Amazon unveils thinner version of e-reader Kindle

SAN FRANCISCO,Feb. 9 (Chinese media) -- Amazon.com Inc on

Monday introduced a new version of its popular Kindle electronic book reader

with added features such as a slim design, longer battery life and larger

memory.

The Seattle-based online retailer said the new Kindle

2 has the same price tag of 359 U.S. dollars and will ship on Feb. 24.

Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos

holds the new Kindle 2 electronic reader at a news conference in New York

where the device was introduced, February 9, 2009. The Kindle 2, the

latest incarnation of the digital book reader is a slimmer version with

more storage and a feature that reads text aloud to users. (Chinese media Reuters

Photo)
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Gallery

Just

0.36 inches (9 millimeters) thin, Kindle 2 is about half the thickness of the

old version and weighs lighter than a typical paperback.

The battery life is 25 percent longer than the first

Kindle, enabling customers to read for four to five days on one charge with

wireless connection on and for over two weeks with wireless turned off.

With a memory of 2 gigabytes, Kindle 2 can hold more

than 1,500books, compared with 200 with the original Kindle.

It also offers a read-to-me feature that converts

contents on a page to spoken words for customers to listen. They can choose to

be read to by male or female voices and can also choose the speed to suit their

listening preference.

Amazon.com Inc. founder and Chief

Executive Officer Jeff Bezos holds the new Kindle 2 electronic reader at a

news conference in New York where the device was introduced, February 9,

2009. The Kindle 2, the latest incarnation of the digital book reader is a

slimmer version with more storage and a feature that reads text aloud to

users. (Chinese media/Reuters Photo)
Photo

Gallery

"Kindle

2 is everything customers tell us they love about the original Kindle, only

thinner, faster, crisper, with longer battery life, and capable of holding

hundreds more books," Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon,

said in a statement.

"If you want, Kindle 2 will even read to you --

something new we added that a book could never do," he added.

While unveiling the new product, the company also

announced that Stephen King, the U.S. writer of horror novels, is releasing a

novella, "Ur," which will only be available on Kindle.

The first Kindle was launched in November 2007. But

Amazon has not released any sales figures so far.

Some analysts last week estimated that in 2008,

Amazon sold 500,000 Kindles, a figure higher than expected.

The new Amazon Kindle 2 electronic

reader is held by a reporter at a news conference in New York where the

device was introduced by Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Officer Jeff

Bezos, February 9, 2009. The Kindle 2, the latest incarnation of the

digital book reader is a slimmer version with more storage and a feature

that reads text aloud to users.(Chinese media Reuters Photo)
Photo Gallery

Amazon.com founder and Chief Executive

Officer Jeff Bezos holds the new Kindle 2 electronic reader at a news

conference in New York where the device was introduced, February 9, 2009.

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc unveiled the latest incarnation of its

digital book reader, the Kindle, on Monday in a slimmer version with more

storage and a feature that reads text aloud to users. (Chinese media/Reuters

Photo)
Photo

Gallery

Study: Absolute humidity key to flu spread

Seasonal influenza has long been

indicated to spread better in dry air, but new research indicates the

absolute humidity is the key to the process.(File Photo)
Photo

Gallery

BEIJING,

Feb.10 (Chinese medianet) -- Seasonal influenza has long beenindicated

tospread better in dry air, butnew research indicatesthe

absolute humidity is the key tothe process.

The absulute humiditymeasures the amount of water

present in the air, regardless of temperature, according to Tuesday's

Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Relative humidity varies depending on air

temperature; absolute humidity doesn't. Outbreaks of influenza typically occur

in winter when low absolute humidity conditions strongly favor influenza

survival and transmission. The less moisture there is, the happier the flu virus

seems to be.

Researchers reanalyzed data from a study published in

2007 in the journal PLoS Pathogens by researchers at Mount Sinai School of

Medicine in New York, thatfound there were more flu cases when it was

colder and drier.

Relative humidity could only explain about 12 percent

of the variability of influenza virus transmission and 36 percent of virus

survival in the 2007 study.

In their analysis,researchers said using

absolute humidity explained 50 percent of influenza transmission and 90 percent

of virus survival.

"When absolute humidity is low, influenza virus

survival is prolonged and transmission rates go up," said Jeffrey Shaman, an

Oregon State University atmospheric scientist who specializes in ties between

climate and disease transmission.

The findingoffers a chance to better understand

and forecast the spread of the disease, which may develop better prediction

models of influenza, Shaman added.

For the public, he added, it offers a "more elegant

explanation for why we see these seasonal spikes" in flu. In some cases it may

be worthwhile to add humidity to the air.



(Agencies)

Google rolls out new service for iPhone, Windows Mobile

Google announced it ported its Sync

service to the iPhone and Windows Mobile platforms as a beta release for

both devices on Monday.(File Photo)
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Gallery

BEIJING,

Feb.10 (Chinese medianet) -- Google announced itported its Sync service to

the iPhone and Windows Mobile platformsas a beta release for both devices

on Monday.

The Sync software will allow users to link their

Google Calendar and Gmail contact lists with the built-in calendar and contact

lists on the handsets themselves.

The company said that the new Sync features will be

similar to those Google began offering for the BlackBerry last year.

"One advantage of storing information online is being

able to access it from anywhere, on any device," wrote Google mobile product

manager Marcus Foster.

The company has posted instructions which explain how to

enable the service. However, Google is warning users to back up data before

turning on the Sync feature, as doing so will erase all contact and calendar

data from the handset.

For Windows Mobile users, Google's release adds to

what has already been an exciting day. The company confirmed reports of a new

archiving and backup service for the platform on Monday when it announced the

"My Phone" service.

(Agencies)　

AMD unveils new Phenom II Triple-Core processors

BEIJING, Feb.10

(Chinese medianet) -- Advanced Micro Devices, stepping up its offensive against Intel,

on Monday released five AM3-socket Phenom II desktop microprocessors.

This happenedahead of the chip maker's

anticipated schedule for the transition to DDR3 memory -- including its first

two 45-nanometer triple-core parts.

