BLACKSBURG, Va. : A female student was stabbed to death last night on Virginia Tech's campus, the first killing at the school since a deadly mass shooting there in 2007. The killing triggered a crisis notification system that was revamped after the shooting rampage, beaming an electronic warning about 7:45 p.m. that students should stay in place while police investigated. Students were told about an hour later that they could resume normal activity. A male suspect was taken into custody about 7:10 p.m., according to a university news release. Campus police responding to an emergency call found the man and a knife they believe was used at the scene, a cafe in the Graduate Life Center. Both the victim and the suspect are graduate students at Virginia Tech, and police believe they knew each other, the school said.
Md. scientists win pact to lead study of moon
Maryland scientists have won a $6.9 million NASA contract to lead a four-year study of the north and south poles of the moon. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory will head a consortium of 30 scientists and engineers from across the country, including the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. The teams will use data from past, present and planned lunar missions to study the scientific potential and engineering challenges that robots and human explorers will encounter when NASA returns to the moon in coming decades. Many scientists believe the moon's poles could hold water and minerals that would help sustain a permanent base.
