Nutreco: Excellent results for the first half of 2010: Strong increase in operating result (EBITA) to EUR 84 million

EUR 2,250.5 million; an increase of 5.8% compared with the first half of
2009

* Strong increase in volume of Fish feed and Premix and feed specialties

* All business segments report better operating results compared with the first half of
2009

* 2010 interim dividend of EUR 0.50 in cash or shares

* For the full year 2010, Nutreco expects an increase of approximately 25% in EBITA
before exceptional items compared with 2009 (EUR 175.2 million)

Key figures
(EUR x million)
H1 2010 H1 2009 Change
Revenue from ‘continuing operations’ 2,250.5 2,127.7 5.8%
Operating result before exceptional items and amortisation (EBITA) 84.0 41.6 101.9%
Operating result from ‘continuing operations’ before amortisation (EBITA) 74.1 38.5 92.5%
Profit after tax from ‘continuing operations’ 40.4 13.7 194.9%
Basic earnings per share from ‘continuing operations’ (EUR) 1.13 0.36 213.9%
Interim dividend per ordinary share (EUR) 0.50 0.20 150.0%

150.0%

Wout Dekker, CEO Nutreco:

“We have had excellent first six months. The results are better than in the same period
last year for all business segments. These results, the recovery of the markets and our
good financial situation give us confidence for the future. We are also very pleased
with the composition and quality of our results. For the second half of the year, we
expect results in line with the very strong second half of 2009. For the full year this
will lead to an increase of approximately 25% in EBITA before exceptional items.”

All business segments report better operating results
“Our premix and feed specialties operations have very good results, with a growth in
volume and an improved product mix. Fish feed operations show strong growth in Norway
and we experience a recovery in the Chilean aquaculture sector. Our compound feed
operations in Europe reported business results in line with the trend of the last
quarters of 2009. The results in The Netherlands improved substantially compared with
the first half of 2009. In Spain the acquisition of Cargill’s compound feed operations
contributed to revenues. The integration and optimisation of factories is progressing
well. Our meat operations had good results, slightly better than in the first half of
2009.”

Focus on strengthening global position in Fish feed and Premix and feed specialties
“The recent acquisition of a fish and shrimp feed business in Vietnam is in line with
our strategy to further strengthen our position in feed for amongst others shrimp,
tilapia, barramundi, snapper and grouper, in countries of strategic importance. After
China and India, Vietnam is the world’s largest aquaculture producer. For Nutreco, the
acquisition is a good entry into the Vietnamese market and a basis for further growth.
Next to this acquisition Nutreco is investing in renewing and expanding its production
capacity. In March we announced the investment of EUR 20 million in upgrading and
expanding the fish feed factory in Australia. The investment will enable Skretting to
meet the growing demand for high-quality fish feed for salmon, trout, barramundi and
tuna in both Australia and New Zealand. Since 2001, the volume for fish feed in this
region has grown by 10% annually.
In April, Nutreco announced a EUR 6 million investment in upgrading and expanding the
production capacity of Selko, a producer of additives for animal nutrition. This
investment will enable Selko to meet the globally growing demand for alternatives to
antibiotics and for products that can contribute to controlling the development of
salmonella in animal nutrition, raw materials for animal nutrition and drinking water.

Nutreco remains focused on growth by innovations and we continue to execute our strategy
to further strengthen our global market position in Premix and feed specialties and Fish
feed by means of organic growth and acquisitions.”

Outlook

Barring unforeseen circumstances, Nutreco expects EBITA before exceptional items in the
second half of the year to be in line with the very strong second half of 2009 (EUR
133.6 million). For the full year 2010 this will result in an increase of approximately
25% in EBITA before exceptional items compared with 2009 (EUR 175.2 million).

Strategy

Nutreco will continue to focus on growth in animal nutrition and fish feed by means of:

* Focusing on geographical regions and markets with prospects for structural profitable
growth in countries such as Brazil, China, Russia and Vietnam;
* Participating in consolidation in countries where Nutreco has a leading position in
compound feed, such as Canada/North America, the Netherlands and Spain;
* Further strengthen our global market position in Premix and feed specialties and Fish
feed through independent growth and acquisitions;
* Implementing Nutreco’s innovation strategy.

