US Moves to Extradite Polanski

It will push defunct satellites into the atmosphere to burn up

(NEWSER) - Switzerland is on a mean cleaning bender: The fastidious folks at the Swiss Space Center are building a "janitor satellite" that will grab space junk orbiting the Earth and push it into the atmosphere to burn up, the AP reports. The first of these spacecraft, the $11 million "CleanSpace One," is currently under construction and should launch in three to five years, the scientists announced today. More»

It jumps ahead of Tokyo in new rankings

(NEWSER) - A stronger Swiss franc has given residents of Zurich, Switzerland, a distinction they might rather do without: It's now the most expensive city in the world in which to live, according to an Economist survey. It knocked Tokyo out of the top spot:

1. Zurich
2. Tokyo
3. Geneva (tie)
4. Osaka (tie)
5. Oslo
6. Paris
7. Sydney
8. Melbourne
9. Singapore
10. Frankfurt

WikiLeaks founder faces Britain's supreme court

(AP) - Julian Assange took his extradition battle to Britain's Supreme Court today, arguing that sending him to Sweden would violate a fundamental principle of natural law. The two-day hearing is Assange's last chance to persuade British judges to quash efforts to send him to Scandinavia, where he is wanted on sex crimes allegations. The case hinges on a single technical point: whether Sweden's public prosecutor can properly issue a warrant for Assange's arrest. More»

Group set to protest World Economic Forum

(NEWSER) - The Occupy movement has hit Davos ahead of the World Economic Forum, and this time protesters aren't pitching mere tents in the frigid weather. Instead, they're building an igloo village near where the WEF is set to convene, the New York Times reports. The igloos are half as big as a small car and hold two people each; about 50 Occupiers are expected to show. More»

Debate rages over fundamental shift

(NEWSER) - Countries across the globe are divided—and it's only a matter of time. Some, including Britain and China, want to retain a special "leap second" occasionally added to the calendar to keep atomic clocks in line with the Earth's rotation. The US, France, Germany, and others, however, want to ditch the second . The matter is up for debate in Geneva today, the BBC reports, and barring an agreement among 200 countries, it could go to a vote. But "this is not a technical issue, it is more a diplomatic one," says an official with the International Telecommunication Union. More»