For the first time in 12 years, the International Phonetic Association is amending its official alphabet. A sound called the labiodental flap will be granted its own letter, one that looks something like a v with a hook.

With Sound From Africa, the Phonetic Alphabet Expands

Killer whales have become the most contaminated mammals in the Arctic, new research indicates.

Arctic orcas highly contaminated

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced today that he would not grant clemency to Stanley Tookie Williams, whose bid to avoid being put to death shortly after midnight tonight has gained wide attention.

Governor Schwarzenegger Denies Clemency for Gang Co-Founder

Residents of a fishing village near Hong Kong said that as many as 20 people had been killed by paramilitary police in an unusually violent clash that marked an escalation in the widespread social protests that have roiled the Chinese countryside. Villagers said that as many as 50 other residents remain unaccounted for since the shooting. It is the largest known use of force by security forces against ordinary citizens since the killings around Tiananmen Square in 1989. That death toll remains unknown, but is estimated to be in the hundreds.

20 Reported Killed as Chinese Unrest Escalates

NASA Selects ATK Reusable Solid Rocket Motors as Baseline for Human Access to Space

This is refactoring the STS SRB into the CLV for CEV. Completely pro forma but still, nice to see anything happening here.

NASA Selects ATK to be Prime Contractor for First Stage of Next Generation Crew Launch Vehicle

The X Prize Foundation has completed a study on how the Federal Government—NASA—can establish cash prizes to spur human-carrying orbital spacecraft.

X Prize For Human Orbital Vehicle Studied

The music industry is to extend its copyright war by taking legal action against websites offering unlicensed song scores and lyrics.

The Music Publishers' Association (MPA), which represents US sheet music companies, will launch its first campaign against such sites in 2006.

Utterly assinine.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Song sites face legal crackdown

In the effort to slow earth's rising temperatures, even a well-intentioned proposal could backfire, scientists said Wednesday.

Trees May Be Bad for You

A federal air marshal aboard a jetliner on the ground in Miami shot a man who had claimed to have a bomb in a carry-on bag and did not comply with orders to lie down, according to spokesmen for the airline and the government.

Air Marshal Shoots Passenger at Miami Airport

"Maybe we're just not accepting that we're getting older," Ms. Hazen said.

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