Motherboard makers reportedly have AM3-ready platforms in

the pipeline, and one memory manufacturer is banking on those becoming

availableabout Feb. 20, according to media reported on Tuesday.

AMD's Phenom II lineup now

includes five quad-cores and two triple-cores, with the newest products capable

of supporting both DDR3 memory and the cheaper DDR2 variety on AM2+ boards,

whereas Intel's Nehalem-class Core i7 chips are DDR3-only devices.

AMD has opted for the older

dual-channel memory architecture for its first DDR3-enabled Phenom II parts,

while Intel's Nehalem platforms feature a triple-channel memory allocation

system.

"The introduction of AM3 is great for us, because

DDR2 is too cheap to make money with," said Robert Pearce, senior technical

marketing specialist at Corsair Memory, whose company last week released a line

of high-performance DDR3 memory modules built specifically for Intel Core

i7-based systems, the Corsair Dominator GT family.

"But AM3 platforms are dual-channel instead of

triple-channel and we're down to just a few parts that are dual-channel now.

It's tough to meet the demands of two competing platforms, but eventually we'll

have parts that are specifically for AM3." said Pearce,

With the gap in process technology between AMD and

Intel made up -- Intel enjoyed more than a year's head start on its smaller

rival at the 45nm node -- AMD is clearly trying to take advantage of its window

of opportunity ahead of Intel's transition to 32nm, which should begin by the

end of this year.

The new triple-core processors, for example, are the

continuation of a unique offering from AMD. The chip maker surprised quite a few

people in early 2008 when it released triple-core Phenom chips as a way to take

advantage of its "native" multicore architecture -- and to get some return on

quad-core parts that wound up with one dud core.



(Agencies)

Orangutans in Indonesian suffering from illegal trade, rampant hunting

JAKARTA, Feb. 10 (Chinese media) -- More than 500 Kalimantan's orangutans (Pongo Pygmaeus) are trafficked illegally in the Indonesian market every year, while rampant hunting is predicted to threaten the extinct in the next 50 years, said an activist.

"Those traded are their babies. Hunters kill the mothers in order to catch them," the national Antara News Agency on Tuesday quoted Arbi Valentinus of the Orangutan Conservation Service Program (OCSP) as saying.

He reiterated that orangutan's habitat in Kalimantan continued decreasing by about 3 square kilometer a year, making the animal one of the endangered species included in appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Law No. 5 / 1990 on Bio-diversity and Ecosystem.

According to the law, orangutan is in the list of protected species, and unlicensed domestication is a violation.

"There were only four great ape species in the world, three of which were found in Africa while the other one in Indonesia and Malaysia, namely orangutans," he said.

Russian cargo spaceship heads for ISS

The Progress M-66 rocket takes off on a

cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur

space centre, Feb. 10, 2009.
(Chinese media/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery

MOSCOW, Feb. 10 (Chinese media) -- A Russian cargo spaceship

is heading for the International Space Station (ISS) after it blasted off from a

Central Asian launching pad Tuesday morning, local media reported.

The Progress M-66 took off from the Baikonur space

center in Kazakhstan at 8:49 a.m. Moscow time (0549 GMT) on board a Soyuz-U

carrier rocket and has successfully separated from the carrier rocket, RIA cited

a mission control official.

The spacecraft is carrying 2.4 tons of supplies,

including oxygen, food, clothes and medical equipment, for the ISS crew.

It was scheduled to dock with the space station on

Friday.

22 Egyptian mummies found in ancient tomb

A handout picture released by the Egyptian Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) shows SCA Secretary General Zahi Hawas clearing dust off a sarcophagus found in Sakkara. Egyptian archaeologists have discovered dozens of mummies and several stone and wood sarcophagi south of Cairo in a pharaonic tomb estimated to be 4,300 years old.(Chinese media/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery

BEIJING, Feb. 10(Chinese medianet) -- A storeroom housing

about two dozen ancient Egyptian mummies has been unearthed inside a

2,600-year-old tombat the vast necropolis of Saqqara south of Cairo,

according to media reports on Tuesdayquoting archaeologists.

The tomb was located at the bottom of a over 10-meter deep shaft, said Egypt's top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass. Twenty-two mummies were found in niches along the tomb's walls, he said.

Eight sarcophagi were also found in the tomb.

Archaeologists so far have opened only one of the sarcophagi — and found a mummy

inside of it, said Hawass' assistant Abdel Hakim

Karar.

The "storeroom for mummies" dates back to 640 B.C. during the 26th Dynasty, which was Egypt's last independent kingdom before it was overthrown by a succession of foreign conquerors beginning with the Persians, Hawass said.

Most of the mummies are poorly preserved, and

archeologists have yet to determine their identities or why so many were put in

one room.

The name Badi N Huri was engraved into the opened

sarcophagus, but the wooden coffin did not bear a title for the mummy.

Karar also said it was unusual for mummies of this

late period to be stored in rocky niches.

Excavations have been ongoing at Saqqara for 150

years, uncovering a necropolis of pyramids and tombs dating mostly from the Old

Kingdom but also tombs from as recent as the Roman

era.

(Agencies)

Undated handout photo shows one of the mummies recently found by Egyptian archaeologists. Egyptian archaeologists have found of a cache of about 30 mummies and at least one unopened sarcophagus in a burial chamber about 4,300 years old, the government said in a statement on February 9, 2009. They found the chamber in the desert on the western side of the famous Step Pyramid of Saqqara, one of the earliest large stone structures in the world, dating from about 2,650 BC. (Chinese media/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery

NASA, Google launch virtual exploration of Mars

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (Chinese media) -- NASA and Google

announced Monday the release of a new Mars mode in Google Earth that brings to

everyone's desktop a high-resolution, three-dimensional view of the Red Planet.

Besides providing a rich, immersive 3

science, the new mode, Google Mars 3D, also gives researchers a platform for

sharing data similar to what Google Earth provides for Earth scientists.

The mode enables users to fly virtually through

enormous canyons and scale huge mountains on Mars that are much larger than any

found on Earth. Users also can explore the Red Planet through the eyes of the

Mars rovers and other Mars missions, providing a unique perspective of the

entire planet.

