Month: September 2004

“Surveillance powers granted to the FBI under the Patriot Act, a cornerstone of the Bush Administration’s war on terror, were ruled unconstitutional by a judge on Wednesday in a new blow to U.S. security policies. U.S. District Judge Victor Marreo, in the first decision against a surveillance portion of the act, ruled for the American…

“The price of oil, which has been inexorably rising for the past two years, finally broke through the $50-a-barrel mark Tuesday, reaching a new milestone as some analysts warned that there was nothing to stop prices from rising even further. . Fueling these gains is an exceptional alignment of events: record high demand, historically low…

“LONDON — Sir Richard Branson, airline mogul and adventurer, announced plans yesterday to boldly go where no private transport company has gone before — into space.”

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One of the hottest, most energetic mergers of two colossal galaxy clusters has been imaged in exquisite detail by an X-ray observatory in space, astronomers announced on Thursday. The collision is one of the most powerful cosmic events ever witnessed by astronomers. The observation showcases how all structures in the universe are thought to grow…

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With its body obscured by murky waters, an ancient fanged reptile may have used its long neck to lunge at fish and squid. The scenario is based on analysis of a 230-million-year-old fossil discovered in southeastern China. The new creature appeared long before the dinosaurs and is named Dinocephalosaurus orientalis, which means ‘terrible headed lizard…

Elections should be about policies for the future of Australia. Most election advertising focuses too heavily on why the other party is no good, rather than what this party will do to make things better. Comparing policies helps put the focus back where it should be – on what will be done, not why the…

Subsequent to its announcement in Tokyo about a month ago, Sony Computer Entertainment today issued a press release confirming its commitment to use the Blu-ray Disc ROM format as the primary storage medium for its next game console. The Blu-ray discs used in the next-generation PlayStation will reportedly be dual-layer, single-sided versions with a storage…

Questions are being raised about the safety of a GE food A major Australian/New Zealand food health and safety watchdog has admitted that they approved a variety of genetically engineered (GE) corn for human consumption without reviewing or even possessing the applicant’s test data. Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) had previously claimed that their…