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Weekly update
Discovery soars on crucial mission for US space ambitions
CAPE CANAVERAL (Florida): The Discovery shuttle rocketed seven astronauts into orbit Tuesday on a pivotal mission for US space ambitions amid persistent concerns about safety since the 2003 Columbia tragedy.
“Discovery, straight as an arrow” on its way to the International Space Station (ISS), which it will meet on Thursday, said launch commentator Bruce Bucking-ham.
NASA employees at the Kennedy Space Centre’s launch control centre applauded and hugged each other as ground control announced the shuttle had reached orbit about nine minutes after blasting off from Cape Canaveral, Florida under blue skies.
NASA cleared the mission despite finding a small crack in foam insulation on the shuttle’s vexatious external fuel tank on the eve of the launch. Officials said the fissure posed no threat to the shuttle.
The 115th shuttle mission finally blasted off on time at 2:38 pm (1838 GMT) in a spectacular cloud of smoke on the US Independence Day, after two weekend launch attempts were scuttled by concerns over lightning-producing clouds.
Discovery jettisoned its two rocket boosters two minutes into the flight and split from the fuel tank as it reached orbit some nine minutes after blastoff.—AFP
Brain rewired itself after severed nerve connections
MILWAUKEE: Doctors have their first proof that a man who was barely conscious for nearly 20 years regained speech and movement because his brain spontaneously rewired itself by growing tiny new nerve connections to replace the ones sheared apart in a car crash.
Terry Wallis, 42, is thought to be the only person in the US to recover so dramatically so long after a severe brain injury. He still needs help eating and cannot walk, but his speech continues to improve and he can count to 25 without interruption.
Wallis’ sudden recovery happened three years ago at a rehabilitation centre in Mountain View, Arkansas, but doctors said the same cannot be hoped for people in a persistent vegetative state.
Wallis was 19 when he suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him briefly in a coma and then in a minimally conscious state, in which he was awake but uncommunicative other than occasional nods and grunts, for more than 19 years.
Nerve cells that have not died can form new connections; for example, nerves in the arms and legs can grow about an inch a month after they are severed or damaged. However, this happens far less often in the brain.
The new research suggests that instead of the sudden recovery Wallis seemed to make when he began speaking and moving three years ago, he actually may have been slowly recovering all along, as nerves in his brain formed new connections at a glacial pace until enough were present to make a network.—AP
Canada expands ‘jail’ for nuisance polar bears
OTTAWA: The town of Churchill in Canada’s far north will expand its unique “polar bear jail” to house more wayward carnivores and reduce the threat of bear attacks, an official told AFP Tuesday.
The facility, built in 1980 in the world’s polar bear capital, will also be cooled now over the summer to make the furry inmates’ incarceration “a bit more bearable,” said Shaun Bobier of the Manitoba Conservation Department.
Polar bears that wander into town in summer or autumn are now captured if they cannot be easily scared off. They are held in one of 23 cells divided by cinder block walls until ice forms on nearby Hudson’s Bay and then released, Bobier said.
However, if the facility becomes overcrowded, some bears are relocated far away by helicopter.
With five new cells to be added soon, conservation officers will be able to hold more bears for longer periods, and then drive them out onto the ice floes when winter comes, Bobier said.
Last year, 58 bears were housed in the triple Quonset jail. In 2004, 170 bears were kept behind bars, fed only water and ice to ensure “they don’t start coming to here for the food,” Bobier said.
The meager prison grub is not cruel or unusual, he noted. The bears typically feast on seals in winter and fast in summer.
The last fatal bear attack in Churchill was in 1983, three years after the jail was built. But, there have been several human-bear skirmishes since, he said.—AFP
Sri Lanka smash one-day record
AMSTERDAM: Sri Lanka on Tuesday set a new one-day world record by piling up a total of 443-9 in a mismatch victory by 195 runs against the Netherlands in Amstelveen.
Sanath Jayasuriya hit 157 off 104 balls and Tillaka-ratne Dilshan finished 117 not out as they beat South Africa’s 438-9 against Australia in March.
Dilhara Fernando picked up three wickets for 39 as the hosts were bowled out for 248 in reply.
Sri Lanka’s hopes of sealing a quick victory in the Dutch innings were held up by Tim de Leede’s 51, while Alexei Kervezee added 47 in a briefly stubborn resistance.—AFP
Eleven Chinese die watching World Cup
BEIJING: Eleven Chinese fans have died while watching World Cup matches, a Beijing newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing experts who blamed the high number of deaths on fatigue and extreme emotions.
The Beijing Morning Post said the number of deaths in China was among the highest in any nation even though the country’s team was not in competition.
It cited a UK-based blog — Worldcupdeathwatch — which kept a death count based on media reports from various countries. As of Tuesday, it had logged a total of 50 deaths.—AFP
Speeding fine? Just switch the road sign
LONDON: British motorist John Hopwood concocted a novel scheme to avoid payment when he was given a speeding fine — simply switch the road signs.
Hopwood, 44, had been snapped by a speed camera breaking the 30 miles per hour limit.
So he went to a 40 mph area, removed a red “40” warning sign, drove back to the 30 mph area, attached it to a lamp post and took a photo as “proof” that his offence of driving at 48 mph had not been so bad.
However, suspicion soon arose when other drivers started querying the sign.
Hopwood, who admitted trying to pervert justice, was ordered to serve an intermittent custodial sentence of 28 weeks, and told to pay 2,763 pounds in legal costs.—Reuters
DUBAI: A kingfisher flies over the mangroves in the ancient mangrove swamp Khor Kalba about 130 kms east of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on June 13. The bird’s nesting ground is threatened by the rampant coastal development that is turning hundreds of miles of pristine Arabian coastline into Florida-style luxury resorts and housing. The kingfisher is just one of the species threatened by the building boom.—AP
LONGYEARBYEN (Norway): A seal sits on a chunk of ice in the ocean near the town of Longyearbyen in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago about 1,000 kilometres from the North Pole on June 17. The area holds the world’s best stocks of cod, worth billions of dollars, and geologists say it could contain massive energy supplies comparable with the southern sector of the Barents Sea.—Reuters
NEW YORK: Takeru Kobayashi of Japan poses with a plate of hot dogs after winning the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs eating contest in New York, on July 4. Kobayashi ate 53 and 3/4 hot dogs to win his sixth championship.—Reuters
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