Tech & Science

2008 Taipei International Book Exhibition, recently closed on Monday (Feb. 18), showed not only significances from visitors' participation but also smooth traffic condition on roads near the Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC). Since several MICEs (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) were held in the TWTC and Taipei International Convention Center, a major issue for the hall owner TAITRA and several show organizers and participants was traffic condition near the venues especially in a show related to information technology. If the

Fidel Castro, the Cuban president who seized power in a 1959 revolution, has stated in a quote in Cuba's state-run newspaper Granma that when the National Assembly of Cuba meets on February 24 he "will not aspire to or accept... the positions of President of Council of State and Commander in Chief." 81-year-old Castro handed over control to his 76-year-old brother Raúl when he underwent surgery in July 2006. "It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical conditi

While nearly all cover of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, the race for the White House also includes independents and third party candidates. These parties represent a variety of views that may not be acknowledged by the major party platforms. As a non-partisan news source, Wikinews has impartially reached out to these candidates, throughout the campaign. The most recent of our interviews is Gaithersburg, Maryland's Richard H. Clark (b. 1960), a senior software engineer and member of MENS

Space Shuttle Atlantis today undocked from the International Space Station, beginning its return to Earth. The Shuttle, which had been visiting the station for mission STS-122, delivering the Columbus laboratory to the orbital outpost. Undocking occurred at 09:24 GMT, after connecting hatches between the spacecraft were closed at 18:03 GMT yesterday evening. Atlantis is scheduled to land on Wednesday. While NASA hope that it can land at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), they are prepared to use their backup site at Edw

The Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is due to meet the French President Nicholas Sarkozy later today. Lula da Silva is due to meet with Sarkozy in French Guiana. The two are expected discuss issues such as greater cooperation between the two countries and the coordination of work on areas around Brazil and French Guiana. In addition, subjects such as biofuels, nuclear science and defence are expected to be discussed in the meeting. After the meeting, at the headquarters of the local Lula and Sarkozy will present the design for a

The city of Kiryat Yam in Israel is suing Internet corporation Google over an alleged inaccuracy in its Google Earth software, which claims the city was built over the ruins of an Arab village. A note added by Google Earth user Thameen Darby says Kiryat Yam was built on the site of the Palestinian village Ghawarina. However, town's spokesman Naty Key Zilberman says this "obviously cannot be true, because Kiryat Yam was founded in 1945". The Palestinian exodus, in which hundreds of thousands of Arabs abandoned their villages due to the Arab-I

Progress spacecraft M-63, serial number 363, also designated Progress 28P, has been launched by the Russian Federal Space Agency on a mission to resupply the International Space Station. Liftoff, atop a Soyuz-U carrier rocket occurred at 13:02 GMT, from Area 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft will dock with the space station on Thursday, a few hours ahead of the scheduled launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-122, with the Columbus module, a new laboratory which will enhance the outpost's research capabilities. The

NASA has held a memorial ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. All seven astronauts were killed when their spacecraft broke up on re-entry over Texas on February 1, 2003, 16 minutes prior to scheduled landing time at Florida. Columbia had been damaged by a chunk of loose foam during takeoff 16 days earlier. NASA officials, astronauts, schoolchildren and family members attended the ceremony, which was held just miles from Columbia'''s intended landing site. Approximately 200 people attended the event, he

United States software giant Microsoft has launched an unsolicited bid to buy Internet search giant Yahoo! for US$44 billion or approximately US$31 per share. The deal, which is half in cash and half in stock, if accepted by Yahoo!'s shareholders, could create a major competitor to Google, the search giant which currently dominates the Internet search market.

In an exclusive report, Wikinews has learned that on Wednesday two users, one anonymous and the other only known as MODX, added code on the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia for a computer virus known as the LoveLetter or ILOVEYOU virus. The users inserted the VBScript code into various pages including the Wikipedia Sandbox, a page used for editorial testing. This was relatively harmless, as the code could not be activated despite causing some antivirus software to issue an alert. A Wikipedia administrator began blocking the users and reve

Today, NASA's spacecraft MESSENGER, or the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft, is expected to begin its two day mission at about noon (eastern time), of data collecting and photographing of the planet Mercury. It is the first spacecraft to visit the planet in 34 years, since Mariner 10's visit to the planet in 1974. "This is raw scientific exploration and the suspense is building by the day. What will MESSENGER see? Monday will tell the tale," said Alan Stern, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mis

Schools in the United Kingdom have been advised not to upgrade to the newest Microsoft products, Vista and Office 2007, according to a report by the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA). Becta said that there were no "appropriate benefit" that would offset the additional cost and possible compatibility issues created by upgrading. An agency of the UK department for education and skills, Becta oversees the procurement of all IT equipment and e-learning solutions for schools. One of the main reasons given is also c