News briefs: December 21
Posted: Sat, Dec 22, 2001, 10:15 AM ET (1515 GMT)
- Integral Systems announced Friday that it is acquiring Newpoint Technologies, a New Hampshire developer of satellite and terrestrial network systems. Newpoint will continue to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Integral.
- Giant arcs of hot gas in a distant galaxy could be the aftermath of a "cycle of violence" triggered by gas falling into a supermassive black hole, astronomers said this week. The arcs of gas, with temperatures approaching 10 million degrees, extend 25,000 light-years in the elliptical galaxy NGC 4636.
- Astronaut Mike Massimino will carry an unusual item with him into space when he flies on the shuttle Columbia early next year on STS-109: a New York Mets baseball jersey. Massimino, a lifelong Mets fan, was given the jersey by veteran relief pitcher John Franco. "Coming out of the bullpen sometimes, I feel like I'm in space," Franco told the New York Times.
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