Supersized element
By firing calcium-48 nuclei at a target made of californium-245, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have made element 118, the heaviest yet. The team claims 99.99 per cent certainty, based on three separate observations of the decay products of the 118 nucleus. A similar report by a different team in 1999 was later retracted.
Korea confirmation
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US officials have confirmed that an underground detonation in North Korea was indeed a nuclear explosion of 鈥渓ess than a kiloton鈥� in yield. The confirmation was based on radioactive by-products present in air samples gathered by American aircraft.
Calling the shots
The US military is to resume mandatory vaccination against anthrax for 200,000 troops in Iraq, Korea and Afghanistan. In 2004 a federal court ordered vaccination to be voluntary pending safety assessments, after many soldiers complained of serious side effects. The authorities now insist it is safe.
China鈥檚 patent surge
Evidence of China鈥檚 rapid technological expansion appears in a report showing that patent filings by Chinese residents soared fivefold to 65,786 between 1995 and 2004, according to an analysis issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization. China鈥檚 patent office is now the fifth-largest in the world, behind Japan, the US, South Korea and Germany.
Food in the bank
Access to genes from the world鈥檚 key food crops has been granted to plant breeders, farmers and researchers. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization marked World Food Day on Monday by signing agreements with agricultural research centres holding collections of around 600,000 plants. The aim is to ensure that the genetic resources these plants contain are conserved and sustainably used.