Nutreco will publish a trading update on the third quarter of 2010 on 28 October 2010.

* * * * *

Nutreco

Nutreco is a global leader in animal nutrition and fish feed. Our advanced feed
solutions are at the origin of food for millions of consumers worldwide. Quality,
innovation and sustainability are guiding principles, embedded in the Nutreco culture
from research and raw material procurement to products and services for agriculture and
aquaculture. Experience across 100 years brings Nutreco a rich heritage of knowledge and
experience for building its future. Nutreco employs approximately 9,700 people in 30
countries, with sales in 80 countries. Nutreco is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock
exchange in Amsterdam and with annual revenues of EUR 4.5 billion in 2009.

www.nutreco.com http://www.nutreco.com/

For more information:

Jurgen Pullens, Director Investor Relations and Corporate Communications, Nutreco
Telephone: +31 (0)33 422 6134
Mobile: +31 (0)6 5159 9483
E-mail: jurgen.pullens@nutreco.com mailto:jurgen.pullens@nutreco.com

The full press release is attached in the pdf below

HUG#1434661

Excellent results for the first half of 2010

http://hugin.info/133565/R/1434661/380210.pdf

Shifts in China’s FX reserves have to be slow-IMF

July 9 (Reuters) – Any changes to the makeup of China’s massive pile of foreign exchange reserves will have to be gradual so as not to cause volatility in world markets, the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist said.

Shifts in the composition of the Chinese central bank’s more than $2 trillion portfolio would have to be “very, very slow”, Olivier Blanchard, the IMF’s economic counsellor and director of research, said at an Asia Society event in Hong Kong on Friday.

China bought a record $7.9 billion in short-term Japanese debt in May, a surge that some analysts said was a sign of foreign reserves diversification into the yen and away from the euro and the dollar. [ID:nTOE66705G] (Reporting by James Pomfret, writing by Kevin Plumberg; Editing by Chris Lewis)

Research and Markets: Dimethyl fumarate (CAS 624-49-7) Market Research Report 2010

DUBLIN–(Business Wire)–
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Research and Markets: Calcium Pidolate (CAS 31377-05-6) Market Research Report 2010

DUBLIN–(Business Wire)–
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/e02b1d/calcium_pidolate) has
announced the addition of the “Calcium Pidolate (CAS 31377-05-6) Market Research
Report 2010″ report to their offering.

The study Calcium Pidolate (CAS 31377-05-6) Market Research Report 2010 presents
an overview of the Calcium Pidolate market globally and regionally by
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Key features of the report:

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Calcium Pidolate manufacturers and suppliers worldwide
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The research is based on reliable data and supplies the latest information on
selected aspects of the market.

Key Topics Covered:

1. GENERAL CALCIUM PIDOLATE DESCRIPTION, COMPOSITION, INFORMATION ON
INGREDIENTS, HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION, HANDLING AND STORAGE AND TOXICOLOGICAL
INFORMATION

2. CALCIUM PIDOLATE APPLICATION AREAS, PATENTS

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Research and Markets: Beta-Thymidine (CAS 50-89-5) Market Research Report 2010

DUBLIN–(Business Wire)–
Research and Markets
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announced the addition of the “Beta-Thymidine (CAS 50-89-5) Market Research
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The study Beta-Thymidine (CAS 50-89-5) Market Research Report 2010 presents an
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Key features of the report:

* provides general information on Beta-Thymidine
* examines applications of Beta-Thymidine, its consumers
* provides Beta-Thymidine market situation overview and supplies a list of
Beta-Thymidine manufacturers and suppliers worldwide
* considers Beta-Thymidine current market prices

The research is based on reliable data and supplies the latest information on
selected aspects of the market.

