Astronomers for the first time recorded the magnetic field of a gamma-ray burst and measured its characteristics. Scientists managed to do this thanks to the Internet. The researchers' work appeared in the journal Nature . Its main essence is given on the Space.com portal. Gamma-ray bursts are powerful bursts of energy with extremely short wavelengths. They can last from a few milliseconds to several hours. Because of their short duration, gamma-ray bursts are very difficult to study.

Publisher Sega will release a new game from the Aliens vs. series. Predator in Europe on February 19, 2010. MCV writes about this with reference to its own sources. It is reported that versions for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC will go on sale simultaneously. Sega representatives have not yet officially confirmed this information. Journalists also did not specify when Aliens vs. Predator will be released in North America.

During the creation of the Russian Technologies state corporation, 50 cases of illegal alienation of state property were recorded. The state corporation itself reported this. spoke about the investigation of these cases Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika when reporting on the results of the inspection of state corporations to the President of the Russian Federation. In particular, Chaika then announced the initiation of 22 criminal cases.

On Wednesday, December 9, German authorities decided to simplify the mechanism for accepting diplomas of higher education obtained abroad, DW-WORLD reports . In this way, the country's leadership hopes to reduce the shortage of qualified specialists caused by both the economic crisis and legal obstacles. The new rules for accepting foreign diplomas will come into force on January 1, 2011.

The management of the Moscow Marriott hotel found and fired an employee who told the program “Man and the Law” about the vacation of Russian football players, the portal “Championat.ru” reports , without indicating the source of information. According to the portal, the Russian Football Union (RFU) is also considering the possibility of terminating the contract with Marriott, where the national team players usually stay before matches.

Based on the results of 2009, Sberbank will increase the volume of sales of gold coins to the population by 34 percent compared to last year. newspaper writes about this The Kommersant . In total, by the end of the year, sales of investment coins by the country's largest financial institution are expected to amount to 6.3 billion rubles. The bank's income from operations with coins has already grown by more than 20 percent to 1.5 billion rubles.

A crocodile named Igor was kicked out of a crocodile farm in the Australian city of Darwin. The Northern Territory News newspaper writes about this on December 10. It is reported that the reason for the expulsion of the crocodile was the murder of two females. Igor, whose length exceeds four and a half meters and weighs 650 kilograms, attacked two other crocodiles in the same nursery and ate them. Farm representatives were unable to name the reasons for Igor’s behavior.

The Lithuanian Seimas approved the country's financial budget for 2010 with a record deficit, REGNUM reports . According to the document, Lithuania's budget deficit for next year is almost 10% of the country's projected GDP. The outcome of the vote was determined by the so-called “golden votes” - deputies from the United Lithuania faction declaring themselves oppositionists. The association has been operating in the Seimas since September 10, 2009.

The NHL club Washington Capitals, for which Russian forward Alexander Ovechkin plays , lost to the Buffalo Sabers with a score of 0:3. Washington hockey players made 35 shots at Buffalo goalkeeper Ryan Miller, but he stopped all the shots. The official website of the NHL reports this. Miller played the 16th shutout of his career. Buffalo ended Washington's six-game winning streak.

Residents of Chelyabinsk write in their blogs and on Internet forums about an unidentified flying object spotted on the evening of December 10. Moreover, a corresponding video has already appeared on the network , which was even shown by a local TV channel. However, what happens in the video shown on TV does not at all correspond to the descriptions of numerous eyewitnesses. Moreover, the video was posted online on December 4th. Here is another video shot by eyewitnesses on a mobile phone.

The UK authorities' decision to introduce a new "super tax" of 50 percent on all bank bonuses has drawn sharp criticism from the country's financiers. The Financial Times writes about this. According to bankers, the new rules, which “violate agreements between government and business,” will only harm the UK, a major European financial center. “Who the hell would want to do business in the British market in such conditions?

The Novosibirsk Aviation Production Association (NAPO), part of the Sukhoi concern, handed over the final batch of modernized Su-24M2 front-line bombers to the Russian Air Force, ITAR-TASS reports . Thus, the Air Force order for the modernization of all Su-24s, placed in 2007, was completed in full. The size of the final batch of upgraded aircraft has not been specified.

Russian swimmers Stanislav Donets, Stanislav Lakhtyukov, Evgeny Korotyshkin and Evgeny Lagunov set a world record in the 4 x 50 meter medley relay. The Russians showed a record result in the qualifying stage of the European Short Course Swimming Championships, which takes place in Turkey. This was reported by the All Sport agency . The Russian team surpassed the achievement set by the Italian team in December 2008. The Russians swam the distance in one minute and 32.08 seconds.

Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, speaking at a meeting with journalists on December 8, criticized the leadership of neighboring Uzbekistan. In addition, as Vremya Novostei reports , he made claims to two cities that are part of Uzbekistan: Samarkand and Bukhara. In his speech, the president noted that in the past he had treated his colleague from Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, well, but subsequently changed his mind.

The weighted average dollar exchange rate at MICEX currency trading at the beginning of the session on December 10 approached the mark of 31 rubles. The American currency rose in price by almost 10 kopecks to 30.6763 rubles. The euro exchange rate on the MICEX also increased by 10 kopecks to 45.1529 rubles. The cost of the bi-currency basket (0.55 dollars and 0.45 euros) amounted to 37.0652 rubles. The ruble against major currencies weakened by another 15 kopecks compared to yesterday.