Microsoft releases a new version of its operating system, called Windows Vista for volume license customers. This represents a two-year delay compared to the original schedule, and happens five years after the release of Windows XP. (BBCNews)
Researchers publish the first estimate for the heat flow out of the Earths core in Science. They use latest experiments on Perovskite phase transitions and earthquake data that shows a lens-shaped layer of this material at a depth of about 2,900 km (1,740 mi). (Spaceref.com)
An analysis of human DNA is published in the journal Nature that shows a much larger variation between individuals than was expected. (BBCNews)
An international consortium signs a deal formally launching ITER, a project to develop an experimental nuclear fusion reactor. (BBC News)
Scientists publish results from the first successful partial reconstruction of nuclear DNA from a Neanderthal fossil bone, that is about 38,000 years old. (BBCNews)
Sun Microsystems announces the release of its Java technologies under the GNU General Public Licence by March 2007. (BBCNews)
The full genome of the California purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) is published and contains many novel genes, but also many analogues to those found in vertebrates. (BBCNews)
NASA's Cassini spacecraft records a hurricane-like storm on the south pole of Saturn which is the first time such an event has been observed on another planet. (ABC News Australia)
Contact with the Mars orbiter Mars Global Surveyor is lost. The spacecraft, originally on a two-year mission, just passed its 10th anniversary of its launch. (SpaceRef)
The journal Science publishes a study predicting the collapse of commercial fisheries in 2048, due to overfishing, pollution and other environmental factors. (BBCNews)(WaPo)
November 2006 in science Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
