Science is occasionally a life-threatening career choice, particularly for those scientists who risk shipwreck, starvation, disease, and large, arctic carnivores to unlock the mysteries of the life's past.

Sean Carroll, in Remarkable Creatures, looks at how the drive to explore, the itch for discovery that pushed Columbus and Magellan on their great voyages, has worked its magic on those great scientists who have pursued scientific adventures to the most extreme corners of the earth.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, July 17 --

The Chilean telecommunications market will grow at a CAGR of 6.6 percent over
the next five years for a total of US$6.4 billion in 2014, mainly due to the
increasing penetration of mobile services and the adoption of mobile Internet
services including data cards and mobile browsing, according to a new report
from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light
Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

NEW YORK, July 17 --

- Huge turnout for Light Reading’s Packet-Optical Transport Evolution
Virtual Tradeshow with the industry’s leading optical experts, nearly 900
attendees, and 10 sponsors

Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the leading online publication for the
telecom industry, and Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com), its prestigious
market research division, produced the optical networking industry’s first
online tradeshow on July 14, The Packet-Optical Transport Virtual Tradeshow,
with 1,757 registrants, 881 attendees, and 10 sponsors.

HOUSTON, July 17 --

Endeavour International Corporation (NYSE-Amex: END) (LSE: ENDV) will
participate in The 2009 Oil and Gas Conference hosted by Enercom, Inc. on
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 in Denver, Colorado.

William L. Transier, chairman, chief executive officer and president, is
scheduled to speak on the company’s business strategies and operational
plans at 11:20 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time, 6:20 p.m. British Summer Time. A
webcast of the presentation will available by accessing Endeavour’s
Internet home page at http://www.endeavourcorp.com.

CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France, July 17 --

- Strong Growth in First-Half Revenue, up 9.4% - Operating Margin Holds Firm

Essilor International, the world leader in ophthalmic optics, today announced
consolidated revenue of an estimated EUR1,663.4 million for the six months ended
June 30, 2009, representing a reported 9.4% increase on first-half 2008.
Like-for-like, revenue was down a slight 0.7% for the period, but was up 5.3%
excluding the currency effect alone.

HENNIGSDORF, Germany, July 17 -- The Fetal Medicine Foundation (FMF) confirmed
that BRAHMS KRYPTOR compact is fulfilling the requirements for first trimester
biochemical screening.

HERAKLION, Greece and BRUSSELS, July 17 -- Do you feel you have the competence
to be one of the Experts advising ENISA? The European Network and Information
Security Agency, i.e. the EU Agency ENISA, is launching the call for new members
to its Permanent Stakeholders’ Group (PSG)
(http://www.enisa.europa.eu/pages/03_03.htm). The PSG advises the Executive
Director in e.g. drawing up a proposal for the Agency’s work programme,
and all issues related thereto.

Games2Win, an online game company, today announced the launch of Apollo 11: Mission to the Moon, which recreates the historic mission to the moon, without the mind-numbing terror of knowing you were sitting on top of a mess o' solid rocket fuel protected by nothing except parts contracted out to the lowest bidders. The game’s release is schedule to coincide with, and  commemorate, the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s success on July 20, 1969.

"Apollo 11: Mission to the Moon" is what the vendor calls a "free-to-play Flash game" and you can find at http://www.games2win.com/ap1.   The game play mimics pretty small parts of the first manned mission to land on the moon (without the mind-numbing terror of knowing you were sitting on top of a mess o'  ...

A lunar geochemist at Washington University in St. Louis says that there are still many answers to be found in moon rocks brought back by the Apollo 11 astronauts nearly 40 years ago.   And he's been studying them since then, so he should know.

Randy L. Korotev, Ph.D., a research professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts&Sciences, has studied lunar samples and their chemical compositions since he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin and "was in the right place at the right time" in 1969 to be a part of a team to study some of the first lunar samples.

The Voynich Manuscript : An Enigma, Part #2

It is nearly 100 years since the Voynich manuscript arrived in America.  In that time, not one person or group has managed to decode even a single word of it.

I suggest that decryption of any document requires as much prior knowledge as possible about the physical document, its origin and purpose.  For that reason, I am compiling a background to the Voynich manuscript before any discussion of possible encryption schemes.