India and the US are to conduct joint research experiments..

What are they trying to research?

no idea. Just saw this on the bbc website.

Here's the article.

India and US to explore the Moon

India is also considering a manned mission to the Moon
India and the US are to conduct joint research experiments on the Moon.
Under an accord between the countries' space agencies, India's first unmanned lunar mission will carry two scientific payloads from the US agency, Nasa.

Indian officials called the deal a "milestone". The Indian spacecraft is due to be launched in early 2008.

The Nasa instruments will scan the Moon's surface for minerals and ice. Devices from the European Space Agency and Bulgaria will also be on board.

The deal is being seen as another sign of increasingly close ties between Washington and Delhi after years of Cold War suspicion.

Earlier this year, the two countries finalised a landmark deal on civilian nuclear co-operation.

The US and India have also agreed to co-operate in civil space, including areas such as space exploration, satellite navigation and Earth science.

'Partnership'

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman Madhavan Nair signed the agreement with Nasa chief Michael Griffin in the southern Indian city of Bangalore.

"Today is an important milestone in the co-operation between Nasa and Isro," Mr Nair told reporters.

Mr Griffin said the pact was "an important partnership to advance the exploration of the Moon".

"The two-year mission of Chandrayaan-I to map the lunar surface and investigate its surface properties will advance knowledge about the Moon's history and evolution, and inform future exploration decisions by characterising the content of the lunar soil," he said.

This was the first visit by a Nasa chief to India in 30 years. The US imposed an embargo on Isro, following India's nuclear tests in 1998.

Mr Nair urged the US to lift certain sanctions that are still in place and allow more high-tech imports.

'No seats'

Chandrayaan-I would be launched in early 2008 from Sriharikota on India's east coast, Mr Nair said.

The European Space Agency (Esa) will also deploy four scientific instruments aboard the spacecraft, which will orbit the Moon at a distance of 100km (62 miles).

On the subject of a manned Indian mission to the Moon, Mr Nair said no decision had been taken.

And asked whether the US might fly an Indian astronaut on one of its space shuttles, Mr Griffin said "we can train but we don't have any seats for the next eight years".


It kinda sounds like they are going up to look at the moon, and to prove that we are all friends. That's worth it, I guess.

Moonies and Earthlings have been friends for quite a while I believe.

Here's another article that was on the site.

A confidential Ministry of Defence report on Unidentified Flying Objects has concluded that there is no proof of alien life forms.

In spite of the secrecy surrounding the UFO study, it seems citizens of planet Earth have little to worry about.

The report, which was completed in 2000 and stamped "Secret: UK Eyes Only", has been made public for the first time.

Only a small number of copies were produced and the identity of the man who wrote it has been protected.

His findings were only made public thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, after a request by Sheffield Hallam University academic Dr David Clarke.

The four-year study - entitled Unidentified Aerial Phenomena in the UK - tackles the long-running question by UFO-spotters: "Is anyone out there?"

The answer, it seems, is "no".

The 400-page report puts it like this: "No evidence exists to suggest that the phenomena seen are hostile or under any type of control, other than that of natural physical forces."

It adds: "There is no evidence that 'solid' objects exist which could cause a collision hazard."

So if there are no such things as little green men in spaceships or flying saucers, why have so many people reported seeing them?

Well, here is the science bit.

"Evidence suggests that meteors and their well-known effects and, possibly some other less-known effects are responsible for some unidentified aerial phenomena," concludes the report.

"Considerable evidence exists to support the thesis that the events are almost certainly attributable to physical, electrical and magnetic phenomena in the atmosphere, mesosphere and ionosphere.

"They appear to originate due to more than one set of weather and electrically charged conditions, and are observed so infrequently as to make them unique to the majority of observers."

People who claim to have had a "close encounter" are often difficult to persuade that they did not really see what they thought they saw. The report offers a possible medical explanation.

"The close proximity of plasma related fields can adversely affect a vehicle or person," states the report.

"Local fields of this type have been medically proven to cause responses in the temporal lobes of the human brain. These result in the observer sustaining (and later describing and retaining) his or her own vivid, but mainly incorrect, description of what is experienced."

There are, of course, other causes of UFOs - aeroplanes with particularly bright lights, stray odd-shaped balloons and strange flocks of birds, to name but a few.

Yet, it will be difficult to convince everyone that there is a rational explanation for all mysterious movements in the sky.

Some UFO-spotters believe governments will always cover up the truth about UFOs, because they are afraid of admitting that there is something beyond their control.

It is not clear how much time and effort the MoD has spent looking at the skies in recent years, but it appears there are no plans for an in-depth UFO report like the one written in 2000.

A MoD spokesperson said: "Both this study and the original "Flying Saucer Working Party" [already in public domain in the national Archives] concluded that there is insufficient evidence to indicate the presence of any genuine unidentified aerial phenomena.

"It is unlikely that we would carry out any future studies unless such evidence were to emerge."


Any conspiracy theorist out there care to comment?

"no proof of alien life forms" ?

I'm devastated.

Yes, it's comforting that in such a brief time they've explored the entirety of the cosmos.