Wikinews:Briefs/July 18, 2008

This is the WikiNews in Brief for Friday, July 18, 2008

Searching for asteroids, extraterrestrial life a little more rocky: Budget cuts threaten to close Arecibo, world's largest radio telescope
The Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, is facing severe budget cuts by the National Science Foundation that could cut its funding of U.S. $10 million in half. The Arecibo has been observing the universe for half a century and is the world's largest and most sensitive telescope. Congress has passed a bill that would authorize NASA to fund portions of Arecibo but Wikinews' source at Cornell University who helped establish and now runs Arecibo will try to find alternative funding. If the observatory closes, it will force SETI, a project that listens for extraterrestrial life, to move.

Thousands flee Nigerian town to escape from militants
Thousands of people have fled an oil town in the Niger Delta, Nigeria on Thursday after an unknown militant group said that all people not originally from the area who did not leave the town would be beheaded. The militants first visited Bonny Island, the town involved, two weeks ago, killing nine people. According to newspaper reports, they said that they would return yesterday to carry out the beheading. They did not return as promised, but many in the city of 100,000 took the threat seriously and left.

Kingsley Adonis Pepple, a local resident and youth leader, described the panic on Bonny Island. "They were handing out copies of this article to people in the street. There was panic. People packed up their entire family into a boat and fled," he said. Pepple also said that all known militant groups in the area had denied issuing any threats

Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, recently offered the United Kingdom's support to help combat the spread of incidents like this one.

North America's oldest retailer sold to U.S. owners of Lord & Taylor
Canada's oldest retailer, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) established in 1670, will be transferred from one American owner to another. NRDC Equity Partners, LLC, owners of U.S. department store Lord & Taylor, will purchase HBC from the estate of Jerry Zucker, who died in April. NRDC plans to introduce up to 15 Lord & Taylor stores in Canada by converting some of HBC's existing properties, which include stores such as The Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters.

US FAA to make airliner fuel tank inertion mandatory over 1996 air disaster
The United States Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) announced that inerting systems in airliner fuel tanks are to be made mandatory. The move, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), is in response to a recommendation made by the country's National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as part of its investigation into a 1996 air disaster. All 230 people on board the New York to Paris flight were killed as the aircraft disintegrated shortly after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The FAA's new directive requires all new aircraft beginning August 20 to have the equipment fitted and requires all carriers to retrofit their fleets. Air carriers, who until now have fought against the changes in spite of the danger, say the cost will run into the millions.

KSTAR tokamak test reactor sees first plasma
And on Wednesday, the scientists behind the KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Reactor) project tested the device by creating "first plasma". KSTAR will eventually be involved in the commercialization of fusion energy and the project will attempt to usher in an era of environmentally friendly and almost unlimited energy.

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