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THE Hubble space telescope has been taken offline with all observations halted until further notice. The Nasa team behind the $1.5billion contraption said that it was placed into "safe mode" at 4pm ET (9pm GMT) on Sunday due to a software bug. The telescope, which orbits about 547 kilometers (340 miles) above Earth, is not in danger of shutting down permanently, according to the official Hubble Twitter account. "All science systems appear normal and Hubble is safe and stable," the account tweeted on Monday. "The team is working [on] plans to safely return it to normal science operations." Launched in...

A city official who questioned the outcome of a police investigation into alleged eavesdropping during an audit of the city's botched deal for Cisco Systems equipment said Monday that he is now confident about the police department's findings. He also no longer believes his e-mail messages were intercepted. ``I'm convinced, my staff is convinced: It did not happen,'' said City Auditor Gerald Silva, whose suspicions late last month launched a high-tech criminal probe into whether San Jose's former chief technology officer, Wandzia Grycz, had spied on e-mail exchanges between Silva and City Attorney Rick Doyle. The two men had detected...

Posted on Wed, Jun. 05, 2002 Software glitch overestimated pollution health risks WASHINGTON (AP) - Scientists revising a study of tiny pollution particles from diesel engines and power plants found a computer glitch that might mean less health risk than previously thought and could delay new federal rules. Research by investigators at Johns Hopkins University's biostatistics department indicates the software used for the study of 90 large American cities was overestimating the rise in the typical mortality rate. The study is just one of more than 100 the Environmental Protection Agency is examining as it prepares to issue regulations next...