Nasa spots 'empty hole' in space

The Herschel Space Observatory has made a major finding - a hole in space. The telescope, which was launched almost exactly a year ago by the European Space Agency, spotted a gaping hole in the clouds surrounding a batch of young stars, states Computerworld.

The dark spot, or hole in space, is actually a gap in a 'nest' of gas and dust containing fledgling stars, according to Nasa.

"No one has ever seen a hole like this," said Tom Megeath of the University of Toledo, Ohio, in a statement. "It's as surprising as knowing you have worms tunnelling under your lawn, but finding one morning they have created a huge, yawning pit."

An EU-funded project is providing telecommunications operators with a simpler way of upgrading optical telecoms networks directly to 100 gigabit Ethernet (GbE), reports Cordis FP6.

Trials of the technology developed in the 'High-speed electro-optical components for integrated transmitter and receiver in optical communications' (Hecto) project have demonstrated that 100GbE networks can be deployed in a simpler capacity than before.

The eight-partner project, which kicked off in 2006 and has just concluded, aimed to develop photonic components, particularly transmitters and receivers for high-performance, high-speed and cost-efficient communication systems.

After dramatically reducing the cost of the technology used in hydrogen fuel-cell cars, Toyota believes it will be able to produce its first hydrogen-powered car within the next five years, says The Independent.

At about $50 000, the vehicle that hits the road will still not be cheap, the head of the company's advanced vehicles division has told reporters in California, but it will mark a major step forward in the fight against emissions of greenhouse gases.

Yoshihiko Masuda said the first model will be a sedan that has a driving range that is equivalent to a car powered by conventional gasoline, but that it will have "some extra cost".