On the Record

“Had the decision been mine, we would not have built the space station we're building in the orbit we're building it in.”

NASA administrator Michael Griffin attacks the International Space Station.

“Having a moon is just inherently cool — and it is something that most self-respecting planets have.”

Astronomer Michael Brown talks about the discovery of a moon orbiting the Solar System's ‘tenth planet’.

Source: USA Today, Caltech

Scorecard

Dogs

Labradors with osteoarthritis are the focus of a study launched at the University of Liverpool, UK. Researchers will use magnetic resonance imaging to track disease progression in the dogs.

Nuclear safety

Ukrainian officials have recovered 14 pieces of nuclear fuel stolen from the now-defunct Chernobyl power plant. The rods, found in a plastic bag near the plant's perimeter, had been missing for a decade.

Archaeology

Embarrassed Czech archaeologists have found that a statuette thought to represent a fifth-century Persian goddess came from a mould made in 1968 by a local pensioner.

Number Crunch

60% of PhD-granting physics departments in the United States report visa problems for foreign students returning after trips abroad.

48% of the physics departments had at least one foreign student who was denied entry or considerably delayed by visa problems.

13% is the fall in the number of first-year enrolments by foreign graduate students in the United States between 2000 and 2004.

Source: American Institute of Physics