Astronomers at the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Councils UK Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh have produced compelling new evidence that Vega, one of the brightest stars in the sky, has a planetary system around it which is more like our own Solar System than any other so far discovered.

All of the hundred or so planets that have been discovered around other stars have been very large gaseous (Jupiter-like) planets orbiting close to their star.

Virtual floods modelled inside computers are an increasingly useful means for authorities to prepare for genuine river surges. With flooding classed as the world’s most costly natural hazard, an ESA project has assessed using satellite imagery to improve flood simulation models.

Flood control and management represents a major challenge for water authorities, and as the global incidence of flooding increases, it has also become a subject of concern for the global insurance industry.

VLT Interferometer Gives Insight Into the Shape of Eta Carinae

Ever since 1841, when the until then inconspicuous southern star Eta Carinae underwent a spectacular outburst, astronomers have wondered what exactly is going on in this unstable giant star. However, due to its considerable distance – 7,500 light-years – details of the star itself were beyond observation.

This star is known to be surrounded by the Homunculus Nebula, two mushroom-shaped clouds ejected by the star,

‘Black holes’ are truly black. When an object gets within a certain distance from a black hole, it will get swallowed forever with no chance to escape. That includes light, which means that black holes do not shine.

How do astronomers detect black holes if they are unable to see them? Well, to be precise, astronomers do not detect black holes. But they do detect the phenomena that can only be explained by the existence nearby of objects that match the description of black holes!

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Despite continuous technical advances in the semiconductor industry, microchips are still composed of laterally-arranged (side-by-side) transistors on a silicon substrate. EUREKA project E! 2259 VSI developed new ways to break through this two dimensional approach and the restrictions it imposes by designing 3-D chips or Vertical System Integration (VSI).

This technology has immediate security benefits which are very desirable since chip cards often contain secure information or monetary val

Researchers from the Physics Department at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Institut de Ciènca de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), and the Universidad de Zaragoza have created a new ultra-light transparent magnetic material. Thanks to its properties, the new material could have interesting technological applications, such as creating new types of flat screens and magneto-optical memory devices for computers.

The researchers have obtained the new ultra-light magnets by com

ESA’s Mars Express probe is scheduled to arrive at Mars at Christmas : the Beagle 2 lander is expected to touch down on the surface of the Red Planet during the night of 24 to 25 December.

Launched on 2 June 2003 from Baikonur (Kazakhstan) on board a Russian Soyuz operated by Starsem, the European probe – built for ESA by a European team of industrial companies led by Astrium – carries seven scientific instruments that will perform a series of remote sensing experiments designed to shed

For the first time supercomputers in the UK and the US have been linked to carry out an interactive scientific experiment. It involves three of the most powerful computing resources in the world working in parallel with each other.

This is the first demonstration of the use of the “Grid” to simultaneously link the high performance computers with remote visualisation centres in the UK and the US. This allowed scientists to interact with the computer models as they evolved in real time.

Using sophisticated computer algorithms running on standard desktop computers, researchers have designed and constructed a novel functional protein that is not found in nature. The achievement should enable researchers to explore larger questions about how proteins evolved and why nature “chose” certain protein folds over others.

The ability to specify and design artificial proteins also opens the way for researchers to engineer artificial protein enzymes for use as medicines or industrial c

Better competitive ability for new products

VTT, Nokia, Ericsson and several other telecom companies in central and southern Europe have worked together in the EU IST-programme research project SYDIC-Telecom to specify a conceptual model for electronic systems design, and have defined the relevant concepts in a new glossary. They have further defined means for companies to better reuse work done once in product design. Thus the European companies in the field will be able to create ne

IRISCOM is a system that enables the total control of a computer through the movement of the eye. This idea has been awarded the 1st Prize at the 2003 “New Basque Enterprise” Business Ideas Competition. The service is already operating and providing very good results for those with various disabilities and with ages ranging from 6 to 75.

IRISCOM uses a system known as Quick Glance that tracks the movement of the eye. This device substitutes the mouse used in Windows applications.

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A super-cold collection of molecules behaving in perfect unison has been created for the first time from a sea of “fermion” atoms by researchers at JILA, a joint institute of the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU-Boulder).

Fermions are a class of particles that are inherently difficult to coax into a uniform quantum state. The ability to meld fermions into this state—a soup of particles that ac

While scientists and aurora spotters marvel at the explosions on the Sun, everyone responsible for the hundreds of satellites that serve human needs, from weather observations to car navigation, wishes that these potentially damaging events were more predictable.

So do the astronauts aboard the International Space Station, who recently had to shelter from energetic particles flung out by the most powerful solar flare ever recorded. Now, from space observations of the Sun going back more than

Six years ago Cornell University researchers built the world’s smallest guitar — about the size of a red blood cell — to demonstrate the possibility of manufacturing tiny mechanical devices using techniques originally designed for building microelectronic circuits.

Now, by “playing” a new, streamlined nanoguitar, Cornell physicists are demonstrating how such devices could substitute for electronic circuit components to make circuits smaller, cheaper and more energy-efficient.

Ohio State University software is helping some of the world’s fastest supercomputers confront big scientific questions, from global climate change to the structure of intricate molecules.

The software, called MVAPICH, works by connecting traditional supercomputing software with innovative networking technology that speeds data flow.

While supercomputers were once built only as large-scale mainframe structures that were extremely expensive — some costing tens to hundreds of millions

Miguel Campoy Ederra, telecommunications engineer from Pamplona, has presented his graduate thesis on an application which enables the following of a GPS-technology guided tour on a PDA. That is, thanks to geographical positioning using satellite technology (GPS), this application enables the user to to visit a specific space and, therein, reproduce specific images and call up other information about each space visited.

For his thesis, Miguel Campoy has chosen the Arrosadía university camp