Key Topics Covered:

1. GENERAL BETA-THYMIDINE DESCRIPTION, COMPOSITION, INFORMATION ON INGREDIENTS,
HAZARDS IDENTIFICATION, HANDLING AND STORAGE, TOXICOLOGICAL & ECOLOGICAL
INFORMATION, TRANSPORT INFORMATION

2. BETA-THYMIDINE APPLICATION AREAS, PATENTS

3. BETA-THYMIDINE MARKET. MANUFACTURERS AND TRADERS OF BETA-THYMIDINE (INCLUDING
CONTACT DETAILS)

4. CURRENT BETA-THYMIDINE MARKET PRICES

5. BETA-THYMIDINE CONSUMERS

For more information visit

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Research and Markets: 2,3-Dimethyloxiran (CAS 3266-23-7) Market Research Report 2010

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* provides general information on 2,3-Dimethyloxiran
* examines applications of 2,3-Dimethyloxiran
* provides an overview of the market situation for 2,3-Dimethyloxiran and
provides a list of 2,3-Dimethyloxiran manufacturers and suppliers worldwide
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Research and Markets: Dioctyl terephthalate (CAS 6422-86-2) Market Report

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Mechanism related to onset of genetic diseases identified

Washington, Sept 18 (ANI): Scientists from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) have identified a mechanism that could trigger onset of various genetic diseases.

They have found a process by which proteins with a tendency to cause conformational diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy, familial amyloidotic cardiomyopathy, etc. finally end up causing them.

The answer can be found in the separation of the proteins.

According to the researchers Salvador Ventura and Virgmnia Castillo, every day cells produce thousands of new proteins, which renew themselves every second and which, by obeying the orders prescribed in our genetic code, work towards the proper functioning of our body.

However, these proteins occasionally suffer genetic mutations, which can cause changes in their composition, thus preventing them from carrying out their functions and the activities they are assigned.

In many cases this gives way to the formation of toxic macromolecular aggregates – amyloid fibrils – which block our body’s protein quality control system and finally provoke cell death.

Protein aggregation and the misfolding of proteins can be linked to the origin of many conformational diseases, which can be either genetic or spontaneous.

As possible strategies to prevent the dissociation of proteins, the authors propose introducing genetic mutations into the proteins to strengthen their association and developing specific molecules to block the risk regions of already dissociated proteins.

The study appears in journal PLoS Computational Biology. (ANI)

Scientists find meteorite that came from innermost asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter

Washington, September 18 (ANI): In a very rare finding, scientists have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered that it came from the innermost main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Meteorites are the only surviving physical record of the formation of our Solar System.

However, information about where individual meteorites originated, and how they were moving around the Solar System prior to falling to Earth, is available for only a dozen of around 1100 documented meteorite falls over the past two hundred years.

According to Dr Phil Bland from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, the lead author of the study, “We are incredibly excited about our new finding. Meteorites are the most analysed rocks on Earth, but it’s really rare for us to be able to tell where they came from.”

The new meteorite, which is about the size of cricket ball, is the first to be retrieved since researchers from Imperial College London, Ondrejov Observatory in the Czech Republic, and the Western Australian Museum, set up a trial network of cameras in the Nullarbor Desert in Western Australia in 2006.

The researchers aim to use these cameras to find new meteorites, and work out where in the Solar System they came from, by tracking the fireballs that they form in the sky.

The new meteorite was found on the first day of searching using the new network, by the first search expedition, within 100m of the predicted site of the fall.

The meteorite appears to have been following an unusual orbit, or path around the Sun, prior to falling to Earth in July 2007, according to the researchers’ calculations.

The team believes that it started out as part of an asteroid in the innermost main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

It then gradually evolved into an orbit around the Sun that was very similar to Earth’s.

The new meteorite is also unusual because it is composed of a rare type of basaltic igneous rock.

According to the researchers, its composition, together with the data about where the meteorite comes from, fits with a recent theory about how the building blocks for the terrestrial planets were formed.

This theory suggests that the igneous parent asteroids for meteorites like today’s formed deep in the inner Solar System, before being scattered out into the main asteroid belt.

Asteroids are widely believed to be the building blocks for planets like the Earth, so the new finding provides another clue about the origins of the Solar System. (ANI)

Findings from India’s Chandrayaan to provide new understanding of lunar surface

London, September 18 (ANI): India’s Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS) has gathered data for a total of 30 solar flares, giving the most accurate measurements to date of magnesium, aluminum, silicon, calcium, and iron in the lunar surface.

