hTiny Hebrew Bible
hTiny Hebrew Bible
JERUSALEM — Israeli scientists have inscribed the entire Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible onto a space less than half the size of a grain of sugar. The nanotechnology experts at the Technion institute in Haifa say the book was etched on a surface that measures less than 0.01 square inch. They chose the Jewish Bible to highlight how vast quantities of information can be stored on minimum amounts of space. “It took us about an hour to etch the 300,000 words of the Bible onto a tiny silicon surface,” Ohad Zohar, the university’s scientific adviser for educational programs, told The Associated Press. He said the technology will in the future be used as a way to store vast amounts of data on bio-molecules and DNA.
Bomb threat grounds jet
OMAHA, Neb. — A Southwest Airlines flight headed to Connecticut made an emergency landing here after a person who missed the flight made a bomb threat, an airline spokeswoman said Sunday. No explosives were found after the plane landed Saturday night, and the 137 passengers on Flight 1018 continued on to Hartford, Conn., after the unexpected layover of just over three hours, spokeswoman Christi Day said. Day said the passenger who missed the flight made a statement about a bag and then made a bomb threat specific to Flight 1018.
Queen on YouTube
LONDON — Britain’s 81-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, considered an icon of traditionalism, launched her own special Royal Channel on YouTube on Sunday. The queen will use the popular video-sharing Web site to send out her 50th annual televised Christmas message, which she first delivered live to the nation and its colonies Dec. 25, 1957. Buckingham Palace also began posting archive and recent footage of the queen and other royals on the channel Sunday, with plans to add new clips regularly. “The queen always keeps abreast with new ways of communicating with people,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “The Christmas message was podcast last year.”
A plea to kidnappers
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — President Rene Preval asked kidnappers to stop targeting youngsters during a somber holiday address Sunday in this impoverished Caribbean nation. Preval made his plea before handing gifts to 500 disabled children at the national palace in Port-au-Prince. Standing beside Haitian music stars and an aide dressed as Santa Claus, he first implored and then threatened criminals to stop abducting children. “Gangs, for me, please give the kids a chance,” he said. “If you don’t give the kids a chance, [the police] will make you.” Although the total number of abductions is down from previous years, Haiti has suffered a spate of kidnappings in the run-up to the holiday season. At least 41 people have been kidnapped since Nov. 1 as criminals seek money for Christmas gifts. Many of the victims are children, seized by gangs or abducted by relatives. The country is still reeling from the case of a 7-year-old boy who was killed and mutilated last month after his parents could not pay a $680 ransom.
Ex-suspect: I wanted trial
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — A former suspect in the disappearance in Aruba of American teenager Natalee Holloway told a Dutch newspaper he regretted that he was not formally prosecuted for any crime. Dutch teen Joran van der Sloot, 20, was rearrested in Aruba in November for a new interrogation about Holloway’s disappearance in 2005. But public prosecutors on the island closed their investigation Dec. 18, saying they believed Holloway was dead but they did not have enough evidence to prosecute van der Sloot or two other former suspects.
Associated Press