science and technology

Microsoft's relationship with Apple never has been cozy but the release of Office 2008 seems to have solidified the two and their working relationship for the foreseeable future.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Many solar scientists expected the new sunspot cycle to be a whopper, a prolonged solar tantrum that could fry satellites and raise hell with earthly communications, the power grid and modern electronics.But there's scant proof Sunspot Cycle 24 is even here, let alone the debut of big trouble.

Federal courts appear to have done what relentless green lobbying could not in more than seven years: rein in what critics call a de facto deregulation of the environment by President Bush's administration.The courts by and large have rejected Bush's bid to significantly rewrite America's bedrock conservation laws, particularly the Clean Air Act.

WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn. -- Armed with precision lasers, routers, microprocessors and a tangle-some array of wires, students scrambled recently to finish cheeky robots that mix cocktails, shoot dirt, draw faces and more at Century College's Fabrication Lab, one of just 28 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) manufacturing labs around the globe.

The death toll in last week's earthquake in China could reach 150,000, largely because it hit near cities where buildings aren't quake-proof, a Colorado geologist says.Roger Bilham, who specializes in global earthquake habits, has been predicting that sooner or later there is going to be a direct hit on a major city that will kill 1 million human beings.

Defying the odds, a Mars-bound spacecraft named Phoenix is headed toward a landing this month on the planet's icy north polar surface to search for evidence that liquid water and chemicals crucial for life existed there long, long ago.

Computer users now can fly through the universe, viewing stars, planets and celestial bodies as an astronomer would, with Tuesday's introduction of the Worldwide Telescope by Microsoft.The virtual service combines images and databases from every major telescope and astronomical organization in the world.

A couple of my tidbits from last week generated some questions, so I want to hit those before we move on to some product reviews in the coming weeks.Q. You suggested installing Service Pack 3 for Windows XP but then I read that it was causing computers to endlessly reboot. Should I install it on my Dell laptop or not?

SALT LAKE CITY -- For years, paleontologists have puzzled over strange markings etched into dinosaur fossils.

Imagine wearing a shirt with fibers containing a special material that, when set into motion, generates electricity.Thus, a simple stroll down the street might generate enough power to run, say, a portable music player.This is one of many possible results from the study of tiny particles -- "nano" particles.