The IPA is the major as well as the oldest representative organisation for phoneticians. It was established in 1886 in Paris.

The aim of the IPA is to promote the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science.

In furtherance of this aim, the IPA provides the academic community world-wide with a notational standard for the phonetic representation of all languages - the International Phonetic Alphabet (also IPA).

The latest version of the IPA Alphabet was published in 1993 (updated in 1996).

International Phonetic Association Homepage

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

The world's largest mass extinction was probably caused by poisonous volcanic gas, according to research published today.

No safe ground for life to stand on during world's largest mass extinction

ACCUSATIONS that the US Patent office is giving out dotty patents were given some credence this week after the magazine Nature discovered that the watchdog had just granted one to a bloke who claimed to have invented an anti-gravity machine.

US grants patent for anti-gravity device

A team of Stanford electrical engineers has discovered how to modulate, or switch on and off, a beam of laser light up to a 100 billion times a second with materials that are widely used in the semiconductor industry.

Engineers Report Breakthrough in Laser Beam Technology

A potential problem with the emergency reactor core cooling system at the nation's largest nuclear power plant went undetected from 1986, when the plant began producing electricity, until last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the plant operator confirmed Thursday.

Nuclear Plant Has Flaw Undetected for 19 Years

This architecture has been out in the public view for a month or so. The media has already had its way with its initial presentation. Congress will soon weigh in on whether they think it is the right thing to do, whether it is supportable, and whether they will sign on to support it. There is some valid skepticism on the financial aspects of how Mike Griffin wants to pull this off. However, based on the technical aspects of the architecture itself, while it is more bare bones than many would have liked to see, it is a frugal, well thought out way to pick up where Apollo left off - and then move ahead with the personal exploration of the world closest to our own. Hopefully, if NASA is able to pull it off, it will both restore the confidence in NASA's ability to mount large space projects and hopefully whet the appetite of a new generation for the personal exploration of planets beyond - i.e. Mars.

Let's just hope none of the subsequent administrations give it the budget axe...

A Closer Look at NASA's New Exploration Architecture | SpaceRef - Your Space Reference

The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded Monday to a pair of American and Israeli researchers who defined chess-like strategies in politics and business that can be applied to arms races, price wars and actual warfare.

Game Theorists Win Nobel Prize for Economics

- Stanley, a robotic vehicle designed by a Stanford University team, appeared to earn its creators a $2 million prize on Saturday by being the fastest finisher on a 132-mile course through the Nevada desert.

The race, called the Grand Challenge, was a Pentagon project meant to promote the development of technologies for 21st-century automated warfare. The car was not immediately declared the winner because officials were doing final calculations, but race times on the event's Web site indicated that it had come in several minutes ahead of two entries from Carnegie Mellon University.

Every last member of Red Team was compelled to commit seppuku...

In a Grueling Desert Race, a Winner, but Not a Driver

Australians Barry J. Marshall and Robin Warren won the 2005 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for showing that bacterial infection, not stress, was to blame for painful ulcers in the stomach and intestine.

Australians Win Nobel Prize in Medicine