Author Archives: marcia

What a Rock!

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Surprise! Alien Planet Made of Diamond Discovered

by Nola Taylor Redd, SPACE.com Contributor
Date: 25 August 2011 Time: 02:01 PM ET
This illustration shows the alien planet PSR J1719-1438, where ultra-high pressures caused carbon to crystallize in the remnant of a dead star, forming the extrasolar world. .
This illustration shows the alien planet around pulsar PSR J1719-1438, where ultra-high pressures caused carbon to crystallize in the remnant of a dead star. The planet is made of diamond and orbits a dense pulsing star with a radius smaller than that of our sun.
CREDIT: Swinburne Astronomy Productions

A newly discovered alien planet that formed from a dead star is a real diamond in the rough.

The super-high pressure of the planet, which orbits a rapidly pulsing neutron star, has likely caused the carbon within it to crystallize into an actual diamond, a new study suggests.

The composition of the planet, which is about five times the size of Earth, is not its only outstanding feature.

to read more and see the video, go to:

Comets in the Night Sky

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Comet Double Feature: Comets Elenin & Garradd Now Showing in Night Sky

by Geoff Gaherty, Starry Night Education
Date: 26 August 2011 Time: 10:00 AM ET
Comet Garradd can be seen right now with binoculars in the constellation Sagitta
Comet Garradd can be seen right now with binoculars in the constellation Sagitta

Skywatchers often ask “When’s the next comet?” In fact, if you’re prepared to do a bit of searching, there are always several comets visible in the night sky, including two right now.

Some comets are like old friends, they keep coming back at regular intervals to visit. These are called periodic comets; Comet Halley was the first such comet to be identified, by Edmond Halley back in 1705. It returns to the inner solar system every 75 to 76 years; its last appearance was in 1986 and its next will be in 2061. At present Halley is out just beyond Neptune;s orbit.

Other comets are one-time visitors: they come in to visit us from the Oort Cloud, warm themselves for a few months by the sun, and then head back out to the farthest reaches of the solar system.

to read more, go to: http://www.space.com/12746-comet-elenin-comet-garradd-night-sky-observing-tips.html

History Channel: Increase in UFO Sightings

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UFO Sightings Increase 67 Percent In 3 Years, History Channel Investigates Unexplained Aerial Phenomena

by Lee Speigel, Huffington Post

First Posted: 8/26/11 08:11 AM ET Updated: 8/26/11 10:14 AM ET

Unemployment, gas prices, and fear over global warming aren’t the only things skyrocketing — so are mysterious objects rocketing through the sky.

The Mutual UFO Network — the largest privately funded UFO research organisation in the world — tells The Huffington Post that more people than ever are reporting unidentified flying objects, mostly in the United States and Canada.

“Over the past year, we’ve been averaging 500 sighting reports a month, compared to about 300 three years ago [67 percent],” MUFON international director Clifford Clift said.

“And I get one or two production companies contacting me every week, wanting to do stories on UFOs.”

So far this week, mysterious aerial lights in Laredo, Texas, and Kansas City, MO., lived up to, at least initially, the strict definition of UFOs, namely “Unidentified” Flying Objects.

That, of course, doesn’t mean that little green men are watching us. It’s generally accepted that 95 percent of all sightings are easily dismissed. Some turn out to be conventional aircraft, others are satellites or weather balloons — and then there are the hoaxers with Photoshopped concoctions.

In the case of the Kansas City sighting, the UFOs turned out to be the Army Golden Knights parachuting team, performing a nighttime jump. But the explanation for the blinking light over Laredo is still up for grabs.

However, the remaining 5 percent of all UFO reports aren’t as easily explained. And many of them are reported by commercial and military pilots. These were examined on “Secret Access: UFOs On The Record,” a new History Channel documentary that premiered on Thursday.

WATCH: UFOs OVER KANSAS CITY:

for more and the video, go to:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/26/ufos-pilots-history-channel_n_935847.html

Germany-Czech Border Earthquake Swarm

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Earthquake swarm is hitting the Cheb / Vogtland area on the Chech – Germany border

Last update: August 26, 2011 at 2:29 pm by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniel

 

Lomnicka August 25 earthquake area – Panoramio image courtesy Pavel Sykora – http://www.panoramio.com/photo/476659

Earthquake overview : The Germany-Czech border area has been hit by an earthquake swarm with mainly veryweak quakes, the strongest ones measuring 4.0 and 3.6.

The earthquakes started their sequence on Tuesday

to read more, go to:   http://earthquake-report.com/2011/08/26/earthquake-swarm-is-hitting-the-cheb-vogtland-area-on-the-chech-germany-border/

 

 

10 Year Old Takes on Pipe Line with A Song

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What a 10-Year-Old Did for the Tar Sands

Why a First Nations student from British Columbia is taking on a controversial trans-Canadian pipeline project—through song.

posted Aug 15, 2011

 

Ta'Kaiya photo by Carol Carson

Photo by Carol Carson.