Although contact was lost with Chandrayaan-1 last month, the enhanced performance of the C1XS instrument, which exceeded its design specification, means that the science team will be able to determine the geochemistry of new areas of the lunar surface, adding some vital pieces to the jigsaw of the mineralogy of the lunar surface.

The miniature C1XS instrument investigated the lunar surface using an effect whereby X-ray illumination from the Sun causes rocks to fluoresce, emitting light at a different wavelength.

This re-emitted light contains spectral peaks that are characteristic of elements contained in the rock, revealing its composition.

Solar flares act like a flash bulb, giving added illumination and allowing C1XS to ‘see’ more elements.

During normal conditions, C1XS could detect magnesium, aluminum, and silicon and collected data on the levels of these elements, enabling detailed mapping of areas of the lunar surface during its operational period.

During the 30 solar flares, C1XS detected calcium and iron (and sometimes titanium, sodium, and potassium) in key areas in the southern hemisphere and on the far side of the Moon.

The spectral resolution of 50 km was much better than previous missions.

According to Professor Grande, “The C1XS team will be analyzing the data collected during the Chandrayaan-1 mission over the next few months, and the results will help us further our knowledge of the Moon and planetary formation.”

In addition, the design of the instrument has been proved very successful in that it withstood passage through the Earth’s radiation belts and went on to produce these wonderful high-resolution spectra. We were able to separate clear peaks for each of the target elements, allowing us not only to identify where they are present but give an accurate estimate for how much is there,” he said.

“The technology developed for C1XS opens up some exciting opportunities for future missions,” he added. (ANI)

World’s most advanced CT scanner to see through solids

Washington, September 11 (ANI): Researchers at The University of Nottingham, UK, have created the most advanced 3D X-ray micro Computed Tomography (CT) scanner in the world, which will help scientists from a wide variety of departments across the University literally see through solid materials, including soil.

Known as the ‘Nanotom’, the machine will make previously difficult and laborious research much easier as it allows researchers to probe inside objects without having to break into them.

The Nanotom will produce high-resolution 3D and slice images of solids with a pixel resolution of up to half micron or 500 nanometres.

It will be based at the School of Biosciences as the centrepiece of research into efforts to understand the microscopic interactions between plant root growth and soil structure.

The first project to use it will examine the sensing ability of roots to grow in the best direction for the health of the plant through the soil.

It aims to provide evidence of how the root reacts and adapts to soil stresses like drought and compaction by adjusting the genetic information in the tips of the root as it grows.

The Nanotom will allow researchers to follow the progress of the root growth and soil structural development for the first time without disturbing the sample of the plant growing in the soil.

The eventual aim of research like this is to contribute to worldwide efforts for food security and sustainable food production by preserving and improving the vital but finite soil resources of the planet.

It will enable scientists to come up with a recipe for the best soil composition and level of compaction as well as informing plant breeding programmes.

Accurate soil structure measurement will be also be essential in changing farming practices to cut CO2 which is released into the atmosphere during traditional ploughing of agricultural soil.

According to Dr Sacha Mooney from the University’s Division of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, “This new kit will completely revolutionize our work in trying to understand the key factors that control some of the many functions that soils perform.”

“Of course it’s not just soils we’ll be scanning, I think I am just as excited about the opportunity to look inside newly created environmental building materials, eco-friendly crops developed to improve yield and even chocolate bars for the food industry,” Mooney added. (ANI)

Aptara meets increasing business growth with new delivery center

New Delhi, Sept 9 (ANI/Business Wire India): Aptara, Inc., a market leader in knowledge process outsourcing, today announced a major new delivery facility in Trivandrum, India. This leading-edge facility will be home to a Publishing Center of Excellence and to hundreds of professionals who provide advanced editorial, composition and production management services to Aptara’s key customers.

Aptara’s new center is located in Trivandrum’s Technopark, a 4 million sq. ft. campus housing over 150 global enterprises employing 20,000 knowledge workers. Aptara chose the location for its rich base of highly educated talent, state-of-the-art infrastructure, progressive business environment, and advantageous cost base. The Trivandrum operation will be the 4th of Aptara’s Indian delivery centers and will bring the company’s India headcount to over 4,000.

