Portable microwave scanner to help police detect concealed guns and knives

September 18th, 2009 LONDON - European Space Agency's (ESA's) Planck spacecraft has obtained its first peek at the afterglow of the big bang, revealing it in unprecedented detail. The ESA spacecraft was launched into space on May 14 this year.

September 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) at the University of Michigan, US, invented a new type of magnetron that may be used by military radar systems to defeat enemy electronics. A magnetron is a type of vacuum tube used as the frequency source in microwave ovens, radar systems and other high-power microwave circuits.

September 4th, 2009 BERLIN - In a new research work, a team of scientists has shown how optical atomic clocks in the future might become more compact and even portable, maybe even travel to space. The research was done by scientists from the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Braunschweig, Germany.

August 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, a team of scientists at Dartmouth university has proposed a new way of creating a reproduction black hole in the laboratory on a much-tinier scale than their celestial counterparts. The new method to create a tiny quantum sized black hole would allow researchers to better understand what physicist Stephen Hawking proposed more than 35 years ago: black holes are not totally void of activity; they emit photons, which is now known as Hawking radiation.

August 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - After circling the Moon for nearly 18 months, China's Chang'e 1 spacecraft has successfully achieved four scientific targets that include detection of helium-3, a crucial element for nuclear fusion, which may provide humans with millions of tons of nuclear energy in the future. The identification of helium-3 came about by the exploration of the soil layer on the Moon, a pioneering work that has not been done by any other country.

August 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists, using a new detector, have for the first time observed evidence that Martian dust storms can generate lightning. Dust storms on Earth build up an electric field as dust particles collide, and then emit lightning as the electric field discharges.

July 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Soon, technology that is used to make office inkjet printers may be used to develop paper-based biosensors that can detect certain harmful toxins that can cause food poisoning or be used as bioterrorism agents. In a research, John Brennan and his research team at McMaster University, working with the Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network, describe a method for printing a toxin-detecting biosensor on paper using a FujiFilm Dimatix Materials Printer.

June 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists is developing hand-held devices that can detect the presence of aerosols in air above oceans by measuring how light scatters as it strikes the particles. The portable photometers have been developed by Alexander Smirnov, an AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and his team.

June 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A group of students have developed a portable device to detect the weapons of suicide bombers. Improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the weapons of suicide bombers, are a major cause of soldier casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.

June 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have developed a handheld device that can detect anthrax with outstanding accuracy and reliability. The device, called Ceeker (pronounced "seeker"), was made by scientists at Veritide Ltd., a developer of innovative biological identification and detection solutions.

June 16th, 2009 LONDON - In a new analysis, scientists have confirmed that the sculptures on the triangular gables of the Parthenon temple in Athens, which are pristine white, were originally brightly painted. According to a report in Nature News, conservation scientists at the British Museum in London used a non-invasive technique to reveal invisible traces of an ancient pigment known as Egyptian blue.

June 9th, 2009 LONDON - Computer professionals may not have to leave their screens to fill their stomachs, thanks to a British scientist who has developed the world's smallest microwave for those too busy to leave their PCs. Gordon Andrews, of the UK's Microwave Technologies Association, has revealed the 71/2in Beanzawave plugs into a computer, something that makes it ideal for deskbound types or travellers with a laptop.

April 30th, 2009 LONDON - Busy office workers will no longer have to depend on a microwave to rustle up a hot snack, all thanks to a food tin that warms up its contents. The Hotcan meal, which costs 3.99-pounds, includes beef casserole, vegetable curry and an all-day breakfast.

April 14th, 2009 LONDON - A team of researchers has said the technology that uses fluorescence sensors to pick up trace sewage contamination may help increase public confidence in recycled water. "A rapid, highly sensitive and selective detector is urgently required to detect contamination events in recycled water systems," Dr Rita Henderson of the University of New South Wales Water Research Centre told ABC News.

March 18th, 2009 LONDON - American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has landed himself in trouble with his neighbours, after his portable lavatory caused noxious fumes to travel over the wall into the house next door. Dylan, 67, set up the portable lavatory to cater to his security staff, who patrol his estate in Malibu at night.