Spacecraft with a lasso on top set for launch

(CNN REPORT) If your houseplants look thirsty, you can stick your finger in the soil to see if they need water. But if you want to check the whole planet's moisture level, you need something a bit more high tech.

NASA has just the thing. It's called the Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, satellite. It's currently scheduled to launch at 6:20 a.m. PT (9:20 a.m. ET) on January 29 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The satellite has the largest rotating mesh antenna ever deployed in space.

What killed the Maya? 'Blue Hole' offers clues

Sediment analysis of Belize's Blue Hole indicates that a first-millennium drought may have led to Mayan decline.

Story highlights

• Investigation of Belize's "Blue Hole" indicates drought did in Mayan civilization
• Mayan civilization peaked in middle of first millennium; cities were abandoned by end of era
• "When you have major droughts, you start to get famines and unrest," says researcher

To scuba divers and tourists, Belize's famous "Blue Hole" underwater cave is a wonder, one of the "10 most amazing places on Earth," according to the Discovery Channel.

Japan to build an underwater city

CNN)What would happen if the legend of the Lost City of Atlantis was crossed with the screenplay of Kevin Costner's 1995 hit movie "Waterworld"?

Maybe something like The Ocean Spiral -- an underwater metropolis that generates energy from the seabed and is capable of providing homes and accommodation for 5,000 people.

Sure, such blue-sky thinking may only seem plausible in the world of Hollywood CGI, but this is the futuristic concept proposed by Japanese construction firm Shimizu Corp.

According to literature released by the company, expertise is being sought from Tokyo University, Japanese government ministries as well as energy firms to bring the project to life.

Shimizu also say projects like the Ocean Spiral may be necessary in the future to confront increasing global problems such as rising sea levels and the need to create new, clean energy sources.

Under the sea

CTC Aviation Group Limited

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Our first UK CTC Aviation Careers Event of 2015 will be held at our Crew Training Centre - Southampton on Saturday 31 January 2015.

If you are interested in a career as an airline pilot, this event will prove invaluable for you and your family as you go through your preparations to begin training and kick start your career.

‘Tough little girl,’ 7, survives plane crash that killed her family, braves harsh terrain

A 7-year-old girl walked three-quarters of a mile through rugged terrain Friday night — after surviving a plane crash that killed her father, mother, sister, and cousin.

The child had been aboard her family’s Piper PA-34 heading from Key West, Fla., to their home state of Illinois, but the plane crashed in western Kentucky.

Larry Wilkins of Lyon County says the little girl, who was dressed in a light top and shorts for Florida sunshine, reached his front door after braving some of the “toughest land you’ll ever see in your life” barefooted, in the dark.

Airbus' Beluga: The world's strangest-looking airplane turns 20

(CNN) -- The world's strangest looking airplane is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its first flight this month.

Popularly known as the "Beluga," because of its resemblance to the white Arctic whale, the Airbus A300-600ST (ST stands for Super Transporter) is unique not only in appearance, but also for the essential role it performs in European aviation.

Today, more than 60 flights are performed each week between 11 sites, carrying parts for all of the Airbus programs.

So what's so special about this odd-looking aircraft?

Here's an in-depth look at the A300-600ST.

AirAsia didn’t have permission to fly

JAKARTA, Indonesia— AirAsia didn’t have permission to fly from Surabaya to Singapore on the Sunday morning that Flight 8501 crashed into the Java Sea, Indonesian officials said Saturday.
Shortly after Indonesia’s search and rescue agency said it had detected two large parts of the aircraft on the seabed, transport ministry spokesman J.A. Barata said the airline was only permitted to fly the route on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from late 2014 to early 2015.
“So AirAsia has committed a violation of the route that has been given to them,” Mr. Barata told The Wall Street Journal. He said the company’s flights from Surabaya to Singapore had consequently been suspended on Friday.