Users can see some of the latest satellite imagery

from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and other probes orbiting the Red

Planet. Viewers can learn about new discoveries and explore indexes of available

Mars imagery. The new Mars mode also allows users to add their own 3D content to

the Mars map to share with the world.

Monday's announcement is the latest benefit from a

Space Act Agreement that NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field,

California, signed with Google in November 2006. Under its terms, NASA and

Google agreed to collaborate to make NASA's data sets available to the world.

Ames Research Center, along with its partners at

Google, Carnegie Mellon University, and other institutions, helped produce the

data to make this possible.

Russian space agency plans to build new space station

MOSCOW, Feb. 2 (Chinese media) -- The Russian Space Agency Roscosmos is considering a plan to build a new space station as the current one approaches its retirement, officials said recently.

The new orbital station will not only inherit the role of the International Space Station (ISS) as a base for scientific experiments, but will also serve as a foundation for lunar programs and space tours, Alexei Krasnov, director of the manned space program at Roscosmos, said.

The first module of the new station could be finished in 2020, Krasnov said.

The plan is still under discussion, and concerned parties will engage in the construction of the new orbital station before they make their final decision to terminate the service of ISS, which is designed to work until 2015, he said.

Russia has proposed extending the tenure of the ISS.

Anatoly Perminov, the head of Roscosmos, said countries involved in the ISS program will make their decision on the issue by the end of 2009.

Report: Hormone level during pregnancy may identify women at risk for postpartum depression

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (Chinese media) -- Women who have higher levels of a hormone produced by the placenta midway through their pregnancy appear more likely to develop postpartum depression, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is more serious than "baby blues" and begins within four to six weeks of giving birth, according to background information in the article. Risk factors include a history of depression, stressful life events, a lack of social support, low self-esteem, depression, and anxiety or stress during pregnancy. However, these risk factors explain only a portion of the differences between women who develop PPD and those who do not.

"Endocrine risk factors for PPD have been identified as well, including changes in reproductive hormones during pregnancy, a history of premenstrual syndrome and a history of oral contraceptive-induced mood changes," the authors said.

A possible link between a hormone produced by the placenta, known as placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH), and PPD has also been hypothesized.

Ilona S. Yim, of the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues studied this hormone in 100 pregnant women who visited two southern California medical centers during the study period. Blood samples were taken at 15, 19, 25, 31 and 37 weeks' gestational age, and symptoms of depression were assessed at the last four pregnancy visits and again an average of 8.7 weeks after delivery.

A total of 16 women developed PPD symptoms at the follow-up visit. Levels of pCRH when the women were 25 weeks pregnant strongly predicted the development of PPD. A cutoff of 56.86 picograms of pCRH per milliliter of blood has a sensitivity of 0.75 and a specificity of 0.74 for PPD, meaning that about three-fourths of women with future PPD would be identified using this marker. The predictive capability of the hormone levels increased when mid-pregnancy depressive symptoms were also assessed.

The narrow window of time in which pCRH levels predicted PPD symptoms -- at 23 to 26 weeks' gestational age -- roughly coincides with a surge in levels of the hormone.

"We do not know which factors may precipitate the surge in pCRH, but some evidence suggests an association between elevated cortisol (stress hormone) early in pregnancy and increased pCRH late in pregnancy," the authors said.

"Our study has important clinical and theoretical implications. If our results are replicable, it may be considered useful to implement a pCRH PPD screen into standard prenatal care.

"Because blood draws to screen for gestational diabetes are typically performed at 24 to 28 weeks' gestational age, a potential PPD screen could be completed at the same time.

"In addition, a better understanding of the role of pCRH in the pathophysiologic mechanism leading to PPD may contribute to the development of preventions targeted at this rather common disorder," the authors said.

Scientists discover key factor in controlling the breakdown of bone

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (Chinese media) -- A chemical mediator in the blood that influences immune cell migration also plays a key role in maintaining the balance between the build-up and breakdown of bones in the body, a new study available here on Sunday shows.

This mediator, which acts on cells that degrade bone, may provide a new target for scientists developing therapies and preventions for bone-degenerating diseases such as osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

The study comes from the laboratory of immunologist Ronald Germain at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. A report describing the project, conceived by Masaru Ishii, a visiting fellow from Osaka University in Japan, appears in online Nature.

Bone is a dynamic tissue, constantly undergoing growth and degradation. Bone degeneration, also known as bone resorption, is caused by specialized cells called osteoclasts. Immature osteoclasts circulate within the blood and migrate to the surface of the bones, where they mature and start to degrade the bone matrix. Osteoclasts are the only cells known to degrade bone.

Normally bone resorption is balanced by the activity of bone-forming cells, called osteoblasts. In people with bone-destructive disorders such as osteoporosis, however, osteoclast activity outpaces osteoblast activity, leading to a loss of bone density.

"Most current therapies for bone-degrading diseases target mature osteoclasts," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci. "Understanding how immature osteoclasts are recruited to the bone in the first place and targeting the signals that control that migration represents a potential new approach to treating and preventing debilitating joint and bone diseases."

In the United States, approximately 1.5 million fractures per year are attributed to the bone-weakening effects of osteoporosis.

As a rheumatologist who treats people with bone diseases, Dr. Ishii became interested in understanding what signals control immature osteoclast recruitment. He knew that cells can migrate to specific sites in the body in response to chemical mediators in the blood known as chemokines or chemoattractants. These moleculesact like homing signals, telling cells that have certain receptors to move toward or away from certain tissues in the body.

Previously, Dr. Ishii had discovered that the chemoattractant sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), which is associated with the trafficking of immune cells into and out of the lymph nodes, also caused immature osteoclasts to mobilize.

"Because immature osteoclasts come from the same parent stem cell that gives rise to specific white blood cells already shown to respond to S1P," comments Dr. Ishii, "it seemed plausible that S1P could play a role in osteoclast migration."

Once at NIAID, Dr. Ishii worked with Dr. Germain's group to determine if S1P controlled immature osteoclast migration in live mice. Using a unique imaging technique, the researchers could see immature osteoclasts migrating away from the bones of the mice in response to S1P in the blood.

