Russia’s rearmament program, official in 2006 for a period until 2015, offers supply modern weapons to its armed forces. One of which is the Su-34 Fullback fighter-bomber, which will replace the Su-24 Fencers.

The process has already started, but some say the replacement is taking too long.

The new fighter-bomber is said to be very excellent. An improvement on the Su-27 Flanker, it has cutting-edge equipment, including a modern crew and equipment protection system. The Su-34 is effective against personnel and military hardware on the battlefield and also against targets behind enemy lines, and can also be used for surveillance and against naval targets.

Airbus has recently announced a price increase across its range of aircraft. The company cited rising metal prices and the weakness of the US dollar as reasons. The list prices of single-aisle planes will rise $2M, while wide-body, long range and A380 aircraft will jump up $4M on top of the annual rise of 2.74%.

The average price for an A380 is $327.4M. An A320 is about $76.9M. Prices paid for aircraft vary, depending on the specifications and the deal reached by the airline.

The Cassini spacecraft was the first orbiter to study planet Saturn in detail and has been in orbit around Saturn for almost four years. In 2005, the European Space Agency’s piggybacked Huygens probe plunged through Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, and was the first probe to land on the moon’s surface. Cassini-Huygens had shown birdseye and ground-level views of Titan, an Earth-like world which features river valley networks and lakes filled with hydrocarbons. Cassini has discovered water-ice geysers spewing from Saturn’s smaller moon, Enceladus, and has detected five new moons and observed a very dynamic ring system.

Joe Burns, a Cassini imaging scientist at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York and a guest co-curator of the American Museum of National History, will feature an exhibition on April 26, 2008 of the best images of Saturn. Burns stated:

“We are excited to have the opportunity to show these breathtaking photographs to the broader public in one of the world’s greatest science museums.”

Burns, along with colleagues at Cornell University and on the Cassini project, have been collaborating with museum curators for the past year on the image selection, scientific captions and exhibit design.

Whether you’re on your way to an important business trip or just any other leisurely flights for vacations, it becomes a nightmare to be seated or be near a crying-not-contented child. It’s known for a fact that toddlers and infants don’t behave the way other people and adults expect them to behave. Excessive noise, screaming, wailing and tantrums blow off the tops of other passengers as well.

Tracy Stewart of Airfarewatchdog.com and the rest came up with an idea to separate the toddlers from the other passengers, if not, have another section on commercial planes that divides the passengers with kids from those who doesn’t have.

Sure, it is going to take a lot of time and effort for such idea to be implemented. For now, here are tips they want to share for short time remedies. 

1. Bring along in-ear headphones, not all airlines have those.
2. Try to sit near the exit rows. Tots can’t sit in exit rows; you’ll be sure no little feet kick your seat.
3. Take early morning flights available. Only few parents can manage to organize, bathe, dress up and feed infants and toddlers in time to catch early morning flights.
4. Speak up. Talk to the guardian of the offending child, politely but firmly. This doesn’t work all the time, nearest to your last resort is to upgrade your seat.

And if all else fails, it leaves you no choice but to bear with it.