“Trivandrum represents an important strategic investment for Aptara,” said Dev Ganesan, Aptara’s president and CEO. “Increasing demand from our publishing clients has created the need for an additional center to provide advanced publishing services on a fully process-outsourced basis,” he added. “Building on our deep experience in serving the world’s leading publishers, the Trivandrum facility is positioned to become a global center of excellence for the kind of advanced services that publishers worldwide are now seeking from their business partners.” (ANI)

India’s first moon mission may be over, says project director

Bangalore, Aug 29 (ANI):India’s ambitious moon mission — Chandrayaan-I — has probably ended after losing radio contact since Saturday noon, said its project director M. Annadurai, but Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman G. Madhavan Nair said scientists will evaluate the performance of the mission over the next two days before deciding whether or not to call it off.

Earlier, in the day the flamboyant spacecraft had lost the radio control at around 1.30 a.m. IST, increasing fears of a premature end of the spacecraft.

According to a press release by the ISRO, the deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bangalore has not received any signal form the spacecraft since midnight.

“Radio contact with Chandrayaan-I spacecraft was abruptly lost at 0130 Hrs (IST) on August 29, 2009. Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bangalore received the data from Chandrayaan-I during the previous orbit upto 0025 Hrs (IST),”the press release states.he ISRO has ordered for a detailed review of the data received by the spacecraft, “Detailed review of the Telemetry data received from the spacecraft is in progress and health of the spacecraft subsystems is being analysed,” press release states.

Earlier, on July 17, the flamboyant moon mission Chandrayaan-I, had lost a major sensor. The scientific community then feared the premature end of the spacecraft.

The Chandrayaan-I, which was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh in October 2008, has completed over 350 days in orbit making more than 3400 orbits around the Moon and providing large volume of data from sophisticated sensors.

The spacecraft was equipped with Terrain Mapping Camera, Hyper-spectral Imager, Moon Mineralogy Mapper etc.,

The ISRO scientists expressed confidence of attaining most of the scientific objectives of the mission.

Addressing the Ninth convocation of the International Institute of Information and Technology at Bangalore last month, Nair said the tracking and detection of several factors by Chandrayaan are important steps in mapping the mineralogical composition of moon’s surface, which in turn would enable further study in its origin and evolution.

“I think I am happy to say that Chandrayaan has been completely successful in collecting all the data what we wanted. First was the three dimensional of the lunar surface, also getting the mineral content of the surface and then trying to use the extra instruments,” said Nair.

“All this went on very well and we are more or less very happy that the mission is complete,” he added.

Nair also added that the second moon mission would be launched by 2012. (ANI)

Warped debris disks around stars a result of interstellar wind

Washington, August 29 (ANI): In a new research, a team of scientists has determined that the warped shapes of the dust-filled disks where new planets may be forming around other stars, may be due to interstellar wind.

The dust-filled disks where new planets may be forming around other stars occasionally take on some difficult-to-understand shapes.

Now, a team led by John Debes at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, has found that a star’s motion through interstellar gas can account for many of them.

“The disks contain small comet- or asteroid-like bodies that may grow to form planets,” Debes said. “These small bodies often collide, which produces a lot of fine dust,” he added.

As the star moves through the galaxy, it encounters thin gas clouds that create a kind of interstellar wind.

“The small particles slam into the flow, slow down, and gradually bend from their original trajectories to follow it,” said Debes.

Far from being empty, the space between stars is filled with patchy clouds of low-density gas.

When a star encounters a relatively dense clump of this gas, the resulting flow produces a drag force on any orbiting dust particles.

The force only affects the smallest particles – those about one micrometer across, or about the size of particles in smoke.

“This fine dust is usually removed through collisions among the particles, radiation pressure from the star’s light and other forces,” explained Debes. “The drag from interstellar gas just takes them on a different journey than they otherwise would have had,” he said.

Working with Alycia Weinberger at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and Goddard astrophysicist Marc Kuchner, Debes was using the Hubble Space Telescope to investigate the composition of dust around the star HD 32297, which lies 340 light-years away in the constellation Orion.

He noticed that the interior of the dusty disk – a region comparable in size to our own solar system – was warped in a way that matched a previously known warp at larger distances.

“Other research indicated there were interstellar gas clouds in the vicinity. The pieces came together to make me think that gas drag was a good explanation for what was going on,” Debes said.

