Global warming has become such an overriding emergency that some climate experts are willing to consider schemes for partly shielding the planet from the sun's rays. Critics warn that no such scheme is a magic bullet and emission reduction strategies will still have to go forward. [More]
GeoEye's New Satellite Offers Unprecedentedly Sharp Images — Matthew Williams —Defense News — Oct 19, 2008
The sharpest commercial imaging satellite ever launched is now orbiting the Earth, sweeping over the North Pole and under the South Pole every 98 minutes, collecting high-resolution images of the scene below. From 423 miles up, the GeoEye-1 satellite can spot objects as small as 16 inches across. [More]
Two days before the launch of India's first lunar orbiter, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) G. Madhavan Nair said on Monday that India will plant its flag on the moon to help establish its presence on the earth's only natural satellite. [More]
Brian Michael Jenkins, a longtime terrorism expert with the RAND Corporation, says in this interview that the threat of nuclear terrorism lies more in the realms of Hollywood dramas and terrorist dreams than in reality. He argues that political leaders should not exaggerate the dangers of nuclear terrorism as the fear this creates plays into the terrorist strategy. [More]
Preventing Outer Space Arms Race Would Avert Grave Danger: UN First Committee — United Nations General Assembly — Oct 19, 2008
Preventing an arms race in outer space was the hot-button issue on the floor of the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today, as Egypt, in one of two draft resolutions introduced in the Committee, sought to highlight the danger of an arms race in outer space, while representatives of countries with major space capabilities debated how best to address the issue. [More]
Rocket Launch Marks First Test for Korean Space Ambitions — Kim Tong-hyung —The Korea Times — Oct 19, 2008
A decade of effort and anxiety all comes down to a single moment next summer when South Korea attempts to launch its first satellite into orbit. A successful launch would make it the ninth country in the world to launch a home-made satellite from its own soil and mark a huge step forward in its ambition to have a man on the moon by 2020. [More]
Daniel Botkin argues that nuclear power is inadequate to secure energy independence or to help realistically combat global warming. [More]
The American military is planning a spaceplane designed to fly a crack squad of heavily armed marines to trouble spots anywhere in the world within four hours. [More]
Four of the five main online forums that al-Qaeda's media wing uses to distribute statements by Osama bin Laden and other extremists have been disabled since mid-September, monitors of the Web sites say. At the same time, in an apparently unrelated flare-up of online sectarian hostility, Shiite and Sunni hackers have targeted Web sites associated with the other sect, including that of a Saudi-owned television network and of Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric. [More]
China aspires to field a strategic nuclear deterrent of up to 500 warheads, a major increase, according to China expert Richard Fisher in his new book. He estimates that China aims to field 120 missiles with multiple warheads as part of an expansion to its nuclear arsenal. [More]