Polar Region of Mars

Spacecraft Reveals Look at Mars

NASA's newest outpost in the solar system is a polygon-cracked terrain in Mars' northern polar region believed to hold a reservoir of ice beneath.Hours after the Phoenix Mars Lander softly landed Sunday in the Martian arctic plains, it dazzled scientists with the first-ever glimpse of the Red Planet's high northern latitudes. The flood of images sent back by Phoenix revealed a landscape similar to what can be found in Earth's permafrost regions — geometric patterns in the soil likely related to the freezing and thawing of ground ice.

Coke To Phase Out Sodium Benzoate

Diet Coke to Drop Additive
Coca-Cola is phasing out a controversial additive that has been linked to damage to DNA and hyperactivity in children. Sodium benzoate, also known as E211, is used to stop fizzy drinks going mouldy. Coca-Cola said it had begun withdrawing the additive from Diet Coke in January in response to consumer demand for more natural products. By the end of the year no can or bottle will contain E211.

Half The World Has A Cell Phone

Half of World's Population
The number of mobile phone users world soared to over 3.3 billion by the end of 2007, equivalent to a penetration rate of 49 percent, the International Telecommunications Union has said in a report.Africa showed the strongest gains over the past two years and more than two thirds of all mobile subscribers were from developing countries by the end of 2007, the ITU said. This is 'a positive trend that suggests that developing countries are catching up," the report said. Mobile subscription growth stood at 39 percent annually in Africa between 2005-2007, and 28 percent in Asia over the same period.India and China added 154 million and 143 million new subscribers respectively.

Oil Hits Record $135

Oil Soars To New Record
The price of oil hit a record high above $135 a barrel on Thursday - more than twice what it cost a year ago. The latest surge was driven by data showing that US supplies of crude had fallen - but the price later fell back sharply as traders took profits. In the US, the benchmark light, sweet crude contract hit $135.09, taking its gain for the year to more than 40%. In May 2007 it was priced at about $65.Higher oil prices push up the price of fuel, energy bills and food.

Talking To You About Piracy

Nazi Bush

Soros: Global Boom Is Over

Soros Warns Global Boom Is Over

Billionaire investor George Soros has given his gloomiest assessment of the state of the US and world economies. He told BBC business editor Robert Peston that the "acute phase" of the credit crunch may be over but effects on the real economy are yet to be felt. He warned the "financial bubble" of the last 25 years could be drawing to an end and the post World War II "super-boom" era could also be over. He predicted a "more severe and longer" US slowdown than most people expect. And he said that the UK was worse-placed than America to weather the coming economic storm, because it had such a large financial sector and has had the biggest increase in house prices

Diversify For The Long Term

Bush Tells Middle East To Diversify Economy
The US President George W Bush has called on the governments of the Middle East to embrace “the entrepreneurial spirit” of their people as the path to economic prosperity and political reform. In a speech highlighting the growing importance of the region in the world economy, Mr Bush threw out a challenge he said would “lead the Middle East to its rightful place as a centre of progress and achievement”. While addressing the World Economic Forum in Sharm el Sheikh yesterday, he marked what could be his final visit to the region as president with a ringing endorsement of the free market economy.

Homeless Middle Class

Mom Forced To Live In Car

Barbara Harvey climbs into the back of her small Honda sport utility vehicle and snuggles with her two golden retrievers, her head nestled on a pillow propped against the driver's seat. A former loan processor, the 67-year-old mother of three grown children said she never thought she'd spend her golden years sleeping in her car in a parking lot. "This is my bed, my dogs," she said. "This is my life in this car right now." Harvey was forced into homelessness earlier this year after being laid off. She said that three-quarters of her income went to paying rent in Santa Barbara, where the median house in the scenic, oceanfront city costs more than $1 million. She lost her condo two months ago and had little savings as backup.

Fed Auctions Total $510 Billion

Fed Auctions $75b
Working to relieve stressed credit markets, the Federal Reserve has auctioned another $75 billion in loans to squeezed banks, bringing the total to $510 billion since December. The central bank on Tuesday announced the results of its most recent auction — the 12th — since the program to help banks overcome credit problems started in December. It's part of an ongoing effort by the Fed to help ease the credit crunch, which erupted last August and hit a crisis point in March with the near collapse and forced sale of Bear Stearns, the nation's fifth-largest investment house, to JP Morgan Chase & Co. Housing, credit and financial problems have weighed heavily on the economy, sharply slowing its growth.