To confirm that S1P plays a direct role in bone metabolism, the research team compared the bone density in mice having the S1P receptor on their cells' surfaces with that of mice lacking the S1P receptor. They found that mice with functional S1P receptors had denser bones than mice lacking functional S1P receptors.

The researchers also tested a mouse model of postmenopausal osteoporosis to see if adding a synthetic S1P activator, known as FTY720, could help preserve bone. Postmenopausal mice given FTY720had fewer immature osteoclasts on their bones and greater bone density when compared with untreated postmenopausal mice.

According to Dr. Ishii, these findings, combined with previous data, indicate that it may be possible to use combined therapies that target immature osteoclast migration and mature osteoclast function to treat and prevent bone-resorptive disorders.

Debate over Darwin's evolution theory called for end

BEIJING, Feb. 9 (Chinese medianet) -- Prominent

scientists and leading religious figures have joined forces to call for an end

to thedebateover Charles Darwin's legacy, media reported Monday.

This year is the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, and

the 150th anniversary of his evolution theory. However, the battle between

Darwinists and creationists is far from over, and carries on full-swing.

Scientists and religious figures warn ahead of the

anniversaries that militant atheists are usingevolution theoryas a

weapon to attack religion, therefore, turning people away fromit.

Meanwhile, in a letter published in The Daily

Telegraph, they also urge believers in creationism to acknowledge the

overwhelming body of evidence that now exists to back up Darwin's theory of how

life on Earth has developed.

They write: "Evolution, we believe, has become caught

in the crossfire of a religious battle in which Darwin himself had little

personal interest.

"We respectfully encourage those who reject evolution

to weigh the now overwhelming evidence, hugely strengthened by recent advances

in genetics, which testifies to the theory's validity.

"At the same time, we respectfully ask those

contemporary Darwinians who seem intent on using Darwin's theory as a vehicle

for promoting an anti-theistic agenda to desist from doing so as they are,

albeit unintentionally, turning people away from the theory.

"In this year of all years, we should be celebrating

Darwin's great biological achievements and not fighting over his legacy as some

kind of anti-theologian."

"On the Origin of Species" is Darwin's most important

study published on the theory of evolution. His concept of natural selection

continues to arouse controversial uproars, majorly focused on the issue of

whether or not life is the result of luck and natural processes or God's

intention.

(Agencies)

Cloning scientist Jerry Yang dies of cancer

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (Chinese media) -- China-born Xiang zhong

"Jerry" Yang, one of the top cloning scientists in the world, died late Thursday

in a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, after a long battle with cancer, his

secretary Phyllis Horvith confirmed to Chinese media on Friday.

The 49-year old University of Connecticut scientist

died before accomplishing one of his dreams -- the cloning of a human embryo for

potentially-life saving stem cells. But his achievements were highly praised by

his university.

"Yang provided critical insights into the mysterious

mechanisms of the technique that put University of Connecticut squarely on the

frontier of science while laying the groundwork for cooperative research efforts

between scientists in the United States and his native China," said a statement

by the University of Connecticut.

Horvith describes Dr. Yang as "wonderful, a good man,

a good boss to work for."

Born in a village called Dongcun, about 300 miles

(480 kilometers) south of Beijing, China and educated at Cornell University in

the United States, Yang is one of the foremost animal biotechnologists in the

world. He joined the faculty of the University of Connecticut as an associate

professor of animal science and head of the Biotechnology Center's Transgenic

Animal Facility in 1996 and was promoted to full professor in 2000.

In 2001, he was named founding director of University

of Connecticut's new Center for Regenerative Biology, overseeing five new

faculty lines investigating basic science in the field of regenerative biology

and medicine.

He built on his China Bridges program that promoted

exchanges of professors and proposed the creation of international scientific

collaboration to study cloning and other potential ways to create embryonic stem

cells for use patients. Several of his students returned to China and became

instrumental in jump-starting that country's nascent stem cell research efforts.

Yang was an advocate for human embryonic stem cell

research. His 1999 cloning of a Holstein cow brought the University of

Connecticut to national prominence. Amy was the first cloned first animal in the

United States.

Embryonic stem cells are blank cells found in four-

to five-day-old embryos, which have the ability to turn into any cell in the

body. However, when stem cells are removed, the embryo is destroyed -- which has

made this one of the most controversial medical research fields in the past

decade.

U.S. Federal research funds were prohibited for

embryonic stem-cell research until August 2001, when former President George W.

Bush approved spending for research using only already-existing cell lines.

Scientists later discovered that fewer than two dozen of those lines were useful

for research, but abortion opponents opposed any legislation that would lift

Bush's restrictions, and Bush twice vetoed congressional efforts to roll back

his rules.

New President Barack Obama is expected to loosen the

restrictions, which many researchers and advocates have complained severely set

back work toward curing disease such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes.

Dr. Yang's dramatic achievements include:

First scientist in the world to produce male clones

from a prize Japanese breeding bull in 1988.

First to produce a cloned animal -- the famous calf,

Amy -- from an adult farm animal, at University of Connecticut, in 1999.

First to report that cloned animals have telomeres of

normal length, an important observation, since telomeres function as disposable

buffers at the ends of chromosomes, preventing loss of genetic information that

is essential to cellular function.

First to report abnormal expression of X-linked genes

in cloned animals.

Wolves mating dogs leads to gene mutation for survival

Wolves have acquired a genetic mutation for dark coat colour through mating with domestic dogs, media quoted scientists as saying on Friday.(Chinese media File Photo)
Photo Gallery

BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Chinese medianet) -- Wolves have acquired a genetic mutation for dark coat colour through mating with domestic dogs, media quotedscientistsas saying on Friday.

Dark coats could help wolves adapt and survive in new

environments, the international team argues.

Light-coloured coats are dominant in wolves living on

tundra, but dark coats have become common among wolves living in forested areas

of North America.

The findings come from a genetic analysis of wolf

populations in Europe and North America.

"We usually think that dogs developed from wolves.

