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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—As an engineer pulls the throttle, villagers track side gawk at the bullet-shaped train as it gathers speed. Soon, forests and wooden shacks are a blur as a dashboard display reads 250 kilometers an hour (155 miles per hour). Ten years in the making, Russia's state-owned railway is testing eight aerodynamic trains that in December will rush travelers from here to Moscow in less than four hours. With fancy kitchens and leather seats in first class, the Sapsans (Russian for peregrine falcons) mark a change in Russia's egalitarian rail tradition. More broadly, though, Russia's new trains mirror a...

Penile implant manufacturers in the Twin Cities will be strutting their stuff at a doctors meeting in Chicago this weekend. Minnetonka-based American Medical Systems said Thursday that it will be introducing a new "concealable" penile prosthesis called Spectra during the annual meeting of the American Urological Association. The product is the latest in a series of surgical implants developed by AMS for men with severe cases of erectile dysfunction that aren't helped by other treatments such as drugs like Viagra. The Spectra is a "malleable" prosthesis that is surgically implanted in the penis to provide enough rigidity for sexual intercourse....

WASHINGTON - "Fore!" The federal government is preparing to spend millions to purchase a fleet of small electric vehicles that critics compare to golf carts. The $838 billion economic stimulus bill that passed the Senate yesterday contains $300 million for the government to purchase a fleet of "green" cars. But the money won't just go to buy fuel-efficient hybrids such as the Ford Escape or Chevy Volt. The cash also can be used to purchase "neighborhood electric vehicles." The NEVs, which resemble streamlined golf carts, scoot at up to 25 mph, operate on battery power and can be plugged into...

Home Science Under Attack In Massachusetts An anonymous reader tips a guest posting up on the MAKE Magazine blog by the author of the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments. It seems that authorities in Massachusetts have raided a home chemistry lab, apparently without a warrant, and made off with all of its contents. Here's the local article from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. "Victor Deeb, a retired chemist who lives in Marlboro, has finally been allowed to return to his Fremont Street home, after Massachusetts authorities spent three days ransacking his basement lab and making off with its...

JAKARTA, Indonesia, Feb. 13, 2007 – The United States will continue to pursue aggressively anyone trying to kill coalition forces in Iraq, Marine Gen. Peter Pace said here today. This means Iranians who are aiding insurgents inside Iraq will not be immune from U.S. actions, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told a news conference. Pace was precise in describing what the coalition knows about the threats from Iraq. He said that in the last two months, as Iraqi and coalition forces went after people making improvised explosive devices, coalition forces have captured Iranians. “We know that...

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2006 – Two suspected terrorists were captured yesterday in Afghanistan's Paktika province, and a makeshift bomb exploded in a bazaar in Khost province yesterday, injuring three civilians, military officials reported. Coalition forces in Paktika province's Sharan district captured the two men, who were suspected of involvement with roadside bombs. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry, stopped two suspicious men near an Afghan National Police station and found land mines and timing devices in their possession. The men were turned over to Afghan police for questioning. "Improvised explosive devices are indiscriminate weapons of the criminals and insurgents who...

WASHINGTON, May 15, 2006 – Afghan civilians were injured by rockets today in Bermel, Afghanistan, and Afghan and coalition forces detained seven terrorists during a combined operation yesterday, military officials reported. The civilians were injured when two rockets were fired at a coalition forward operating base in the town of Bermel in Paktika province. An Afghan woman and child near the forward operating base suffered shrapnel wounds and are being treated by coalition forces. "The extremists, who targeted coalition forces and wounded these innocent civilians, committed an atrocious act. Rockets are indiscriminate killers used by the enemy who care nothing...

Week of March 4, 2006; Vol. 169, No. 9 , p. 132 Ancient Andean Maize Makers: Finds push back farming, trade in highland Peru Bruce Bower Nearly 4,000 years ago, large societies emerged in the Andes Mountains of southern Peru that would culminate 1,500 years later in the rise of the Inca civilization. Now, scientists have the first evidence that these Inca predecessors cultivated maize and imported plant foods from lowland tropical forests located 180 miles to the east. HIGH TIMES. Researchers excavate Waynuna, a site in Peru's Andes Mountains that has yielded evidence of early agriculture and food...

BAGHDAD (Army News Service, Nov. 7, 2005) –Iraqi forces join coalition forces during offensive operations this past week to net dozens of terrorists and weapons cashes. IED hotbed seized by 101st Airborne Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, discovered a large weapons cache during combat operations south of Baghdad International Airport Nov. 4. Members of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment discovered the cache around 8 p.m. The search revealed more weapons and munitions in a total of 18 different caches before concluding at 5 p.m. Nov. 5. Three terror suspects were detained for further questioning....

Catapult-makers were once ye olde celebrities July 05 2004 at 08:24AM London - Catapult designers were the celebrity scientists of the ancient world, according to a British expert. Until the discovery of gunpowder, the catapult was the most powerful weapon in existence, said historian Serafina Cuomo. The machines, capable of hurling large projectiles long distances, were in high demand during the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans - and so were their makers. But the construction of catapults was no easy task, requiring great mathematical and engineering skill. It became a science in itself, known as "belopoietics" from the...

<p>April 9 (Bloomberg) -- You don't have to ponder the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to notice the Bush administration has trouble admitting it erred.</p> <p>Consider a smaller, quieter misadventure. Consider the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's war on hemp, a harmless and healthy food source.</p>

Flu Vaccine Makers Are Out Of The Vaccine Shep Smith just announced on a Fox News Alert that both makers of the flu vaccine have announced that they are out of the vaccine. Demand this year has been five time greater than in previous years. Please add to this story/thread as the news comes in. Thanks.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The creators of the video game series "Grand Theft Auto" want a federal judge to dismiss a $246 million lawsuit filed by the families of two people shot by teenagers Rockstar Games and its New York City-based parent, Take-Two Interactive Software, said the victims' families were trying to hold them liable "based on the expressive content of the video game." Retailer Wal-Mart and marketer Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., are also named in the lawsuit. Aaron Hamel, 45, was killed and Kimberly Bede, 19, was seriously wounded when their cars were hit June 25 by .22-caliber bullets...

Looking for Signposts on the Roadmap to Peace By Andrew L. Jaffee, August 10, 2003 Home   Search   Forum   Terms Hamas supporters are upset because Israelis are defending themselves. The Associated Press (AP) reported today that: Clamoring for revenge, thousands of Hamas supporters Saturday buried two militants killed in an Israeli raid, and a senior Palestinian official urged the United States to intervene to prevent the unraveling of a six-week-old truce. The militants and an Israeli soldier were killed Friday when troops raided a bomb lab in a West Bank refugee camp, sparking a gunbattle. A Palestinian stone-thrower also was killed by troops....