“It looks like interstellar gas helps young planetary systems shed dust much as a summer breeze helps dandelions scatter seeds,” Kuchner said.

As dust particles respond to the interstellar wind, a debris disk can morph into peculiar shapes determined by the details of its collision with the gas cloud. (ANI)

Scientists propose new mechanism for dune formation on Saturn’s largest moon

Washington, August 26 (ANI): A new research paper has proposed a possible new mechanism for the development of very large linear dunes formed on the surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

The paper, authored by LSU (Louisiana State University) Department of Geography and Anthropology Chair Patrick Hesp and United States Geological Survey scientist David Rubin, is titled – “Multiple origins of linear dunes on Earth and Titan.”

The authors examined the linear – or longitudinal – dunes that stretch across the surface of China’s Qaidam Basin, finding them composed of sand and some salt and silt.

The latter two elements make the dunes cohesive or sticky.

According to the study, this leads to a complete change in dune form from transverse dunes to linear dunes, even though the wind speed and direction does not change.

Typically, transverse dunes are formed by winds from a narrow directional range while longitudinal or linear dunes are formed by winds from two obliquely opposing directions.

These findings offer an alternative interpretation of similar dunes found on Titan.

Hesp and Rubin suggest that if the giant linear dunes found on the surface of Titan are also formed from cohesive sediment, then they too could be formed by single-direction winds.

This is in sharp contrast to earlier studies, which assumed that the sediments were loose and interpreted the dune shape as evidence of winds coming from alternating directions.

The alternative hypothesis that Titan’s linear dunes are formed in cohesive sediment has significant implications for studies on Titan.

If the Hesp and Rubin alternative is correct, new hypotheses regarding the composition, origin, evolution, grain size, stickiness, quantity, global transport patterns and suitability for wind transport of Titan’s sediment; the velocities, directions and seasonal patterns of Titan’s winds; and overall surface wetness will all have to be completely reassessed. (ANI)

New X-ray technique reveals buried image in N. C. Wyeth’s painting

Washington, August 20 (ANI): A new X-ray imaging technique has for the first time in a century revealed unprecedented details of a painting hidden beneath another painting by famed American illustrator Newell Convers Wyeth, who is regarded as the greatest American illustrator of the 20th century.

While making a presentation at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) on Wednesday, Dr. Jennifer Mass said that the non-destructive look-beneath-the-surface method could reveal hidden images in hundreds of Old Master paintings, and other prized works of art.

In the study paper, the researcher noted that many great artists re-used canvases or covered paintings with other paintings, in order to save money on materials or to let the colours and shapes of a prior composition influence the next one.

Art historians believe that several of Wyeth’s most valued illustrations have been lost from view in that way, and one of them, depicting a dramatic fist fight, was published in a 1919 Everybody’s Magazine article titled ‘The Mildest Mannered Man’.

X-ray techniques previously used by other scientists suggested that Wyeth had covered the fight scene with another painting called ‘Family Portrait’, but they had not shown the the true image except in black and white reproductions.

The new instrument, called a confocal X-ray fluorescence microscope, was developed at the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) national X-ray facility.

The instrument reveals minute details in hidden paintings without removing paint samples. It shoots X-ray beams into a painting and then collects fluorescent X-ray “signals” given off by the chemicals in the various paint layers.

Scientists can link each signal to specific paint pigments.

In addition to revealing the original image, the method is providing new information on Wyeth’s materials and methods.

The same technique may ultimately reveal hidden images in paintings by other famed artists, the researchers say. (ANI)

Dark energy may not actually exist

London, August 18 (ANI): A new research by scientists has claimed that dark energy – the mysterious substance thought to make up three-quarters of the universe – may not actually exist.

The concept of dark energy was created by cosmologists to fit Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity into reality after modern space telescopes discovered that the Universe was not behaving as it should.

According to Einstein’s work, the speed at which the Universe is expanding following the Big Bang should be slower than it actually is and this unexplained anomaly threatened to turn the whole theory upside down.

In order to reconcile this problem, the concept of dark energy was invented.

But now, according to a report in the Telegraph, Blake Temple and Joel Smoller, mathematicians at the University of California and the University of Michigan, believe they have come up with a whole new set of calculations that allow for all the sums to add up without the need for this controversial substance.