The work shows an example where dogs gave something back to wolves,"Greg

Barsh, from Stanford University in California, told Science magazine.

Natural selection has ensured that the trait

increased in frequency in the woodland wolves. But it remains unclear about what

is so advantageous about black coats in forested areas.

Tundra habitat is expected to decline over coming

years due to the northern expansion of boreal forests under the influence of

climate change.

As this happens, dark colouring could help grey

wolves adapt to their changing environment.

(Agencies)

Windows to release new ad

BEIJING, Feb.6 (Chinese medianet) -- Microsoft plans

tostart a new commercial during the Grammy Awards on Sunday that focuses

on its Windows Live services.

The commercial, quoted in media reports Friday,

serves as part of the company's overarching Windows ad campaign.

The new ad features a 4-year-old girl using

Microsoft's Windows Live Photo Gallery. It's part of a new phase for the

campaign, which Microsoft is calling "Rookies."

"The aim is to put a spotlight on how Windows

enhances your life regardless of your age," one Microsoft representative told

media.

Windows Live Photo Gallery is one of several free

Windows programs that was put out by the Windows Live group. The program, along

with Windows Live Mail, initially replaced similar--but less connected--programs

built into Windows Vista. With Windows 7, though, Microsoft has stripped the

e-mail and photo management programs out entirely, encouraging users to download

the Windows Live programs instead.

(Agencies)

Google, NASA offer Mars tours in 3D

BEIJING, Feb.5 (Chinese medianet)-- Google is

cooperating with NASA to give Internet users three-dimensional views of

Mars,media reports said Thursday.

Google andNASA announced on Tuesdaythat

they would release a new Mars mode in Google Earth to increase public

understanding of the Red Planet and related scientific research. Google Mars 3D

also provides researchers with a means of sharing data.

Actually, Internet users can fly through gaping

canyons and soaring mountains on Mars' surface and get views from Mars rovers.

They can view satellite images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, learn about

NASA's exploration of the planet, view archived photos, add their own 3-D

content, and share their creations and discoveries with other users.

The Mars mode evolved out of a collaboration

agreement signed by NASA and Google in November 2006. Google agreed to make

NASA's data public under the Space Act Agreement. NASA's Ames Research Center in

Moffett Field, Calif., contributed to the project. Carnegie Mellon University,

SETI, and other groups also contributed data to this project.

(Agencies)

NOAA-N Prime weather satellite successfully lifts off

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6 (Chinese media) -- The National

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that the NOAA-N Prime

weather satellite was successfully lifted off early Friday.

Aboard a Delta 2 rocket, the satellite blasted into

clear night sky from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, NASA said.

The countdown proceeded smoothly throughout the night

and early morning. Neither the spacecraft nor the United Launch Alliance Delta

II launch vehicle experienced any technical issues, and the weather conditions

remained favorable, according to NASA.

The countdown and launch are managed by the NASA

Launch Services Program office at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., NOAA-N

Prime is the fifth and last in the current series of five polar-orbiting

satellites with improved imaging and sounding capabilities that have been

observing Earth's weather since 1960.

The NOAA-N Prime satellite will improve weather

forecasting and monitor environmental events around the world, according to

NASA.

The satellite will collect meteorological data and

transmit the information to NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, which

processes the data for input to the National Weather Service for its long-range

weather and climate forecasts.

Forecasters worldwide also will be able to access to

the satellite' s images and data, NASA said.

The 564-million-dollar mission is managed by the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA uses two satellites, a morning and afternoon

satellite, to ensure every part of Earth is observed at least twice every 12

hours.

Russian cargo ship undocks from ISS

MOSCOW, Feb. 6 (Chinese media) -- A Russian cargo spaceship

has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and started an

autonomous flight, the Mission Control Center outside Moscow said Friday.

A two-day technical experiment will be conducted

aboard the Progress M-01M cargo ship during its autonomous flight, a source at

the Mission Control was cited as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency.

Specialists will also test its new digital control

system to complete "a report on the spacecraft's behavior during the entire

flight" from the liftoff to sinking into the ocean, the source said.

The Progress M-01M, the first of the Progress series

equipped with a modern digital control system, was launched to the ISS last

November. It delivered 2.5 tons of food, water, fuel, clothes and equipment, as

well as New Year gifts from relatives to the crewmembers working in orbit.

Endangered monkey population revives in China

DIQING, Yunnan, Feb. 9 (Chinese media) -- The population of a rare snub-nosed

monkey species in a southwest China nature reserve has nearly tripled over the

past 26 years, Xie Hongfang, chief of the reserve's administration bureau, said

Monday.

The population of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys in the Baima Snow Mountain

Nature Reserve has seen growth from 500 in 1983 to about 1,300 now with the

steady improvement of the ecological environment and a poaching crackdown.

More than 60 percent of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys live in the 190,000

hectare Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous

Prefecture, Yunnan.

The monkey, on the country's top protection list, is one of the three types

of endangered snub-nosed monkeys which make their home in southwest China -

Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. The Yunnan monkey currently has a population of

about 2,000, mainly in Diqing and part of neighboring Tibet Autonomous Region.

"In recent years, the number of the Yunnan monkeys here has been increasing

by some 30 to 40 every year," said He Xinming, a nature reserve clerk in the

Weixi County.

He said currently he frequently saw the wild monkeys playing near a local

township seat but they were rarely seen by visitors, even five years ago.

Number of Yunnan golden monkeys increases thanks to protection

Yunnan golden monkeys (rhinopithecus roxellanae) are

seen at the Baima Snow Mountain State Nature Reserve in Diqing Tibetan

Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Feb. 8, 2009.

The number of Yunnan golden monkeys has risen from more than 500 in 1983

to around 1,300 at present at the nature reserve thanks to the protection

efforts of local government and residents. There are some 2,000 Yunnan

golden monkeys altogether in China. Yunnan golden monkeys, of which only

China boasts, are a kind of animals listed in Category I of the Chinese

Wildlife Protection Act and one of the most endangered animals in Appendix

1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora (CITES), and on the Red List of the International Union

for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). (Chinese media Photo)

>Photo

Gallery

Yunnan golden monkeys (rhinopithecus roxellanae) are

seen at the Baima Snow Mountain State Nature Reserve in Diqing Tibetan

Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Feb. 8, 2009.

