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Counter-terrorism authorities are investigating after a bulk shipment of unregistered—and potentially lethal—nuclear material was ferried off of an airplane at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 4 on Dec. 29. The cargo, which originated in Pakistan and was smuggled into London from Oman aboard the hold of a passenger flight, was intended for Iranian nationals in the U.K., according to The Sun. “The race is on to trace everyone involved,” said an unidentified Heathrow source who spoke with the newspaper. “Security bosses are treating this with the seriousness it deserves. Protocol was not followed and this is now an anti-terror operation. There are...

A light-colored "paver stone" like the ones seen in this mosaic will be the likely target for first sampling by the Perseverance rover. The image was taken on July 8, 2021 in the "Cratered Floor Fractured Rough" geologic unit at Jezero Crater. NASA is making final preparations for its Perseverance Mars rover to collect its first-ever sample of Martian rock, which future planned missions will transport to Earth. The six-wheeled geologist is searching for a scientifically interesting target in a part of Jezero Crater called the "Cratered Floor Fractured Rough." This important mission milestone is expected to begin within...

A Japanese asteroid probe has grabbed its first space-rock sample. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft successfully nabbed bits of the 3,000-foot-wide (900 meters) asteroid Ryugu today (Feb. 21; Feb. 22 Japan time), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials announced. Hayabusa2 spiraled down to Ryugu's surface, fired a 0.2-ounce (5 grams) tantalum "bullet" into the boulder-strewn rock at close range, and collected pieces of the ejected material using its specialized "sampling horn," JAXA officials said during a press conference this evening. … Hayabusa2's main goal is to help scientists better understand the solar system's early history and evolution, as well as the role...

After months of secret negotiations, a shadowy Russian bilked American spies out of $100,000 last year, promising to deliver stolen National Security Agency cyberweapons in a deal that he insisted would also include compromising material on President Trump, according to American and European intelligence officials. The cash, delivered in a suitcase to a Berlin hotel room in September, was intended as the first installment of a $1 million payout, according to American officials, the Russian and communications reviewed by The New York Times. The theft of the secret hacking tools had been devastating to the N.S.A., and the agency was...

Alexander K. Sample installed as Portland's 11th archbishop Archbishop Sample's Installation Mass held at Chiles Center Today, Archbishop Alexander K. Sample was installed as the eleventh Archbishop of Portland in Oregon at the Chiles Center. He was appointed on January 29th, 2013 by Pope Benedict XVI.  By Nancy Haught, The Oregonian   on April 02, 2013 at 2:25 PM, updated April 02, 2013 at 6:28 PM     Enlarge Beth Nakamura, The Oregonian April 2, 2013 - The Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample was installed as the Archdiocese of Portland's 11th archbishop Tuesday afternoon at the Chiles Center at the...

There are two errors to correct in the news that Bishop Alexander K. Sample is headed to Portland, Oregon. The first is that it means nothing. The second is that it means everything. As is often the case, the reality will be something in between. At one level, it is a momentous choice because the Bishop is one of the great voices and minds in our time in favor of the “reform the reform” plus the push for sacred music, about which he is a genuine expert. Portland is the home of the Oregon Catholic Press, which provides music...

The latest CNN/ORC poll released today shows a wider lead for President Obama than the previous CNN/ORC poll but it is doubly skewed. It massively under-samples independents while it also over-samples Democratic voters. The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll official reports Obama at 52 to percent and Mitt Romney at 46 percent. Unskewed, the data reveals a 53 percent to 45 percent lead for Romney. This new CNN/ORC survey, unlike many other analyzed, not only over-samples Democratic voters, but also massively under-samples independent voters, to produce a result more favorable to Barack...

US space agency Nasa has funded a study of "tractor beams" to gather samples for analysis in future missions. The $100,000 (£63,000) award will be used to examine three laser-based approaches to do what has until now been the stuff of science fiction. Several tractor-beam ideas have been published in the scientific literature but none has yet been put to use. Nasa scientist Paul Stysley says the approach could "enhance science goals and reduce mission risk". "Though a mainstay in science fiction, and Star Trek in particular, laser-based trapping isn't fanciful or beyond current technological know-how," said Dr Stysley of...

