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A new tractor beam technology based on laser thruster engines could be used to clear space debris from orbit.The technology could be invaluable for clearing debris from orbit, in particular larger and more dangerous objects such as discarded rocket boosters that would pose a substantial risk to manned space vehicles if they were tocollide.
Now a tractor beam could prevent the accumulation of space debris-including all the dead satellites, discarded rocket boosters and other junk-in the Earth"s orbit, suggests an expert. Space-flight engineer John Sinko of Nagoya University, Japan, has put forward his idea based on an experimental type of spacecraft engine called a laser thruster.
View: Full article | Source: Yahoo!News
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Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory has provided an astonishing new vista on our turbulent star. The first public release of images from the satellite record huge explosions and great looping prominences of gas. The observatory's super-fine resolution is expected to help scientists get a better understanding of what drives solar activity. Launched in February on an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral, SDO is expected to operate for at least five years. Researchers hope in this time to go a long way towards their eventual goal of being able to forecast the effects of the Sun's behaviour on Earth. Solar activity has a profound influence on our planet. Huge eruptions of charged particles and the emission of intense radiation can disrupt satellite...
A team of 30 Spanish doctors say they have successfully performed the world's first full face transplant. A man injured in a shooting accident received the entire facial skin and muscles - including cheekbones, nose, lips and teeth - of a donor. The man is recovering well after the 22-hour operation, said a spokesperson from Vall d'Hebron University Hospital. Another 10 face transplants have been carried out around the world, but this is believed to be the most complex. Hospital spokesperson Bianca Bont told the BBC: "This is the first total face transplant. "There have been 10 operations of this kind in the world - this is the first to transplant all of the face and some bones of the face." 
