The war of the worlds

It was not an April fool prank but it is one of the most famous hoax in history. You can listen to it there.
Visit the museum of hoaxes which also has a special "April fools" page.

XCOR Lynx suborbital vehicle animation

"A sleek craft that may be the first "sports car" of commercial spaceflight was unveiled on Wednesday, in Mojave, California, US. It is designed to be able to travel to the edge of space and back several times a day.
A two-seater, Lynx is smaller than a private jet.

Women at the forefront of politics: a new trend?

I think it is going to be a concours hit : we haven't had time to talk about the emergence of women in political life and other prominent positions. Here you will find dozens of examples. Enjoy!

Space travel and science fiction

Raphael's choice from the Guardian
On Tuesday March 11, the space shuttle “Endeavour” and seven astronauts were launched into orbit for the longest mission to the International Space Station, the ISS.
The shuttle took off from Florida with Canadian and Japanese astronauts among the crew, for a 16-day voyage, to build a robot and add a room that will serve as storage compartment for a future laboratory, called Kibo.

Another piece of space news : Europe's new orbital cargo ship has been launched from French Guiana on a mission to resupply the space station.
The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is the biggest and most complex spacecraft Europe has ever tried to put in orbit.

The ATV has been dubbed "Jules Verne" for its maiden flight and is even carrying a first-edition hardback of the 19th-Century French author's book From the Earth to the Moon. It will return on a space shuttle at a later date.

The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is the biggest and most complex spacecraft Europe has ever tried to put in orbit.
The ATV will now essentially be parked in space. It must wait until the US space shuttle Endeavour has completed its forthcoming mission to the ISS before moving in to make a docking.

The ship's own computers will be in charge of the approach, employing an advanced form of GPS and, in the latter stages, optical sensors to guide itself into the correct position on the end of the Russian Zvezda module.

Sadly, one of the greatest writers of science-fiction novels, Arthur Clark died on March 18th. He wrote that thought-provoking book called "2001, a space odyssey" made into a film by Stanley Kubrick in 1968. So many things happened 40 years ago!

What is the use of space missions or the ISS (international space station) in your opinion?

Listening to the news

Here is good training for the CCP oral exams:
http://talkingissues.economist.com/
Try the science and technology section.

Immigration and politics

A very interesting article , which looks into the relationship between immigration and elections.

"Turning CO2 back into hydrocarbons" : we are saved!!!

Here is an excerpt from an article published in the New Scientist, a tought-provoking magazine, on February 27 2008:

"CARBON dioxide is the devil molecule of our time. Belched out from vehicle exhausts and power stations, it is the biggest contributor to global warming. As such it is universally recognised as a Bad Thing. Yet a pioneering band of researchers would like us to see it differently - as a valuable resource. They are developing a collection of technologies to retrieve some of the CO2 that would otherwise pollute the atmosphere, using its carbon atoms to form hydrocarbons. These could then be used as vehicle fuel, or as a feedstock to make plastics and other materials we now derive from oil. So could the expanding clouds of CO2 in our atmosphere really have a silver lining?
The idea is simple. Find a way of removing an oxygen atom from a CO2 molecule and you are left with carbon monoxide (CO)...."

Isn't this idea brilliant?