The research could change the way astronomers view the composition of our Universe, as it may prove that dark energy doesn’t exist at all.

The Standard Model of Cosmology, which describes the evolution of the Universe, begins with the Big Bang.

Astronomers have recently observed that the galaxies are accelerating as they move away from each other, and cosmologists have sought to explain this unexpected acceleration by introducing the concept of dark energy, which permeates space, propels matter, and accounts for nearly 75 percent of the mass-energy in our Universe.

The new research is likely to be equally controversial as the work it purports to challenge especially as it relies on our galaxy being at the centre of the Universe – a concept that has been generally disregarded in modern science.

According to Dr Malcom Fairbairn, particle cosmologist at King’s College London, “Ever since the concept of dark energy was first mentioned, people have been trying to explain it or explain it away. It is a mystery and an inconvenience.”

“This is one attempt at it. Whether it is right only time will tell,” he said. (ANI)

Asif inches closer towards Champions Trophy berth

Karachi, Aug.18 (ANI): Tainted Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif, who is eyeing a place back in the national squad, has impressed chief selector Iqbal Qasim with his form and fitness in a low-profile match.

Qasim along with other member of the selection committee, Saleem Jaffer, watched Asif play during a match between youngsters attending an Under-23 Emerging Players Camp, and looked satisfied with the speedsters performance.

“He (Asif) seemed to be fine today,” said Qasim.

Asif took a wicket giving away only 23 runs in his nine over spell in the match.

Qasim said Asif would be considered for the Champions Trophy, but the final decision in this regard will be taken only after holding talks with the captain and the coach.

“The final decision about the composition will be taken by the committee after we weigh all our options. We want to discuss each and every detail with the captain and the coach before taking a final decision on the Champions Trophy squad,” The News quoted Qasim, as saying.

The 26-year-old pacer, whose career had plummeted after he failed a dope test during the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) inaugural season, is hoping to find a place in Pakistani team after serving a one-year ban imposed by the PCB.

The PCB has already included the left hand seamer in the preliminary list of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy. (ANI)

Akhtar fails to appear for fitness test, damages chances of making it to national squad

Karachi, July 16 (ANI): Shoaib Akhtar has failed to appear for a fitness test which would have helped him reserve his place in the national team for the limited over series in Sri Lanka.

Acting chief selector Wasim Bari said Akhtar skipped fitness tests on Monday and Tuesday.

Bari said Akhtar had informed the board that his mother was unwell, and therefore, he was unable to leave Islamabad.

Bari has made it clear that he wanted Akhtar to bowl for a session of 30 to 45 minutes to assess his fitness before he could be included in the one-day squad for the series against Sri Lanka.

He would be visiting Sri Lanka soon to consult captain Younis Khan and coach Intikhab Alam on the composition of the ODI squad, The Dawn reports.

It would be very hard for Akhtar to stage a comeback in the national team after ignoring the much important fitness tests.

The 35-year-old pacer had recently claimed he still has many years of cricket left in him and is 100 percent fit to play.

However, it is highly unlikely that PCB chief Ijaz Butt would approve Akhtar’s selection without a fitness test. (ANI)

ISRO chief satisfied with lunar data compiled by Chandrayaan

Bangalore, July 12(ANI): G Madhavan Nair, Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), on Sunday expressed satisfaction with the successful collection of data about the moon by Chandrayaan, country’s maiden lunar mission.

Madhavan Nair stated this while addressing the 9th convocation of International Institute of Information and Technology at Bangalore on Sunday.

He mentioned that the tracking and detection of several factors by Chandrayaan are important steps in mapping the mineralogical composition of moon’s surface which in turn would enable further study in its origin and evolution.

“I think I am happy to say that Chandrayaan has been completely successful in collecting all the data what we wanted. First was the three dimensional of the lunar surface, also getting the mineral content of the surface and then trying to use the extra instruments,” said G. Madhavan Nair.

“All this went on very well and we are more or less very happy that the mission is complete,” he added.

Chandrayaan-1 was launched on October 22 last year.

Madhavan Nair also added that the second moon mission would be launched by 2012. (ANI)