The number of Yunnan golden monkeys has risen from more than 500 in 1983

to around 1,300 at present at the nature reserve thanks to the protection

efforts of local government and residents. There are some 2,000 Yunnan

golden monkeys altogether in China. Yunnan golden monkeys, of which only

China boasts, are a kind of animals listed in Category I of the Chinese

Wildlife Protection Act and one of the most endangered animals in Appendix

1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora (CITES), and on the Red List of the International Union

for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). (Chinese media Photo)

>Photo

Gallery

Chinese medical expert's COPD study voted Lancet's Paper of 2008

BEIJING, Feb.6 --A study led by prominent

Chinese medical expert Zhong Nanshan on a low-cost treatment for chronic

respiratory disease has been voted the people's choice for the Lancet journal's

paper of the year 2008.

File photo of prominent Chinese medical

expert Zhong Nanshan (front). A study led by Zhong on a low-cost treatment

for chronic respiratory disease has been voted the people's choice for the

Lancet journal's paper of the year 2008.(Chinese media File

Photo)
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The editors' choice went to Werner Hacke and

colleagues' study of alteplase for ischaemic stroke in the online selection

during which 21,556 votes were cast.

The PEACE study of carbocisteine in chronic

obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) carried out by Zhong Nanshan and his

associates reported a 24.5 percent lower annualized rate of exacerbation of COPD

with carbocisteine treatment.

The 1-year placebo-controlled randomized trial of 709

patients from 22 centers in China also found that COPD treatment using

carbocisteine, a relatively cheaper mucolytic drug, can reduce treatment costs

by 85 percent, the report said.

An article on the website of the Lancet journal noted

that COPD is predicted to cause 65 million deaths in China between 2003 and

2033. Hence, the work of Zhong and his colleagues has important implications for

treating COPD in developing countries.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a

lung ailment that is characterized by a persistent blockage of airflow from the

lungs. The most common symptoms of COPD are breathlessness (or a "need for

air"), abnormal sputum (a mix of saliva and mucus in the airway), and a chronic

cough.

Zhong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of

Engineering and the director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases,

was one of the leading scientists who helped control the spread of the Severe

Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China in 2003.

(Source: CRIENGLISH.com)

Windows 7 to ship in six different versions

Microsoft

plans to release six different flavors of Windows 7 left many

in the tech world stupefied and wondering why, media reported Wednesday.

(Photo: microsoft.com)
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Gallery

BEIJING,

Feb.4 (Chinese medianet)-- Microsoft plansto release six different

flavors of Windows 7 left many in the tech world stupefied and wondering

why,media reported Wednesday.

Microsoft confirmed the multi-version release of

Windows 7 to various sources including Gizomodo and Paul Thurrott of Windows

Supersite. However, Microsoft has not released any official statement to the

public regarding this decision.

The pricing or availabilitykeeps

unknown(although some speculate Windows 7 will be available early next

year), but here is a breakdown of knowninformation and the differences

between the versions of Windows 7.

First off, all users of XP and Vista will be able to

upgrade their Operating System license to Windows 7. The catch is the upgrades

will have to be a clean installation of Windows 7,that meansyou'll

have to re-install programs and backup and replace data.

Windows 7 Starter Edition (SE) is mainly aimed at

emerging market and netbook users.

Windows 7 Home Basic Edition (HB) is basically the

equivalent of Vista's Media Center edition and will allow the use of unlimited

applications at the same time, while bringing further UI enhancements such as

live thumbnail previews and 'enhanced visual experience'.

Windows 7 Home Premium (HP) version will bring all

the visual goodies of Windows 7 like the Aero Glass UI and the advanced window

navigation.

Windows 7 Professional Edition brings along more

security and networking features like the Encrypting File System, advanced

network backup and joining managed networks with Domain Join.

Lastly, Windows 7 containsWindows 7 Enterprise

and Windows 7 Ultimate Edition. Whether you're a home user or a business, the

Enterprise and Ultimate editions (probably differentiated by price in the end)

will bring a similar set of advanced features like bitLocker data protection for

internal and external drives, DirectAccess for corporate networking based on

Windows Server 2008 R2 and lock unauthorized software from running with

AppLocker.

Some expertsguess Microsoft will market

aggressively the Home Premium and Professional editions for home users while

netbook users should aim for the Starter version. Microsoft also recommends

business users to use either the Professional or the Enterprise edition.

(Agencies)

Study: Early humans have "jaws of steel"

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Chinese media) -- Human skulls have

small faces and teeth and are not well-equipped to bite down forcefully on hard

objects, but not so of our earliest ancestors, new research published in the

February issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed.

The research showed that the nut-cracking abilities

in our 250-million-year-old relatives enabled them to alter their diet to adapt

to changes in food sources in their environment.

Mark Spencer, an Arizona State University assistant

professor, and doctoral student Caitlin Schrein in ASU's School of Human

Evolution and Social Change, are part of the international team of researchers

who devised the study. Using state-of-the-art computer modeling and simulation

technology -- the same kind engineers use to simulate how a car reacts to forces

in a front-end collision --scientists built a virtual model of the A. africanus

skull and were able to see just how the jaw operated and what forces it could

produce.

"We started with a CT scan of a skull that is one of

the most complete specimens of A. africanus that we have," said Spencer,

researcher in ASU's Institute of Human Origins and a lead investigator on the

project, which was funded by the National Science Foundation and European Union.

This would be a later ancestor of Lucy -- STS5 - who is affectionately known as

"Mrs. Ples." The skull, discovered in 1947, has struts on the side of the nose,

but no teeth.

"We meshed those data with another specimen with

teeth to make the virtual model of the bone and tooth structure.

"Then we looked at chimpanzees, who share common

features with Australopithecus, and took measurements of how their muscles work

and added that to the model. We were able to validate this model by comparing it

to a similar model built for a species of monkey called macaques," Spencer

explained.

