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GRB 090423 - the most distant known object in the Universe

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:57:01 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: via chestnut501 http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/B59F45DC-4C41-47C7-8E47-E06B1F83D4EB/

Clip Source: www.star.le.ac.uk

In this week's edition of the science journal Nature, two international teams of astronomers report their observations of the most distant object yet seen in the Universe. Dubbed GRB 090423, the record-breaker is an example of a gamma-ray burst, the brightest and most violent explosions known to exist. The explosion is thought to accompany the catastrophic death of a very massive star as it ended its life, and is triggered by the centre of the star collapsing to form a black hole.

"This observation allows us to begin exploring the last blank space on our map of the Universe", said Professor Nial Tanvir, who led one of the teams.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Nature press notice

GRB 090423 background FAQ

Figures from paper

Tags: astronomy, nature, science, universe

The Next Space Race: Elevator Rides Into Orbit

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:06:31 GMT

clipped by: xpersianx

Clip Source: www.fastcompany.com

Remember how the Ansari X-Prize resulted in the nascent commercial space trip business, with Virgin Galactic in the lead? Now there's a similar push to innovate space technology, but of a different sort: Space elevators, making the ride into orbit amazingly cheap and easy.

If you haven't heard about space elevator technology, its name pretty much explains how it works. A cable is strung between a launch point and a geostationary satellite in orbit, dangling all the way up from the ground through the atmosphere into space. Elevator cars will then ride up and down the cable, powered by ground-fired laser beams, and ferrying equipment and personnel into space without all the expense, fuss and risk of a rocket launch. When they become technically feasible, they'll make access to space about as simple and easy a task as driving a car, and they'll drop the costs of launching satellites by an extraordinary amount--completely transforming how we think about space travel.

Hence the Space

Phantom Town?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:34:00 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

View Larger Map Argleton on Google Maps

The world's eyes are focused on a small village called Argleton just off the A59 near Ormskirk, Lancashire. Camera crews have been dispatched. "Argleton" is fast becoming a popular hashtag on Twitter. There is even talk of merchandising opportunities.

The reason for all the interest is simple: Argleton doesn't actually exist. It is a phantom village that appears on Google Maps. You can search online for Argleton's local weather forecast (10C yesterday), property prices (not much for sale at the moment) or for the number of a local plumber, but in reality the village's coordinates point to little more than a muddy field.

Tags: google, maps, argleton

Altruism Comes Easy for Toddlers

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:50:33 GMT

clipped by: chestnut501
clipper's remarks: Psychologists think such ingrained altruism has evolved as a consequence of our species' dependence on group living for survival.

Clip Source: bps-research-digest.blogspot.com

Surely one of the most charming sights is of an adult struggling to reach an object, only for a toddler to pick up that object and hand it to the adult, as research has shown they so often will.

Psychologists think such ingrained altruism has evolved as a consequence of our species' dependence on group living for survival.

Sixty 18-month-old infants were shown eight photos of

two dolls standing together side by side

another version featured

two dolls facing away from each other

After they'd been shown these photos, another experimenter walked over to the infants and dropped a bunch of pens

Amazingly, the infants who'd seen the photos with the companionable dolls in the background were three times as likely as the other infants to help the experimenter by spontaneously picking up one or more sticks and handing it to the experimenter.

even in infancy, a mere hint of affiliation is sufficient to increase helping."

Tags: science, sociology, altruism, helping, interdependence

Goldman Sachs Get Priority Access to H1N1 Vaccine

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:30:29 GMT

clipped by: chestnut501
clipper's remarks: Why?

Clip Source: act.credoaction.com

This is beyond outrageous. Pregnant women and children with respiratory problems struggle to get access to scarce doses of the H1N1 vaccine. But according to NBC News, bankers at Goldman Sachs enjoy a stockpile of 200 doses of the vaccine -- the same as allotted to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York

With hospitals, schools and community health clinics in desperate need of the H1N1 vaccine, it's unconscionable that Wall Street can just cut in line and secure scarce doses for bankers.

Goldman Sachs received over $1 billion in taxpayer bailouts during the financial meltdown. But that's not all. It was the single-largest recipient of taxpayer money in the AIG bailout, receiving almost $13 billion once AIG's positions were unwound.

And now, analysts predict Goldman Sachs could give its bankers as much as $23 billion in bonuses, while the rest of country struggles through the jobless "recovery."