UC Berkeley is adding something a little different this year in its welcome package -- cotton swabs for a DNA sample. In the past, incoming freshman and transfer students have received a rather typical welcome book from the College of Letters and Science's "On the Same Page" program, but this year the students will be asked for more. The students will be asked to voluntarily submit a DNA sample. The cotton swabs will come with two bar code labels. One label will be put on the DNA sample and the other is kept for the students own records. The confidential...

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton / Bishop Alexander Sample Marquette, Mich., Oct 15, 2009 / 11:40 pm (CNA).- Bishop of Marquette Alexander K. Sample has commented on his request that Bishop Thomas Gumbleton not come to the diocese. He said it was “unfortunate” that the request has become public, but he explained that Bishop Gumbleton’s position on issues like homosexuality and the ordination of women required it.Bishop Gumbleton, a retired auxiliary bishop of Detroit, had been invited to speak by Marquette Citizens for Peace and Justice at St. Mark's Lutheran Church on the topic "Gospel's Call: Action for Peace." He also...

Controversy Erupts as Catholic Bishop Asks Pro-Gay Bishop Not to Enter His Diocese By Peter J. Smith MARQUETTE, Michigan, October 13, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A public controversy has erupted between two bishops of the Catholic Church in the United States, with one of the youngest bishops in the country publicly taking on one of his own colleagues in an effort to defend the Church's teachings on homosexuality and other issues. Marquette Bishop Alexander K. Sample, 49-years-old and one of the youngest US Catholic bishops, recently banned Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, 79, a retired auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit and...

Scientists bid to take Neanderthal DNA sample KARL MANSFIELD SCIENTISTS are attempting to extract DNA for the first time from the fossilised bones thought to be of a Neanderthal man who roamed Britain 35,000 years ago. Experts plan to use a tooth from an upper jaw to establish whether the closest relative of modern humans lived on the British Isles later than it was once thought. The fragment of an upper jaw, which was found in 1926 at Kent's Cavern in Devon, was originally thought to be human, but experts now think it could date back even further. Chris Stringer,...

China and WHO play blame game over bird flu by Cindy Sui 2 hours, 1 minute ago China's agriculture ministry has said the United States was to blame for the fact that it had not yet shared bird flu virus samples, but the WHO put the blame squarely on the ministry. The samples could potentially save lives by helping global scientists study how the deadly avian influenza virus is changing, so they can come up with drugs and vaccines and prepare for a pandemic. Samples are usually given to a laboratory designated by the World Health Organization, which does research...

Speaking of the province of Detroit.... While the rest of the Catholic world -- and its hangers-on -- came down with (real or feigned) Caritas Fever yesterday, the diocese of Marquette was busy ordaining its new bishop. Bishop Alex Sample, 45, is the first member of the American hierarchy to be born in the 1960s, and his elevation on Michigan's Upper Peninsula yesterday marked the first time in over a century that the expansive northern diocese hosted an episcopal ordination in its Cathedral, St. Peter's. It didn't hurt that the new bishop is a native son of the diocese...

A teenager who allegedly beat a police officer unconscious during a protest outside Madison Square Garden was arrested at another demonstration in Union Square Tuesday. Jamal Holiday, 19, was identified using a videotape of Monday night’s incident. As protestors clashed with police, Detective William Sample was pulled off his scooter and was repeatedly punched and kicked. Sample has since been released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. Holiday is charged with second-degree assault on a police officer.

Former US President Carter Proposes Audit of Venezuelan Recall Election Results Greg Flakus Caracas 18 Aug 2004, 01:53 UTC In Venezuela, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria say election officials have agreed to conduct a sample audit of the vote in Sunday's recall referendum. This follows a meeting with opposition leaders, who say they have evidence that the election results were manipulated through a computer program that limited votes to remove President Hugo Chavez and augmented votes in his favor. President Carter says he and Mr. Gaviria have no reason to question...

Early hair sample raises questions Posted: July 26, 2000 - 12:00am EST WOODBURN, Ore. (AP) - Under a small Woodburn city park may lie the answer to who are the earliest Oregonians yet discovered. Scientists have found an ancient strand of hair in Woodburn's Front Street Park - a human hair that may have been left behind before modern American Indians settled in North America a few thousand years ago. The hair, found in a core sample during a June 1999 dig, could be one of the oldest found in the Western United States, said Alison Stenger, director of the...