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The Associated Press , Beijing | Wed, 02/24/2010 9:22 AM | Sci-Tech China has rejected a news report that U.S. investigators traced hacking attacks against Google Inc. to two Chinese schools and said suggestions the government might be involved were irresponsible. A foreign ministry spokesman, Ma Zhaoxu, said Chinese law prohibits hacking and the government will take steps to stop it. At a regular news briefing Tuesday, Ma rejected a report by The New York Times last week that investigators traced hacking attacks on Google to Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School in China. "Reports that these attacks came from Chinese schools are groundless, and accusations of Chinese government involvement are irresponsible and out of ulterior motives," Ma said. Google cited the hacking attacks in a Jan. 12 announcement that said it would no longer cooperate with Chinese government censorship of the Internet and might close its...

Kristen Gelineau , The Associated Press , Sydney, Australia | Thu, 07/16/2009 8:15 AM | Sci-Tech A fairy penguin takes a look around at the boardwalk on Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday. AP/Rob Griffith The first battered bodies were found on a small Australian beach, the white sand around them stained crimson with their blood. A few days later, the killer struck again - this time on the nearby cliffs overlooking Sydney Harbor. The cluster of victims were covered in bite marks, their tiny tummies slashed open. Through blood-spatter evidence and DNA testing, a profile of the killer began to emerge: Stealthy. Fast. Furry. What is killing the little penguins in Sydney's beachside suburb of Manly? A fox? A dog? Both? The investigation so far has yielded some clues. Officials can almost certainly rule out humans; the bite marks and blood patterns point to foxes, which often hold prey in their mouths and prance around shaking it, ...

By VOA News 20 July 2009 Spacewalker Dave Wolf works outside the International Space Station during the second spacewalk of the STS-127 mission, 20 Jul 2009 Astronauts at the International Space Station have completed the second spacewalk of five, during the shuttle Endeavour's 11-day mission at the station. Astronauts Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn undertook a 6-hour, 53-minute spacewalk Monday to conduct maintenance work at the station. The walk coincided with the 40th anniversary of man's landing on the moon. Wolf and astronaut Tim Kopra completed the first spacewalk of the mission during a 5.5-hour operation Saturday. They installed an external platform on the massive Japanese lab at the space station. The lab is known as Kibo, or "hope." The platform will allow scientists to conduct experiments in the vacuum of space. With the shuttle crew's visit, there are 13 astronauts aboard the space stati...

By Paula Wolfson White House 20 July 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama is reaffirming his commitment to space exploration as America marks the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. Barack Obama was only seven years old when Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. But he still has memories of those days. He recalls standing on his grandfather's shoulders in his native state of Hawaii, waiting for the Apollo 11 space capsule to be plucked from the Pacific Ocean and brought to shore. "And I remember waving flags and my grandfather telling me that the Apollo mission was an example of how Americans can do anything they put their minds to," said President Obama. President Barack Obama (right) greets Apollo 11 astronauts (from left) Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong in the White House on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lu...

By VOA News 19 July 2009 Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette, STS-127 mission specialist, operates controls on the aft flight deck of Space Shuttle Endeavour during flight day two activities The astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station used a pair of robotic arms Sunday to install equipment ahead of Monday's spacewalk. Crew members Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn configured their space suits and tools, and reviewed procedures for further construction work. But crew members found their efforts were hampered when one of the space station's two toilets malfunctioned. As a result, crew members of the space shuttle Endeavour are restricted to using the shuttle's sole commode. Officials with the U.S. space agency, NASA, said the problem is not a big one, but could become serious if the toilet remains out of commission for more than a few days. Astronauts completed the first spacewalk ...

By VOA News 19 July 2009 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon surface Legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who landed on the moon 40 years ago Monday, says the United States should set its sights on a mission to Mars. Aldrin appeared on the television news program Fox News Sunday, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 's lunar landing. Aldrin said Mars appears to be a more suitable and habitable environment for human beings. He said he would like NASA to come up with a plan that does not abandon trips to the moon, but instead focuses on a mission to Earth's neighbor, the planet Mars. Former US astronaut Buzz Aldrin, holding picture of himself during the opening of an exhibition to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the moon landing in Hong Kong Space Museum (File) Astronauts have not returned to the Earth's moon since 1972. Aldrin described the lunar surface as "magnificent desolation," ...

By Mike O'Sullivan Los Angeles 16 July 2009 In this July 20, 1969 file photo, Astronaut Edwin E. 'Buzz' Aldrin Jr. poses for photograph beside US flag deployed on moon during Apollo 11 mission The Apollo 11 lunar landing on July 20, 1969, was the culmination of the longtime human dream of reaching the moon. The Apollo missions ended one phase of the U.S. space program, and started another. Apollo 11 expanded the reach of human beings, and offered a vision of the earth from a new perspective. Mission commander Neil Armstrong radioed the first words from the moon to Mission Control in Houston. "Tranquility Base, here. The Eagle has landed," he said. When Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the American flag on the lunar surface, it was also a proud moment for the United States, which had lagged behind the Soviet Union in the early days of the space race. In 1957, the Soviet Union launche...

By Brian Wagner Miami 16 July 2009 Liftoff of space shuttle 'Endeavour' from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Astronauts aboard Endeavour began inspecting the shuttle's heat shield for possible damage after Wednesday's launch. Officials spotted some debris falling off during liftoff. Astronauts began their first full day in space by inspecting the heat shield to ensure the shuttle is safe to return to Earth in two weeks. The seven-member crew controlled a robotic arm equipped with cameras and lasers to scan the surface of the heat shield. In Houston, NASA commentator Kylie Clem said officials in Houston monitored the seven-hour procedure. "This data is going to be downlinked to the ground and pored over by imagery analysts looking for any signs that the heat shield incurred any damage during the launch," he said. The survey has become routine for shuttle ...

By Art Chimes Washington, D.C. 16 July 2009 Forty years to the day after Apollo 11 astronauts blasted off on the way to their historic first moon landing, NASA [Thursday] previewed restored video of the first moon walk. The enhanced images are a dramatic improvement over the pictures seen by hundreds of millions around the world when they were broadcast live from the moon. On his way to being the first man to set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong opened a door on the lunar landing craft that had a small television camera attached. The camera swung out, giving a worldwide audience its first look at - well, it was actually hard to tell at first. "The camera worked, but what we saw at that point was rather disturbing, because it was not what we had simulated, and we knew we had a problem," said Stan Lebar, who helped develop that camera, a three-kilogram marvel of its day. But the signal it transmitted...

By VOA News 11 July 2009 Space shuttle 'Endeavour' waits for launch on Launch Pad 39A The U.S. space agency NASA has postponed the launch of the space shuttle Endeavour , to investigate possible damage to instrument panels from lightning strikes at the launch pad. The shuttle had been scheduled to lift off Saturday on a 16-day mission to install a Japanese-built porch on the International Space Station. But NASA says the launch has been delayed at least until Sunday. Weather forecasters had predicted that thunderstorms could interfere with Saturday's liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in the southeastern state of Florida. Endeavour was to have headed into space last month, but was grounded by a hydrogen fuel leak. Officials believe they have resolved the problem that occurred with a hydrogen vent line on the launch pad. Five spacewalks are planned during the 16-day mission to install the final componen...

By Kurt Achin Seoul 08 July 2009 South Korea has issued security warnings after the disruption of major Internet sites by an apparent cyber attack. Several U.S. Web sites have also been affected. Reports are emerging in South Korean media that intelligence officials suspect North Korea may have had a hand in the disruption. South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted parliamentary intelligence committee lawmakers as saying North Korea may be behind the apparent cyber attack. Wednesday marks the 15th anniversary of the death of the North's revered first leader, Kim Il Sung. In past years, North Korea has used the occasion to show defiance or superiority toward the South. South Korean authorities began to notice the Internet disruption Tuesday evening. By Wednesday, Korea Communication Commission official Lee Myung-su said the attack program had spread far and wide. He says 18,000 personal computers have be...

By VOA News 08 July 2009 Google headquarters in Mountain View, California (File) Google Incorporated, the owner of the popular Internet search engine, is developing its own computer operating system in a direct grab for a market long dominated by software giant, Microsoft Corporation. Google made the announcement on its Web site. The company said its software will be based on its Chrome Internet browser and be available to consumers in the second half of 2010. Google said the computer operating system will initially be designed for low-cost laptops called netbooks. The company said the new operating system's key features will be "speed, simplicity and security". The move further intensifies Google's competition with Microsoft, whose Windows system currently runs about 90 percent of the world's personal computers. Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.