Tags: politics, health, u.s., bailout, vaccine, swine-flu, banks, bonuses

UNEMPLOYMENT TOPS 10 %

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:39:42 GMT

clipped by: kareval
clipper's remarks: The jobless rate rose to 10.2 percent from 9.8 percent in September. The jump reflects a sharp increase in the tally of unemployed Americans, which rose to 15.7 million from 15.1 million. That was much larger than the net loss of jobs, which is based on a survey of businesses. Economists say it could climb as high as 10.5 percent next year because employers remain reluctant to hire. Friday's report is the first since the government said last week that the economy grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter, the strongest signal yet that the economy is rebounding. But that isn't fast enough to spur rapid hiring, raising the specter of a jobless recovery. "You need explosive growth to take the unemployment rate down," said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist for New York-based investment firm Miller Tabak & Co. Greenhaus said the economy soared by nearly 8 percent in 1983 after a steep recession, lowering the jobless rate by 2.5 percentage points that

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Unemployment Rate Tops 10 Percent as 16 Million People Look for Jobs

The Labor Department says the economy shed a net total of 190,000 jobs in October, less than the downwardly revised 219,000 lost in September.

WASHINGTON -- Nearly 16 million people can't find jobs, the Labor Department said Friday, pushing the unemployment rate over 10 percent for the first time since 1983.

The Labor Department said Friday that the economy shed a net total of 190,000 jobs in October, less than the downwardly revised 219,000 lost in September. August job losses were also revised lower, to 154,000 from 201,000.

But the loss of jobs last month exceeded economists' estimates. It's the 22nd straight month the U.S. economy has shed jobs, the longest on records dating back 70 years.

Counting those who have settled for part-time jobs or stopped looking for work, the unemployment rate would be 17.5 percent, the highest on records dating from 1994.

National Association of Retired Democrats

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:03:56 GMT

clipped by: ColoradoRight
clipper's remarks: Yet another reason why my parents have never joined this bunch

Clip Source: newsbusters.org

Far be it from NewsBusters to support more government social-program spending. Still, my antennae went up when I heard AARP's Nancy LeaMond dismiss a half-trillion in Medicare cuts as mere "scalpel" wielding. LeaMond, AARP Exec. VP, made her blithe statement while defending her organization's endorsement of ObamaCare to Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe today.

Which made me wonder: just who is Nancy LeaMond? Click, Wikipedia, click: whaddayaknow? Turns out that before coming to AARP, LeaMond was a senior Clinton administration appointee and a top Dem congressional staffer. Surprise, surprise!

She began her career as the Chief of Staff to U.S. Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar. On March 18, 1993 she was nominated by President Clinton to serve as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for Congressional Affairs. She served as Chief of Staff to [Clinton admin] U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky.

Tags: aarp

Paintings-2008

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:13:26 GMT

clipped by: Mohiul

Clip Source: www.behance.net

Oldest Preserved Spider Web Dates Back to Dinosaurs

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:26:17 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend
clipper's remarks: The new discovery is the first example of an amber fossil from the early Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs like spinosaurs and psittocosaurs roamed the Earth.

Clip Source: www.wired.com

The world’s oldest known spider web has been discovered on a beach in Sussex, England, trapped inside an ancient chunk of amber.

Scientists found the rare amber fossil in December, and have now confirmed that it contains remnants of spider silk spun roughly 140 million years ago by an ancestor of modern orb-weaving spiders. After slicing the amber into thin sections and examining each piece under a high-powered microscope, the researchers discovered that the ancient silk threads share several features common to modern spider webs, including droplets of sticky glue used to hold the web together and capture prey.

Tags: amber, cretaceous, spider, web, dinosaurs

Poll: Huge majority doesn't want Democrats' health care bill

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:35:03 GMT

clipped by: billpar
clipper's remarks: Yet they persist with the same stupid bill. Talk about Audacity... The Blue Dogs would be stupid to follow... Would they be counted in the unemployment stats since they have benefits for life?

Clip Source: www.washingtonexaminer.com

Poll: Huge majority doesn't want Democrats' health care bill

a new CNN/Opinion Research poll shows that an overwhelming majority of those surveyed -- 72 percent -- want Congress either to make major changes, start over from scratch, or simply stop working on health care legislation. Just 26 percent want Congress to pass the current health care proposal as is, or with minor changes.

the White House released a statement today saying that he strongly supports the House Democrats' health care bill.

Tags: healthcare, politics

1 Million Spiders Make Golden Silk for Rare Cloth

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:23:59 GMT

clipped by: Fast T friend
clipper's remarks: Peers came up with the idea of weaving spider silk after learning about the French missionary Jacob Paul Camboué, who worked with spiders in Madagascar during the 1880s and 1890s. Camboué built a small, hand-driven machine to extract silk from up to 24 spiders at once, without harming them.

