Space shuttle Discovery took off at 7.43 PM EDT (2343 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida, after a day full of anticipation over the much delayed mission.

In 2003 the discovery of a new type of particle, a Pentaquark, was heralded with a great fanfare. Within two years, however, follow-up experiments had failed to find it. Belief in the existence of a pentaquark has since dwindled, but what was the reason for the apparent contradictory results? Physicists at the University of Glasgow think they have now resolved the problem.

University of Exeter archaeologists have discovered a Roman fort in South East Cornwall. Dating back to the first century AD, this is only the third Roman fort ever to have been found in the county. The team believes its location, close to a silver mine, may be significant in shedding light on the history of the Romans in Cornwall.

The galaxy has much in store and it shares its secrets with us step by step. This time is not an exception.

Under the auspices of the Academic Divisions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and Science Times, a selection of China's 10 most significant developments in science and technology in 2007 was recently made in Beijing. Some 540 Members of CAS and CAE took part in the voting. Its results were released on Jan. 20.