An 8.2-metre optical telescope which forms part of the VLT (Very Large Telescope) in Chile

European Southern Observatory astronomers have said they had uncovered the oldest stars in our galactic neighborhood thanks to a massive telescope installed in Chile.

Finding the most primitive stars outside the Milky Way galaxy "is crucial for our understanding of the earliest stars in the universe," ESO said in a statement on Wednesday.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope, which measures 8.2 meters (26.9 feet) in diameter and is installed in the Atacama desert some 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) north of Santiago, located the stars.

Are they ancient road maps or messages for visiting aliens? Lying at the foothill of Peru’s Andes Mountains is the site of one of the world’s greatest mysteries. Etched, as if by giants, onto its arid, moonscape plains are immense lines that stretch for miles, forming strange shapes recognizable only from the air. Now, a team of specialists from around the globe has come to southern Peru to investigate the Nasca Lines in the hope of uncovering their secrets.

Source: National Geographic

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A solar array about the size of one percent the size of the Sahara Desert is good enough to supply the whole world with electric power.

Fossil fuels are running out and carbon dioxide is building up. Scientists are worried about what to do for future survival of modern human kind. Engineers in Germany are combining old and new solar technology into what may be the biggest solar energy project ever.

A finch lands on a person’s hand

In an experiment that unlocked insights into the learning process, scientists said Wednesday (17.02.10)they had seen brain cells in a adolescent finch change as it listened for the first time to the warble of an adult bird.

Just a single experience can rapidly shape a juvenile brain and alter the way it functions, the research suggests.

Whether in birds or humans, acquiring the ability to perform certain acts is critically important for survival.

"Many skills, including communication skills, require great precision if you want to stay in the gene pool," said Richard Mooney, a professor at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

Recently, something phenomenal took place in the Malaysian Borneo’s Sabah state’s Dermakot Forest Reserve. On 15th February, a Sundaland Clouded Leopard, the latest and the least understood of all cat species, has been filmed for the very first time ever! This 3-foot long and about 90-pound big cat, caught on video at night, seemed remarkably calm as it coolly walked right past the researchers, gently braving the powerful spot-lights and the alien roar of the vehicle’s engine. According to Azlan Mohamed, a field scientist at the University of Sabah, “What surprised us was that while clouded leopards are very elusive cats, this one was not scared at all”. Azlan along with the team-leader Andreas Wilting, who filmed the wild cat and released the footage for public viewing, are members of the Berlin-based research group Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research studying the carnivores in Sabah region.

Star Online Report

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission early Friday shut down all operations of RanksTel for its involvement in illegal VoIP (voice over internet protocol) business.

“We have shut down all activities of RangsTel since early Friday after we found huge quantity of VoIP equipment at the company’s Mohakhali office,” BTRC Chairman Zia Ahmed told The Daily Star.

Ranks Telecom Ltd, a private fixed line operator, has 2,88,272 subscribers throughout Bangladesh.

BTRC officials seized different equipment used for VoIP calls from the office of RanksTel in a 12-hour raid since 5:00pm Thursday and arrested three employees of the company.

During 2009, the U.S. spent $13.4 billion of direct marketing dollars on email marketing. Some estimate email marketing’s average ROIm is as much at 40X. That’s quite a return. However, speaking to the average consumer (as well as the average B2B buyer), email is the last medium they would like marketers to employ. So, is email marketing the future of direct marketing or just a necessary evil?

What do tracking flu, helping consumers monitor their home electricity use, slowing deforestation and perhaps most importantly in 2010, helping the people of Haiti have in common?

While they are all part of the wide-ranging work of Google.org over the last year, they also show what our technical teams can accomplish in critical areas that don’t always get the attention they need and deserve.

Last year, we released a public data search feature that enables people to quickly find useful statistics in search. More recently, we expanded this service to include information from the World Bank, such as population data for every region in the world. More and more public agencies, non-profits and other organizations are looking for ways to open up their data and expand global access to this kind of information. We want to help keep that momentum going, so today we’re sharing a snapshot of some of the most popular public data search topics on Google. We’re also launching the Google Public Data Explorer, an experimental visualization tool in Google Labs.

This is part of a regular series of posts on search experience updates that runs weekly. Look for the label This week in search and subscribe to the series. – Ed.

This week’s enhancements include: