Partial Ingredients for DNA and Protein Found Around Star

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered some of life's most basic ingredients in the dust swirling around a young star. The ingredients - gaseous precursors to DNA and protein - were detected in the star's terrestrial planet zone, a region where rocky planets such as Earth are thought to be born.
NASA - Partial Ingredients for DNA and Protein Found Around Star 12.20.05
spitzer-20051220.html

SETI@home Classic: In Memoriam

Today (15 December 2005) we turned off the server of SETI@home Classic, ending the largest computation in history.
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/classic.php
SETI@home, launched in May 1999, looks for regular or strong signals from outer space. It breaks up radio signals from the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico and sends these to the computers of 5.5 million volunteers, each of which analyses a small chunk of data and sends back the results.
Alien search merges with other home projects
SETI@home is getting a boost in computer power.
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051212/full/051212-10.html

27,000 nuclear warheads -- like slavery or genocide

UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said in his acceptance speech of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize that the world had 27,000 nuclear warheads and "to me, that is 27,000 warheads too many".
"The hard part is how do we create an environment in which nuclear weapons -- like slavery or genocide -- are regarded as a taboo and a historical anomaly?" ElBaradei said.

Crimes against the planet

On Saturday environmental groups presented a petition signed by 600,000 Americans urging President Bush to do more to stop global warming. The Bush administration has rejected the Kyoto Protocol to limit greenhouse gases.
The United States emits 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases even though it has just five percent of the world's population.

Tens of Thousands in 30 Cities Protest Global Warming
http://www.democracynow.org/