Ta’Kaiya Blaney’s song, “Shallow Waters,” co-written with her music teacher, was among B.C.’s top five finalists for the David Suzuki 2010 Songwriting Contest.

Ten-year-old Ta’Kaiya Blaney stood outside Enbridge Northern Gateway’s office on July 6, waiting for officials to grant her access to the building. She thought she could hand deliver an envelope containing an important message about the company’s pipeline construction. But the doors remained locked.

“I don’t know what they find so scary about me,” she said, as she was ushered off the property by security guards. “I just want them to hear what I have to say.”

The Sliammon First Nation youth put in a great effort learning about environmental issues and the pipeline in particular, and hoped to share her knowledge and carefully crafted words. Enbridge officials said they were unable to provide Ta’Kaiya space or time and failed to comment because the Vancouver office is staffed by a limited number of technical personnel. Their headquarters are located in Calgary.

So Ta’Kaiya stood outside, accompanied by three members of Greenpeace, her mother, and a number of reporters and sang her song “Shallow Waters.” The song’s video has hit YouTube and been viewed more than 53,000 times

to read more and see Ta’Kaiya Blaney sing her song, go to:   http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/what-a-10-year-old-did-for-the-tar-sands

Stephen Colbert’s 3D Head Launch

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Stephen Colbert’s 3-D Printed Head Launched into Space

Samantha Murphy, TechNewsDaily Senior Staff Writer
Date: 18 August 2011 Time: 12:30 PM ET
Stephen Colbert MakerBot

 
Credit: makerbot | Youtube.com

A company specializing in 3-D printers has sent a model of the head of talk show host and space enthusiast Stephen Colbert flying miles high above the Earth.

to see the video, go to:    http://www.livescience.com/15638-stephen-colbert-weather-balloon.html

Rethinking Antibiotics

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Overuse of Antibiotics Is Seen Behind Many Human Ills

Wynne Parry, LiveScience Senior Writer
Date: 24 August 2011 Time: 04:30 PM ET

You were not meant to be alone: The human body contains and is covered in an almost unimaginably large number of microbes. But eradicating them as we do, intentionally and unintentionally, with the prolific use of antibiotics may be harming our health, according to one scientist who studies our minuscule companions.

“Overuse of antibiotics could be fueling the dramatic increase in conditions such as obesity, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, allergies and asthma, which have more than doubled in many populations,” writes Martin Blaser, a professor of microbiology and chairman of the department of medicine at New York University Langone Medical Center.

Humans are sometimes called meta-organisms, because of the sheer number and volume of microbes that share our bodies — living in our guts, on our skin, even in our belly buttons. Evidence is building for the benefits these healthy microbial communities offer us. They help us access nutrients, such as vitamin K, and energy from complex carbohydrates. They deter dangerous infections, and recent evidence indicates they help keep at bay multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune disorders.

Animals, Intuition, & Earthquakes

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Zoo Animals Sensed DC Quake Minutes Before It Hit

Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
Date: 24 August 2011 Time: 01:49 PM ET
african lions sit at the Smithsonian National Zoo
The Smithsonian Zoo’s lions did react to the earthquake, but went back to their routines within minutes of the shaking, while other animals were more irritated by the quake, sending out alarm calls and hiding.
CREDIT: Smithsonian’s National Zoo

People along the East Coast weren’t the only ones to feel the 5.8-magnitude earthquake Tuesday, as zoo animals in Washington, D.C., let it be known they felt the vibrations, zoo officials said.

Some of the animals at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park even shouted alarm calls or ran up trees seconds before the rest of us felt the shaking.

About 5 to 10 seconds before Tuesday’s quake, an orangutan named Kyle and a Western lowland gorilla named Kojo, abandoned their food and climbed to the top of the treelike structure in the Ape House exhibit.

to read more, go to:   http://www.livescience.com/15738-zoo-animals-sense-earthquake.html

Indigenous Rights Law Approved in Peru

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Peru approves ‘historic’ indigenous rights law 24 August

Ashéninka girl in south-east Peru

On Tuesday night, Peru’s Congress unanimously approved a ‘historic’ new law that guarantees indigenous people’s right to free, prior and informed consent to any projects affecting them and their lands.

President Ollanta Humala says he supports consultation, and now has 15 days to sign the bill into law. It is a significant step away from the policies of former Peruvian President Alan Garcia, who vetoed a similar bill.

The ‘Prior Consultation Law’ complies with commitments set out in ILOConvention 169, the only international law designed to protect tribal people’s rights.

to read more, go to:    http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/7618