When the Herschel Space Observatory launches on an Ariane-5 rocket from the Guiana Space Centre, Kourou, French Guiana, in July 2008, astronomers will be able to examine some of the coldest objects in the universe.

Herschel will have the largest mirror of any space telescope — twice the size of the famous Hubble — that will detect the ‘glow’ of spacedust at around -250C, rather than the light from stars.

As well as being able to see star-forming regions very nearby in our own galaxy, it will be able to see galaxies forming when the universe was in its infancy, more than ten billion years ago.

It's the first space telescope to operate in the sub-millimetre part of the spectrum, between the far-infrared and microwaves.

Scientists from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)aboard the research vessel Southern Surveyor returned home today with a collection of coral samples and photographs taken in the Southern Ocean at greater depths than ever before.

Using a remotely operated submersible vehicle the international research team captured images of life found on deep-sea pinnacles and valleys up to three kilometres beneath the Ocean’s surface.

During a three-week voyage, scientists from CSIRO’s Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship and the US collaborated to retrieve examples of live and fossilised deep-ocean corals from a depth of 1650 metres near the Tasman Fracture Zone, south-east of Tasmania.

BERLIN, February 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Berlin-based SOLON AG, one of Europe's biggest manufacturers of solar modules and photovoltaic systems, has strengthened its Group Management Board with effect from February 1, 2008 with the appointment of Anke Hunziger, 43, as CHRO. She joins the existing team of CEO Thomas Krupke, CTO Dr. Lars Podlowski and COO Dr. Gero Wiese. This makes SOLON AG the first TecDAX company to create a position at Management Board level for the Human Resources function, emphasizing the importance of HR management to modern companies.

It isn't time to rewrite the Corpus Hermeticum just yet but a University of Rochester optical scientist has come close - he has used a tabletop laser to turn pure aluminum gold. And blue. And gray. And many other colors. And it works for every other metal tested, including platinum, titanium, tungsten, silver, and gold.

Chunlei Guo, the researcher who a year ago used intense laser light to alter the properties of a variety of metals to render them pitch black, has pushed the same process further in a paper in today’s Applied Physics Letters. He now believes it’s possible to alter the properties of any metal to turn it any color — even multi-colored iridescence like a butterfly’s wings.

LONDON, February 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The MS Society has responded to today's (Friday) sentencing of Robert Cook, who assisted the suicide of his wife, who was suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS).

Jayne Spink, Director of Policy and Research at the MS Society, said: "All too often people with MS at the end stages of their lives do not receive the levels of health and social care they need, reducing the choices open to them and their carers.

"While there have been changes, we are concerned by the continued lack of palliative care at the early stages of a person's MS. Regardless of any future change to the law, people need access to excellent end of life care and support to ensure they have a genuine choice on the issue."

REDMOND, Washington, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Transaction valued at approximately US$44.6 billion in cash and stock;

- Provides 62 percent premium to current trading price for Yahoo! shareholders;

- Combined entity to create a more competitive company while providing superior value to shareholders and better choice and innovation for customers and partners

CHICAGO, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Direct market access to Nordic equities markets and specialist execution now available through Townsend's RealTick execution management system (EMS)

Townsend Analytics (http://www.townsendanalytics.com), a leading provider of multi-broker, multi-asset, multi-region, and multi-route electronic trading solutions for the global capital markets, has added Nordic investment bank SEB (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken) to its international multi-broker network.

MANCHESTER, England, February 1 /PRNewswire/ -- A revolution occurring in the world's electricity supply can help power investor returns even through a recession according to a leading fund manager.

Andrew Moffat, who manages the CIS UK Income with Growth Trust at Co-operative Insurance, believes that companies developing new generation plants in emerging countries such as China and India can continue to grow despite an economic downturn due to rapid growth in demand for power. There are equal opportunities in western countries where ageing infrastructures need to be replaced and environmental legislation continues to bite.

ABBOTT PARK, Illinois, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Improved Medical Benefit Rating Granted for XIENCE V from French Health Authority

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced that it has received reimbursement approval in France for its XIENCE(TM) V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System, the first drug eluting stent to demonstrate clinical superiority over another drug eluting stent in a randomized clinical trial.

NEW YORK, February 1 /PRNewswire/ --

- Acquisition Complements GFI's Hybrid Brokerage Model by Accelerating Electronic Trading Capability

GFI Group Inc. (Nasdaq: GFIG) announced today that it has acquired Trayport, a leading provider of real-time electronic trading software for brokers, exchanges and traders in the commodities, fixed income, currencies and equities markets. Trayport's software is installed on more than 10,000 trading screens worldwide, dealing in over 2,000 different trading instruments and supporting over 50 marketplaces across 15 countries. Trayport, a privately-held company founded in London in 1993, had estimated revenues of 14 million pounds (approximately US$28 million) for their fiscal year ending January 31, 2008.