TUESDAY, September 16, (News Locale) - Morbidly obese patients are advised gastric bypass surgery as a last resort to lose unwanted weight. However if these individuals have diabetes, the surgery may not help much, according to a new study.

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London, September 26 (ANI): A sophisticated X-ray camera made by scientists and engineers from the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is set to launch into space on October 22nd aboard the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft - India's first mission to the Moon.

The camera - C1XS - was designed and built at STFC Space Science and Technology Department in the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

It is an X-Ray Spectrometer that will measure X-rays to map the surface composition of the Moon which will help scientists to understand its origin and evolution, as well as quantifying the mineral resources that exist there.

C1XS was developed in conjunction with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

It employs new technology to make a compact, lightweight, sensitive instrument that can measure the abundances of chemical elements in the lunar surface, by detecting the X-rays they absorb and re-emit.

C1XS will work by looking at X-rays from the Sun, which have been absorbed by atoms in the lunar soil, then re-emitted in such a way as to reveal the chemistry of the surface.

The spectrometer is sensitive to magnesium, aluminium and silicon X-rays.

When the solar X-ray illumination is bright, for example during a solar flare, it may also be able to make measurements of other elements such as iron, titanium and calcium.

To make accurate measurements of the surface elements it is essential to measure the X-rays being produced by the Sun. C1XS has an additional detector system to measure these X-rays called the X-ray Solar Monitor (XSM), which is provided by the University of Helsinki Observatory, Finland.

Chandrayaan-1 is the first lunar mission from the Indian Space Research Organisation.

It is designed to orbit the Moon and carries radar and particle detectors as well as instruments that will make observations in the visible, near infrared and X-ray part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

According to Dr Ian Crawford from Birkbeck College, who chairs the C1XS Science Team, "There is still a lot we don't know about the Moon. Accurate maps of the surface composition will help us unravel its internal structure and geological history."

"Among other things, this will help us better understand the origin of the Earth-Moon system. We will also be able to learn more about what happened on the Moon since it formed and how and when it cooled. By peering into its craters, we may even be able to see below its crust to the material underneath," he added. (ANI)

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Washington, Oct 1 (ANI): Janet Jackson was discharged "a few hours" after being admitted to Royal Victoria Hospital on Monday, her rep has said.

The R and B star was taken to the hospital on Sept 29 after she "got suddenly ill during the sound check" prior to her scheduled concert in the city.

"Yesterday evening she was checked into the Royal Victoria Hospital and left a couple of hours later," People quoted Rebecca Burns, the spokeswoman for the McGill University Health Centre, which operates the hospital, as saying.

However, Burns refused to divulge any details on the singer's condition, under patient confidentiality rules.

The singer's publicist also released a brief statement claiming that Jackson "is recuperating," but did not reveal her ailment.

Meanwhile, Jackson's shows scheduled for Oct 1 in Boston and Oct 2 in Philadelphia have been scrapped. However, she is expected to be back on stage for her Rock Witchu trek on Oct 4 in Greensboro, N.C.

A source close to boyfriend Jermaine Dupri revealed that Jackson has complained of exhaustion.

"A 42-year-old body can't handle what a 22-year-old body can. I can tell you that she's definitely tired. It was probably exhaustion. She is doing back-to-back, three-hour shows, and her body isn't the same as it used to be," said the source.

However, Dupri was spotted in New York City partying at Patron's Music in Motion Tour featuring TI at Marquee, on the same night that Jackson was rushed to the hospital.

"If [Janet's condition] was more serious he would've rushed to her side," added the source. (ANI)

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Washington, October 5 (ANI): A bone fragment possibly belonging to missing air-adventurer Steve Fossett may not identify the aviator.

The two-and-a-half-inch long fragment, allegedly human, was found amidst the wreckage of Fossett's plane and has been sent for forensic investigation.

"When you find a bone fragment, there's no way to know, until you give it to a forensic lab, whether it's human or animal," Wired News quoted Erica Stuart, a spokeswoman for the Madera County Sheriff's Department, as saying.

"We won't know until it's analysed," she added.

The bone reportedly belonging to Fossett, who was legally declared dead in February this year, was found by the investigators after a hiker spotted his pilot's licence and ID cards.

National Transportation Safety Board's acting chairman Mark Rosenker had reasoned Fossett's death from a 'high-impact crash which appears to be consistent with a non-survivable accident.'

Though Rosenker revealed that genetic analysis would determine the origin of the bone, some forensic scientists could not guarantee it.

Anthony Falsetti, Director of the University of Florida's human identification laboratory, said: "The passage of time is going to be the greatest problem in this case.

"He's been dead for thirteen months, and that bone has been sitting out, subject to the weather, to anything that could happen to that bone from an animal or the environment."

It is possible that condensation, temperature fluctuations and distress by scavengers might have damaged the bone's DNA making it difficult to identify it with samples from Fossett.

However, if the forensic investigators are able to match the bone's DNA with that of Fossett, it would then dismiss raised speculations that the millionaire balloonist might have faked his own death to avoid paying devastatingly heavy debts. (ANI)

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