Starship Private Enterprise: Rocket Plane Becomes First Civilian Craft to Reach Space

Flying a foam composite rocket ship powered by laughing gas and burning rubber, Mike Melvill took off faster than a bullet over a ramshackle airport in the desert Monday and overcame serious malfunctions to become the first astronaut to reach space in a mission entirely funded by private entrepreneurs. —William Booth —Starship Private Enterprise: Rocket…

Outer space: not so lifeless after all

Materials that could jump-start organic evolution have shown up in interstellar dust clouds and dusty planet-forming discs around many stars. These findings fuel an increasingly strong suspicion that the raw material of planet Earth was primed for life. —Robert C. Cowen —Outer space: not so lifeless after all (CS Monitor)

Bhutan gives TV cautious embrace

“There’s a silence in the family,” says a newsreader, “because they’re glued to the box”. An arts producer tells me that sleeping habits have changed: “Now people stay up late to watch their favourite programmes”. Another explains how the main family room pre-TV would have seats facing inwards to ease conversation with family and friends…