The result -- a rainbow colored virtual skull that

illustrates forces absorbed by the cranial structure in simulated bite scenarios

and how their unusual facial features were ideally suited to support the heavy

loads of cracking hard nuts.

"It was like watching 'Mrs. Ples' come to life,"

Spencer said.

"This reinforces the body of research indicating that

facial specializations in species of early humans are adaptations due to a

specialized diet," said Spencer. "The enlargement of the premolars, the heavy

tooth enamel and the evidence now that they were loading forcefully on the

molars suggest the size of the objects were larger than the previously

hypothesized small seeds and nuts."

"These fall-back foods -- hard nuts and seeds -- were

important survival strategies during a period of changing climates and food

scarcity," he added. "Our research shows that early, pre-stone tool human

ancestors solved problems with their jaws that modern humans would have solved

with tools."

Erectile dysfunction predicts heart disease

BEIJING, Feb.4 -- Men with erectile dysfunction

(ED) are 80 percent more likely to develop heart disease compared to men who do

not have ED, a new Mayo Clinic study finds. Men ages 40 to 49 with ED are twice

as likely to get heart disease.

The results, published in this month's issue of the

journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, suggest that younger men and their doctors may

need to consider erectile dysfunction a harbinger of future risk of coronary

heart disease, said Mayo Clinic researcher Jennifer St. Sauver.

Researchers don't know why the link exists.

Some have theorized that erectile dysfunction and

coronary artery disease may be caused by the same underlying problem. A buildup

of plaque that can block arteries around the heart may plug the smaller penile

arteries first. Another idea is that arteries may lose elasticity over time,

affecting the penis first and the heart later.

The study followed 1,402 men age 40 and up who lived

in Olmsted County, Minn., for a 10-year period starting in 1996. None had heart

disease at the start of the study.

Erectile dysfunction increases with age. The

prevalence of ED at the start of the study:

Age 40-49: 2.4 percent.

Age 50-59: 5.6 percent.

Age 60-69: 17 percent.

Age 70 and up: 38.8 percent.

In men in their 50s, 60s and 70s, the total incidence

of new cases of heart disease also was higher in those with erectile

dysfunction. However, the differences were not as striking as those seen among

the 40- to 49-year- olds.

"In older men, erectile dysfunction may be of less

prognostic importance for development of future heart disease," St. Sauver said.

Two previous studies, in 2005, reached similar but

preliminary conclusions.

(Source: China Daily/Agencies)

Scientists: Early whales gave birth on land

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Chinese media) -- Primitive whales gave

birth on land, a fossil research team led by a Michigan-based paleontologist

said in a paper to be published on Wednesday in the online journal PLoS.

The subject of their research, two whale fossils, a

pregnant female and a male, which were discovered in Pakistan in 2000 and 2004

respectively, also provides new insights into how whales madethe transition from

land to sea.

The leading researcher, Philip Gingerich, from the

University of Michigan, said he was perplexed when first seeing the small teeth

in one fossil as they did not match with the size of the ribs.

"By the end of the day, I realized we had found a

female whale with a fetus," he said.

In fact, it is the first discovery of a fetal

skeleton of an extinct whale in the group known as Archaeoceti, and the finding

represents a new species dubbed Maiacetus Inuus. (Maiacetus means "mother

whale," and Inuus was a Roman fertility god).

The fetus is positioned for head-first delivery, like

land mammals but unlike modern whales, indicating that these whales still gave

birth on land.

Another clue to the female whale's lifestyle was the

well-developed set of teeth in the fetus, suggesting that Maiacetus newborns

were equipped to fend for themselves, rather than being helpless in early life.

The 8.5-foot-long male specimen shares characteristic

anatomical features with the female of the species, but its virtually complete

skeleton is 12 percent larger overall, and its canine teeth or fangs 20 percent

larger.

The moderate size difference of the male and female

indicates that the males did not control territories or command harems of

females.

The whales' teeth, well-suited for catching and

eating fish, suggests the animals made their livings in the sea, probably coming

onto land only to rest, mate and give birth, Gingerich said.

"They clearly were tied to the shore. They were

living at the land-sea interface and going back and forth," he said.

NASA postpones Discovery's Launch by at least one week

WASHINGTON, Feb. 3 (Chinese media) -- The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has postponed space shuttle Discovery's launch by at least one week to give engineers more time to analyze potential problems with a valve that keep fuel flowing in Discovery's main engines, a press release from the NASA said Tuesday.

Discovery's STS-119 mission to the International Space Station originally had been targeted for Feb. 12. During a review of Discovery's readiness for flight, NASA managers decided Tuesday to plan a launch no earlier than Feb. 19.

The valve is one of three that channels gaseous hydrogen from the engines to the external fuel tank. One of these valves in shuttle Endeavour was found to be damaged after its mission in November. As a precaution, Discovery's valves were removed, inspected and reinstalled.

The Space Shuttle Program will convene a meeting on Feb. 10 to assess the analysis. On Feb. 12, NASA managers and contractors will finalize the flight readiness review, which began Tuesday, to address the flow control valve issue and to select an official launch date.

Discovery's 14-day mission will deliver the International Space Station's fourth and final set of solar arrays, completing the orbiting laboratory's truss, or backbone. The arrays will provide the electricity to fully power science experiments and support the station's expanded crew of six in May. Altogether, the station's 240-foot-long arrays can generate as much as 120 kilowatts of usable electricity -- enough to provide about forty-two 2,800-square-foot homes with power.

Discovery also will carry a replacement distillation assembly for the station's new water recycling system.

NASA, Google launch virtual exploration of Mars

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (Chinese media) -- NASA and Google

announced Monday the release of a new Mars mode in Google Earth that brings to

everyone's desktop a high-resolution, three-dimensional view of the Red Planet.

Besides providing a rich, immersive 3

science, the new mode, Google Mars 3D, also gives researchers a platform for

sharing data similar to what Google Earth provides for Earth scientists.

The mode enables users to fly virtually through

enormous canyons and scale huge mountains on Mars that are much larger than any

found on Earth. Users also can explore the Red Planet through the eyes of the

Mars rovers and other Mars missions, providing a unique perspective of the

entire planet.

