Galaxy

Two Baltimore elementary schools will soon be part of a nationwide network using satellite technology to deliver educational programs and link up dozens of schools around the country.Elmer A. Henderson and Pimlico Elementary schools are participating in the "Galaxy Classroom" project, started by California-based Hughes Aircraft Co. and using its satellite communications technology.The non-profit project, which includes 37 schools around the country and one in Mexico, will equip several classrooms in eachschool with computers, televisions, VCRs, fax machines and telephones.

The NFL draft, the most anticipated non-game event in the sports galaxy, begins its roll call of newly minted millionaires today with a startling development that could create a ripple effect through the top portion of the first round. The Houston Texans, holders of the No. 1 choice, signed North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams yesterday, reportedly agreeing to a six-year, $54 million contract. NFL DRAFT Today, noon (rounds 1-3); tomorrow, 11 a.m. (rounds 4-7); ESPN, ESPN2 and NFL Network

An experimental fix that astronauts made in March to the Hubble Space Telescope's broken infrared camera has it working better now than when it was new. Hubble scientists unveiled new images from the camera yesterday and told astronomers meeting in Albuquerque, N.M., that the repairs to the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer have made it 30 percent to 40 percent more sensitive than when it was installed in the orbiting observatory in...

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Steve Sampson, the U.S. national soccer team coach, stiffly criticized yesterday Los Angeles Galaxy defender Danny Pena's refusal to join the squad for its Baltimore exhibition tomorrow.Pena, 29, turned down his first call to join the national team, an invitation most players savor as a rare chance to compete with the game's best and potentially in a World Cup.The player's reason, his team said yesterday, was the Major League Soccer club's intense schedule in the next couple of weeks. The Galaxy will play four games in an eight-day stretch, including two at RFK Stadium in Washington.

An article in last Thursday's Sun on discovery of a super-massive black hole in the galaxy M87 included an incorrect comparison. The speed measurements of gases in M87 were taken at a distance of 60 light years from the galaxy's center. That is equivalent to 15 times the distance from Earth to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri.The Sun regrets the error.WASHINGTON -- Astronomers peering through the Hubble Space Telescope at the core of a giant galaxy 50 million light years from Earth say they have found the first conclusive evidence of the existence of a super-massive "black hole" -- an object with gravity so powerful that it traps everything that comes near, even light.

The cosmic cult comedy of the '70s and '80s, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, began life as a BBC radio show and had a smash afterlife as a novel. Now it comes to the screen as a motormouth of a movie, part irritating, part inspired. Director Garth Jennings got his start in music videos. Maybe that's why it peaks in the opening number: an Esther Williams sing-and-swim done entirely by dolphins. It rivals "Putting on the Ritz" from Young Frankenstein for killing hilarity and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from Monty Python's Life of Brian for offbeat catchiness.

Two scientific teams reported yesterday that they had independently observed what could be the first evidence that some of the invisible, or dark, matter making up much of the mass of the universe exists in the form of stillborn or extremely dim stars at the edges of galaxies.Such objects, known as Massive Compact Halo Objects, or MACHOs, have been hypothesized for years as likely candidates for dark matter. The acronym was chosen to contrast with theories invoking exotic subatomic particles, as yet undiscovered, bearing the name WIMPs, for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles.

PHILADELPHIA -- A team of astronomers claimed yesterday the first definitive detection of objects making up the elusive "dark matter," long believed to lurk between the stars.The speculative dark matter is, by definition, invisible. Therefore, the astronomers from Livermore (Calif.) National Laboratory, along with collaborators from Britain and Australia, used an indirect technique: looking for distorting effects that dark matter would have on the light coming to earth from more distant stars.

Baseball METS: Placed P Matt Ginter on 60-day DL. Recalled OF Victor Diaz from Triple-A Norfolk. Football COLTS: Activated S Bob Sanders. Waived FB Cary Davis. Signed DT Jason Stewart to practice squad. DOLPHINS: Signed RB Leonard Henry to practice squad. Released RB Fred Russell from practice squad. PACKERS: Signed CB Al Harris to five-year contract extension. Released TE Steve Bush. RAIDERS: Activated CB Charles Woodson. Traded DT Chris Cooper to Cowboys for future considerations.