Clip Source: www.wired.com

To produce this unique golden cloth, 70 people spent four years collecting golden orb spiders from telephone poles in Madagascar, while another dozen workers carefully extracted about 80 feet of silk filament from each of the arachnids. The resulting 11-foot by 4-foot textile is the only large piece of cloth made from natural spider silk existing in the world today.

“Spider silk is very elastic, and it has a tensile strength that is incredibly strong compared to steel or Kevlar,” said textile expert Simon Peers, who co-led the project. “There’s scientific research going on all over the world right now trying to replicate the tensile properties of spider silk and apply it to all sorts of areas in medicine and industry, but no one up until now has succeeded in replicating 100 percent of the properties of natural spider silk.”

Tags: spiders, silk, golden, weaving, madagascar

Pic of the day : Smith’s Green-Eyed Gecko

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:02:21 GMT

clipped by: xpersianx

Clip Source: photography.nationalgeographic.com

Staying in Asia for many years has given me the opportunity to get close to wildlife on many occasions. This female Smith's green-eyed gecko chose to live on one of the chalets next to my home, taking advantage of the insects attracted by the lights at night.

Police Sgt. Kim Munley: Hero @ Fort Hood

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:59:26 GMT

clipped by: Antara
clipper's remarks: She was so brave!!

Clip Source: atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com

This is poetic justice. The jihadi mass slaughterer was taken down by a ... woman! Think about that. Let's blast that shiz through the caves of Tora Bora.
That's the real story. It should be wall to wall on Al Jizz.

It would have been much worse had she not responded.

Name Kim Munley

Location Killeen, TX

I live a good life....a hard one, but I go to sleep peacefully @ night knowing that I may have made a difference in someone's life.

http://twitter.com/hope2forget30

Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley credited with ending Fort Hood gunman Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's rampage

The hero cop who ended the bloody rampage at Fort Hood had been directing traffic moments before she confronted the gunman and pumped four bullets into him despite being shot herself.

Munley, who had been trained in active-response tactics, rushed into the building and confronted the shooter as he was turning a corner, Cone said.

"It was an amazing and an aggressive performance by this police officer," Cone said.

Tags: kim munley, fort hood massacre, hasan, courage

The DailyKos reaction to the Fort Hood shooting

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:17:01 GMT

clipped by: clip-on-tie
clipper's remarks: How do you get this stupid? You have to work hard at it. You have to wake up everyday and carefully consider what you will listen to and what you will have to stare at with an expression of blank incomprehension to remain this dense. And then you need to go on the Daily Kos and write misconceptions about those who disagree with you politically. It’s almost scary to see people this willfully stupid and this angry, This is a screenshot. I don't want links to Kos in my clips.

Clip Source: www.copytaste.com

Tags: idiots, sickening, disgraceful retards

Heroine: Sgt. Kimberly Munley Female Fort Hood Officer

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:35:36 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: We're just so grateful and thankful to the Lord that she's safe," Barbour said. "Our hearts just ache for the loss of others, too, and hers, too. She's still upset about that." A message left by The Associated Press at the Barbour home was not immediately returned. Lt. Gen. Bob Cone, the base commander, said Munley and her partner responded within three minutes of reported gunfire that left 13 dead and 30 wounded. "She happened to encounter the gunman. In an exchange of gunfire, she was wounded but managed to wound him four times," Cone said. "It was an amazing and aggressive performance by this police officer." Munley's father, Dennis Barbour, is a former mayor of Carolina Beach. The coastal town is about 15 miles south of Wilmington. Wrightsville Beach Police Chief John Carey said Munley, who worked for the force from 2000 to 2002 before moving away from the area, was a petite officer who worked well with others. "She was a very personable officer. She got along....

Clip Source: www.chron.com

CAROLINA BEACH, N.C. — The stepmother of the police officer who shot an Army psychiatrist suspected of the Ford Hood killing spree said Friday the woman's heroics are not surprising.

Wanda Barbour told The Star-News of Wilmington she knew Sgt. Kimberly Munley was involved when she heard a female Fort Hood officer had shot and wounded Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, ending the bloodletting on the Texas base.

"When they said a female officer, a little part of me just knew," Barbour told the newspaper before heading to Texas with her husband. "She is a very great person with a great spirit."

Munley arrived at the shooting scene Thursday and began firing at Hasan, who spun and charged at her with a gun in each hand, authorities said.

Munley's superior, Chuck Medley, told The Associated Press that Munley shot Hasan in the upper torso, stopping him even though she was shot in both thighs and a wrist.

The 34-year-old officer was reported to be recovering and in stable condition Friday.

Tags: first responding officer, hasan shot her four times, heroine stopped killing rampage, in stable condition, sgt kimberly munley