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OB OY oF VEN? SECRET SATELLITES French space surveillance radar has detected 20 to 30 satellites in low Earth orbit that do not figure in the US Defense Department's catalogue. After 16 months of operation of its Graves radar system, which can locate satellites in orbits up to 1,000 kilometres in altitude, the French Defence Ministry says it has gathered just about enough information to pressure US authorities to stop publishing the whereabouts to} French reconnaissance and military communications satellites. The US Defense Department's Space Surveillance Network is the world's gold standard for cataloguing satellites and debris in both low Earth orbit and the higher geostationary orbit at 36,000 kilometres in altitude, where telecommunications satellites operate. Data from the US network of ground- based sensors are regularly published and used worldwide by those tracking satellite and space debris trajectories. The published information excludes sensitive US defence satellites, but regularly includes data on the orbits of other nations’ military hardware. The Graves radar, and a complementary system operated by the German government, together are enough to pinpoint the location, size, orbit and transmission frequency of satellites—data EM PULSE TECHNOLOGY group of Russian scientists has developed a series of 4 unique compact generators capable of producing high-energy pulses of hundreds and even thousands of megawatts. The new generators are sources of electromagnetic radiation rather than electricity. Their main feature is a capacity to produce enormous power in a matter of nanoseconds. These impulses can be generated with a very high frequency. Reporting these results to the RAS. Presidium, — scientists emphasised that sources with super-radiation effects can be broadly used in long-range, high- resolution, impulse-based radio location and in studies of non- thermal impact of powerful electromagnetic fields on radio electronic components and different biological species. Super-powerful pulse generators can test the reliability of radio electronic devices and the immunity of energy facilities to ifferent impacts. They can imitate the interference caused by lightning and even y anuclear blast. Their tiny size and unique physical properties make their sphere of application extremely wide. The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a roduct of a nuclear explosion. It puts out of action even those electronic control systems that have withstood the shockwave and reduces expensive smart weapons to scrap metal. A short, intensive ulse can instantly paralyse databases, financial centres and industrial equipment. (Source: Novosti, 11 May 2007, http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20070511/ 65348455.html) which the US would prefer not be broadcast worldwide, French officials said. "We have discussed the Graves results with our American colleagues and highlighted the discrepancies between what we have found and what is published by the US Space Surveillance Network," said one French defence official. "They told us, ‘If we have not published it in our catalogue, then it does not exist.’ So I guess we have been tracking objects that do not exist. I can tell you that some of these non-existent objects have solar arrays." (Source: Space.com, 8 June 2007, http://www. space.com/news/060707_ graves_web.himl) Lost ca (esr ey ee \_ ke , — ~~ PLANTS RECOGNISE THEIR SIBLINGS esearchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, have found that plants get fiercely competitive when they're forced to share their pot with strangers of the same species, but they're accommodating when potted with their siblings. "The ability to recognise and favour kin is common in animals, but this is the first time it has been shown in plants," said Susan Dudley, associate professor of biology at McMaster University. "When 6 = NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2007