LONDON, January 15 /PRNewswire/ -- On a visit to the North West (15th January 2008), Derek Simpson the joint leader of Unite, will call for a GBP1bn strategic fund, to support jobs in the UK's second biggest regional economy.

Mr Simpson will meet workplace representatives working in occupations across manufacturing, health and finance this Thursday 15th January. The union is calling for a GBP13 billion strategic support package from Government, similar to the support provided last year by the German, French and Swedish governments to their manufacturing sectors. The union believes GBP1bn should be used to support vital industries in the North West like car manufacturing and aerospace.

Unite Joint General secretary Derek Simpson said:

LONDON, January 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- PASCO Participates in Kazakhstan's Efforts to Infuse Schools with Innovative Technology and Build World-Class Education System

PASCO scientific today announced an alliance with The Republic of Kazakhstan to bring interactive, hands-on science technology to schools throughout the country. PASCO, a science education company and global leader in innovative solutions for hands-on science, made the announcement at BETT, the world's largest education technology event.

Kazakhstan is poised to take the world stage as it steps up efforts to make science education a national priority, said PASCO's Chief Education Officer Wayne Grant, Ph.D.

At 10¹⁴ gauss, atoms are compressed into tiny needles whose widths are only 1% of their lengths. X-ray photons readily undergo an exotic process where they change into matter and anti-matter particles briefly, before rejoining and turning back into light. Even at a distance of 1000 km, the slight polarization of water molecules would tear apart any Earth organism. So where do you find magnetic fields of such awe-inspiring strength? Attached to exotic objects in deep space, of course.

PORTLAND, Oregon, January 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- Sun, Intel collaboration expands choice for developers and end users

The Itanium(R) Solutions Alliance is pleased to recognize the collaborative effort between Intel and Sun Microsystems to port Sun's Java(TM) Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) to Itanium-based systems. Now generally available, Java SE 6 for Itanium furnishes a robust Java development platform for Itanium-based solutions for both Windows and Linux environments.

UTRECHT, The Netherlands, January 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- Plans to Invest Over 200 Million Euros in 42MW Italian Solar Project Announced

Econcern, leading sustainable energy solutions company, has announced plans to install 42MW of solar capacity in Puglia, southern Italy. Project Trullo will start with the construction of seven 1MW solar parks early in 2009; the parks are expected to be in operation by 2010.

The company is tapping into the huge growth potential of the Italian solar market.

Once complete Project Trullo will add 15% to Italy's 280MW solar power generation capacity currently installed(1). Econcern has ambitions to increase its Italian solar assets portfolio to at least 50MW and is currently reviewing other potential projects.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, January 15 /PRNewswire/ --

Africa is currently experiencing acute power shortages due to a lack of investment in new capacities and the growing economies in the region. This erratic supply of power is already threatening to stifle the economic gains made in the past decade.

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In Nigeria alone, power failures are estimated to cost approximately US$1 million per year. Large industrial manufacturers are the most affected by the unreliable power supply and many industrial power consumers have resorted to using diesel generator sets as prime power supply and the national grid as back up.

LONDON, January 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- Virgin Active Survey Confirms Exercise Beats the Winter Blues

One in 10 Brits admits to feeling depressed every day, according to a new survey by Virgin Active, the UK's premier health club chain and research company Tick Box.

MUMBAI, January 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- Global Learning Solutions Provider, Tata Interactive Systems Entered 2009 on a Positive Note, Continuing its Positive Growth Trend and Acquiring Major New Clients in Europe and North America.

Amidst the global slowdown that has impacted bottom lines across sectors worldwide, learning leader Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) continued its positive run in all its markets globally. TIS even acquired several major corporations as its clients in the European and North America regions.

The unique planetary nebula NGC 2818 is nested inside the open star cluster NGC 2818A. Both the cluster and the nebula reside 10,400 light-years (3.2 kiloparsecs) away, in the southern constellation Pyxis, also called the Compass.

NGC 2818 is one of very few planetary nebulae in our galaxy located within an open cluster. Open clusters, in general, are loosely bound and they disperse over hundreds of millions of years. Stars that form planetary nebulae typically live for billions of years. Hence, it is rare that an open cluster survives long enough for one of its members to form a planetary nebula. This open cluster is particularly ancient, estimated to be nearly one billion years old.

Massive stars, those up to 120 times the mass of our sun, should blow away the clouds of gas and dust that instead feed their growth.   Despite outward-flowing radiation pressure that exceeds the gravitational force pulling material inward, these huge stars get bigger, which hasn't made a lot of sense.  Until now.

Using 3-D radiation hydrodynamics simulations, a group of researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley, discovered that these massive stars also tend to occur in binary or multiple star systems.