Users can see some of the latest satellite imagery

from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and other probes orbiting the Red

Planet. Viewers can learn about new discoveries and explore indexes of available

Mars imagery. The new Mars mode also allows users to add their own 3D content to

the Mars map to share with the world.

Monday's announcement is the latest benefit from a

Space Act Agreement that NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field,

California, signed with Google in November 2006. Under its terms, NASA and

Google agreed to collaborate to make NASA's data sets available to the world.

Ames Research Center, along with its partners at

Google, Carnegie Mellon University, and other institutions, helped produce the

data to make this possible.

Google calls entire net malicious

BEIJING, Feb. 2(Chinese medianet) -- Google webpage

search engine was hit by technical problems withallits search

results showingthe warning: "This site may harm your computer" for almost

an hour and users who chose to ignore the alert were unable to open the

destination webpage.

Google webpage search engine was hit by

technical problems with all its search results showing the warning: "This

site may harm your computer" for almost an hour and users who chose to

ignore the alert were unable to open the destination webpage. (Chinese medianet

Photo)
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Gallery

The affect of the glitch was not only limited to the

U.S. on Saturday as users across the world complained for the breakdown.

The Guardian, a UK newspaper, commented that "Google

placed the entire Internet on a blacklist today."

Experts predict that the error led to losses in

Google's advertising revenue of 2 to 3 million dollars, but the harm to its

reliability far exceeds the loss in revenue.

The cockup prompted its Vice President of Search

Products User Experience (essentially one of the highest ranked brass in

the company) Marissa Mayer to post a note on the website's official blog to

explain in details why this has happened.

The root of the issue came from the fact that the URL

of '/' was mistakenly checked in as a value to a file that a regularly updated

list of harmful websites and '/' expanded to all URLs. Google's team identified

the problem within a few minutes but because of the scale of the roll out, the

problem lasted 40 minutes before it was rooted out.

Mayer reported that the problem has been fully solved

and promised that Google "will carefully investigate this incident and put more

robust file checks in place to prevent it from happening again."

(Agencies)

Myanmar to build first butterfly park in border town

YANGON, Feb. 4 (Chinese media) -- Myanmar will start building its first butterfly

park in a border town in Kachin state, northernmost part of the country, next

month, the local weekly Yangon Times reported Wednesday.

Similar to Singapore's, the park at Putao will have some 1,500 butterflies

and insects of over 50 spices.

The butterfly park will be constructed in three phases and most of the

butterflies, kept in the park, are from the Kachin State, the report said,

quoting project company of Tun Foundation.

The project constitutes part of the program of building the National

Wildlife Park, which lies at Putao between Mularoti and Zayar mountains, to

undertake conservation work with wild animals.

Wildlife and rare animals, which take sanctuary in snow-capped region, will

be kept in the park, the report added.

Meanwhile, Myanmar is planning to modify the Po-Kyar elephant sanctuary

into one of the attractive tourist sites of the country to boost tourism.

Po-kyar elephant sanctuary lying at a location in Bago division, 346

kilometers north of Yangon, is accommodating 86 elephants of different ages

ranging from 1 year old to 68 years' as well as various kinds of rare bird

species, 100-year-old-aged tress and wild butterflies.

Older killer whales make better mothers

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (Chinese media) -- Killer whales (Orcinus orca) nearing the menopause may be more capable in rearing their young as estimated survival rates for calves born to these older mothers are 10 percent higher than those for other calves, according to research published Monday in the latest edition of Frontiers in Zoology.

Eric Ward from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle coordinated a team of researchers who studied killer whales inhabiting the inland and near shore waters of Washington state (USA) and British Columbia (Canada). They used a 30-year dataset collected by the Center for Whale Research and Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

"During annual photographic surveys, nearly every individual in the population has been recorded. Each animal has unique pigmentation, scars, and fin shapes, allowing us to track the survival and reproductive performance of each female over time," Ward said.

The team aimed to investigate what benefits killer whales derive from the menopause.

One theory, termed the "attentive mother hypothesis," is that giving birth to calves and then losing the ability to reproduce helps the mother to focus on bringing up her offspring, without wasting time and energy on further pregnancies.

The team found that during a calf's first year of life, having a mother who was nearing menopause increased chances of survival.

According to Ward, "the oldest mothers may also be the best mothers" because of maternal experience, or they may allocate more effort to their offspring relative to younger females.

Killer whales are extremely long lived, with one female believed to be more than 90 years old. Males rarely live past 50, but female life expectancy is considerably longer. Females can produce their first calf as early as age 10, and continue to produce offspring until their early 40s.

Alaska's Mt. Redount to erupt at any time

A handout photo from the Alaska Volcano

Observatory (AVO)/ Alaska Division of Geological Geophysical Surveys

(ADDGGS) shows a gas plume rising from the Augustine Volcano in Alaska in

January 2006. Alaska was on alert Friday as scientists warned that a

volcano rumbling near the state's largest city Anchorage was likely to

erupt, officials said. (Chinese media/AFP Photo)
Photo Gallery

BEIJING,Feb. 1 (Chinese medianet)-- Alaska's

Mount Redoubt is picking up volcanic activity. The Alaska Volcano Observatory

Sunday raised its threat level to orange, the stage just before an eruption.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory said in a statement

Friday "volcanic tremor" has increased in "amplitude." The observatory Thursday

began seeing even higher levels of seismic activity and long periods of tremors,

said Geophysicist John Power.

The activity on the 10,197-foot peak is "more

energetic than that of the previous several days. However, it is still less

vigorous than that observed last weekend," the observatory said.

On Nov. 5, geologists noted changed emissions and

minor melting near the Redoubt summit and raised the threat level from green to

yellow.

The volcano is about 100 miles southwest of

Anchorage.

The jet stream can carry ash for hundreds of miles.

Experienced Alaskans are busy shopping for protection against a dusty shower of

volcanic ash that could descend on south-central Alaska. Hardware stores and

auto parts shops scored a post-holiday run of business as Anchorage-area

residents stocked up on protective eyewear and masks.

(Agencies)