Nexus - 1803 - New Times Magazine-pages

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GLOBAL NEWS THE DR DAVID KELLY AFFAIR: NEW EVIDENCE REFUTES "SUICIDE" ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES FOUND VIA GOOGLE EARTH Dw Kennedy, from the University of Western Australia, scanned 1,240 square kilometres of Saudi Arabia using Google Earth. From this bird's-eye view, he found 1,977 potential archaeological sites, including 1,082 ancient tear-drop- shaped tombs made of stone. Kennedy confirmed that the sites are vestiges of ancient life, rather han vegetation or shadow, by asking a friend in Saudi Arabia, who is not an archaeologist, to drive out o two of the sites and photograph hem. Since Google Earth was launched ive years ago, the field of "armchair archaeology" has blossomed. And it's been harder for archaeologists to get out of the office since Spot mage started providing Google Earth with 2.5-metre-resolution imagery taken from the SPOT-5 satellite. In 2008, researchers from Melbourne, Australia, found 463 potential sites in the Registan Desert in Afghanistan using the desktop computer program. (Source: New Scientist, 4 February 201, http://tinyurl.com/4tkbtzp) NANOSATELLITE SYSTEM TO PREDICT ERUPTIONS AND QUAKES Aero yitionaty nanosatellite could become the rising star of Russia's space program, developed in conjunction with British scientists to test the physics behind a potentially life-saving scheme. The joint effort, involving Russia's Institute of Physics of the Earth and London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, is aimed at developing a workable system to detect the electromagnetic impulses which precede volcanic eruptions and earthquakes—and help timely evacuations. With the key nanosatellite ik the UK, a group of doctors is petitioning the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, for the reopening of inquiries into the death of government weapons inspector Dr David Kelly. The doctors have supplied fresh evidence that no fingerprints were recovered from the knife which Dr elly allegedly used to slit his wrist and a pack of pills which he apparently took, nor from a mobile phone, watch and water bottle ound near his body in 2003 in woods close to his Oxfordshire ome. Dr Kelly was found dead after it was revealed that he had provided he information for a BBC News story casting doubt on the government's claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction capable of being fired within 45 minutes. The Hutton Inquiry found in 2004 that he had killed himself; however, the lack of fingerprint evidence was not considered by the inquiry, according to the campaigners. (Source: BBC, 2 March 2011, http://tinyurl.com/4b2xs2t) With the key nanosatellite component measuring 10 x 10 x 20 centimetres and weighing just 2.0 kilograms, the cost of the mission comes down sharply. The Russian-British joint project team believes it can get a nanosatellite into orbit for around $5 million, far less than the US$100 million price- tags of old. Meanwhile, nanosatellites and microsatellites could, in their turn, revolutionise future space travel. (Source: TheMoscowNews.com, 18 February 2on1, http://tinyurl.com/4p4vj8h) WIKILEAKS: JAPAN WARNED OVER NUCLEAR PLANTS US embassy cable obtained by the WikiLeaks website and seen by the Daily Telegraph quotes an unnamed expert who expressed concern in December 2008 about guidance on how to protect nuclear power stations from earthquakes. The document states: "He [the IAEA official] explained that safety guides for seismic safety have only been revised three times in the last 35 years and that the IAEA is now re-examining them. "Also, the presenter noted recent earthquakes in some cases have exceeded the design basis for some nuclear plants, and that this is a serious problem that is now driving seismic safety work." 8 * NEXUS APRIL - MAY 2011 www.nexusmagazine.com