Cloned bulls to father calves Two cloned bulls are set to become fathers, following a successful experiment in which their semen was used to artificially impregnate cows. The experiment was conducted by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture in conjunction with researchers in Kagoshima Prefecture to determine the ability of cloned animals to reproduce. Twenty-four cows were artificially inseminated in December using the semen from two bulls cloned by researchers in 1998. Pregnancy tests now show that 14 of the cows have conceived. Barring complications, the offspring of the cloned bulls will be born in November or December.
Cloned beef is already on sale in Japanese supermarkets.
Heavyweight satellite to deliberately crash Nasa has confirmed it will deliberately crash an ailing space observatory into a remote area of the Pacific Ocean. The US space agency said the move would avoid a risk that the 17-tonne spacecraft might smash uncontrolled into a populated area. The Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory is still in use despite already exceeding its expected lifespan by four years. In nine years of operation, it detected more than 400 gamma ray sources and over 2,500 gamma ray bursts, powerful celestial explosions that still puzzle scientists. The loss of one of the craft's three gyroscopes prompted Nasa to take the final decision.