert in Israel.

Each night, they watched as warm air in the crack drew water vapor out of the surrounding rock, and lifted it into the cold evening air.

Washington, Feb 20 : NASA's Kepler spacecraft is all set to be moved to the launch pad and will soon begin a journey to search for worlds that could potentially host life.

Kepler is scheduled to blast into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, aboard a Delta II rocket on March 5.

It is the first mission with the ability to find planets like Earth - rocky planets that orbit sun-like stars in a warm zone where liquid water could be maintained on the surface.

Liquid water is believed to be essential for the formation of life.

Washington, Feb 20: Michael Phelps' Olympic teammate Ryan Lochte agreed that the swimmer "messed up with the pot" but vows to support him now matter what.

Phelps was snapped smoking marijuana pipe in November last year at a house party organised by University of South Carolina.

"He''s a good friend of mine, and he''s a good teammate," Usmagazine quoted Lochte as saying.

"Yeah, he messed up, but hopefully he''ll learn from it. Hopefully everyone will learn from it.

"Everyone on the U. S. Olympic team, we''re all going to support him no matter what," he added.

Chicago, February 20 : US President Barack Obama has beaten Jesus Christ to be American's number one hero, according to a new Harris poll.

The top 10 list based on the poll showed Obama at number one position, Christ at number two, and Martin Luther King at number three.

Wrapping up the top five Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

They were followed by Abraham Lincoln, John McCain, John F. Kennedy, Chesley Sullenberger, and Mother Teresa in the same order.

The online survey involved 2,634 US adults, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Washington, Feb. 20: US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, has admitted that the Obama administration is `troubled and confused' over implementation of Islamic law in the Swat Valley.

Holbrooke said such efforts of establishing peace in the region have fallen apart previously, thus raising questions over the recent deal between the Taliban and Pakistan Government.

"We're troubled and confused in a sense about what happened in Swat because it is not an encouraging trend. Previous ceasefires have broken down," The Nation quoted Holbrooke, as saying.

Seoul  - The top diplomats of the United States and South Korea urged North Korea Friday to end its threats toward Seoul and unconditionally return to the negotiating table.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung Hwan said after meeting in Seoul that their countries would in no way accept a nuclear-armed North Korea, according to a statement released by South Korea's Foreign Ministry.

Clinton called North Korea's "war of words" "provocative and unhelpful" and urged it to engage with South Korea while also announcing the appointment by US President Barack Obama of his top negotiator with North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, a former US ambassador to South Korea.