NASA's Spitzer tries to unravel mysterious comet explosion
Washington, Oct 15 ANI: NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has deeply observed comet Holmes to find out why it suddenly exploded in 2007. Observations taken of the comet by Spitzer deepen the mystery, showing oddly behaving streamers in the shell of dust surrounding the nucleus of the comet. The data also offer a rare look at the material liberated from within comet Holmes' nucleus, and confirm previous findings from NASA's Stardust and Deep Impact missions."The data we got from Spitzer do not look like anything we typically see when looking at comets," said Bill Reach of NASA's Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. "The comet Holmes explosion gave us a rare glimpse at the inside of a comet nucleus," he added. Every six years, comet 17P/Holmes speeds away from Jupiter and heads inward toward the sun, traveling the same route typically without incident. However, twice in the last 116 years, in November 1892 and October 2007, comet Holmes exploded as it approached the asteroid belt, and brightened a million-fold overnight. In an attempt to understand these odd occurrences, astronomers pointed NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope at the comet in November 2007 and March 2008. By using Spitzer's infrared spectrograph instrument, Reach was able to gain valuable insights into the composition of Holmes' solid interior. In November of 2007, Reach noticed a lot of fine silicate dust, or crystallized grains smaller than sand, like crushed gems. "Comet dust is very sensitive, meaning that the grains are very easily destroyed," said Reach. "We think the fine silicates are produced in these violent events by the destruction of larger particles originating inside the comet nucleus," he added.When Spitzer took spectra of the same portion of the comet again in March 2008, the fine-grained silicate dust was gone and only larger particles were present. "The March observation tells us that there is a very small window for studying composition of comet dust after a violent event like comet Holmes' outburst," said Reach.According to Jeremie Vaubaillon, a colleague of Reach's at Caltech, pictures snapped from the ground shortly after the outburst revealed streamers in the shell of dust surrounding the comet.Scientists suspect that they were produced by fragments escaping the comet's nucleus after the explosion. When Spitzer imaged the same streamers in March 2008, they were surprised to find them still pointing the same direction as five months before, even though the comet had moved and sunlight was arriving from a different location. "We have never seen anything like this in a comet before. The extended shape still needs to be fully understood," said Vaubaillon. ANI
2008-10-15 03:00:00Green belt protest goes to London
Campaigners opposing the government's plans to build new homes in the former Avon area hand in a petition to Downing Street. ...
2008-10-07 10:22:35Judo black belt Putin shows off moves in DVD AP
AP - Vladimir Putin is out on video as a judo master. Russian state-controlled media already have shown the powerful prime minister at the wheel of massive racing truck, shirtless on a fishing excursi...
2008-10-07 08:45:07ST. PETERSBURG
INT41International/SportsLearning judo with Vladimir PutinSt. Petersburg, Oct 7 RIA Novosti Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has presented his judo tutorial video, 'Learning Judo with Vladimir Putin,' here.The instructional video released Tuesday is a supplement to a judo manual, co-authored by Putin, with the same title that has so far been published in 12 countries. "Authors Vladimir Putin, Vasily Shestakov, and Alexei Levitsky give a complete history of judo, from its origins in Japanese jujitsu through its development into an Olympic sport, including Russia's contributions to the art," was how the Random House publishers described the book upon its release in the US in 2004. "The title is an advertising gimmick," Putin, who turns 56 Tuesday, admitted at the presentation. "Naturally, those people who watch the video will learn from Japanese sportsmen - the true masters - and Russian world champions and Olympic medal winners," he said. Yasuhiro Yamashita, a Japanese world and Olympic judo champion, took part in the making of the video. The video has four parts. In the first part the Russian prime minister, a black belt in judo, speaks of the history of judo and the basic principles of the martial art. "The name of the sport, 'the gentle way', reveals the fundamental principle - an opportunity to gain the upper hand by soft, but effective actions," the prime minister says on the video. In the second part, the prime minister demonstrates some holds and throws. In mid-September, in an interview with the Le Figaro newspaper, Putin said he would practice judo training with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "He is interested in martial arts and we have decided to do some training together," the Russian prime minister said. --RIA Novostidkg/dg315 Words07101507
2008-10-07 06:02:09Man seriously scarred in attack
A man is left permanently scarred after he was seriously assaulted with a belt in Glasgow city centre....
2008-10-06 06:10:20Cipriani puts club before country
England fly-half Danny Cipriani tells BBC's Inside Sport he will not think about an England return until he has games under his belt for Wasps....
2008-10-06 03:21:08Sharpest whole-planet picture of Jupiter obtained
Munich, Oct 3 ANI: New image-correction technique in an instrument on the ESO's European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope VLT has delivered the sharpest whole-planet ground-based picture ever of Jupiter.The series of 265 snapshots obtained with the Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics Demonstrator MAD prototype instrument mounted on ESO's VLT reveal changes in Jupiter's smog-like haze, probably in response to a planet-wide upheaval more than a year ago.Being able to correct wide field images for atmospheric distortions has been the dream of scientists and engineers for decades. The new images of Jupiter prove the value of the advanced technology used by MAD, which uses two or more guide stars instead of one as references to remove the blur caused by atmospheric turbulence over a field of view thirty times larger than existing techniques."This type of adaptive optics has a big advantage for looking at large objects, such as planets, star clusters or nebulae," said lead researcher Franck Marchis, from UC Berkeley and the SETI Institute inountain View, California, USA. "While regular adaptive optics provides excellent correction in a small field of view, MAD provides good correction over a larger area of sky. And in fact, were it not for MAD, we would not have been able to perform these amazing observations," he added.MAD allowed the researchers to observe Jupiter for almost two hours on 16 and 17 August 2008, a record duration, according to the observing team.Using MAD, ESO astronomer Paola Amico, MAD project manager Enrico Marchetti and Sebastien Tordo from the MAD team tracked two of Jupiter's largest moons, Europa and Io - one on each side of the planet - to provide a good correction across the full disc of the planet. "It was the most challenging observation we performed with MAD, because we had to track with high accuracy two moons moving at different speeds, while simultaneously chasing Jupiter," said Marchetti.With this unique series of images, the team found a major alteration in the brightness of the equatorial haze, which lies in a 16,000-kilometer 10,000-mile wide belt over Jupiter's equator.More sunlight reflecting off upper atmospheric haze means that the amount of haze has increased, or that it has moved up to higher altitudes. "The brightest portion had shifted south by more than 6,000 kilometers nearly 4,000 miles," explained team member Mike Wong. "The change we see in the haze could be related to big changes in cloud patterns associated with last year's planet-wide upheaval, but we need to look at more data to narrow down precisely when the changes occurred," declared Wong. ANI
2008-10-03 23:00:00BSF foils infiltration bid in Jammu
Jammu, Oct 3 ANI The Border Security Force BSF has shot dead a militant trying to infiltrate into India from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir under cover of Pakistani firing last night.According to official sources, a group of three to four militants entered into Indian territory along the international border in Kunara Tana Khurd forward area in R S Pura belt of Jammu district.BSF troops fired back resulting in a gunfight. One intruder was shot dead, while the others escaped back to Pakistan area's Ditch cum bandh DCB.There was no loss of life or damage on the Indian side in the firing incident.On October 1, BSF troops foiled an infiltration bid along international border at Tent Post in Kanachak sub-sector of Jammu district as Pakistani rangers opened small arms firing on the post to push in a group of militants.Earlier on September 27, Pakistani Rangers opened fire on Chak Fagwari Border Out Post BOP along the International Border in Pargwal sub-sector of Jammu frontier, which was also foiled by BSF. ANI
2008-10-03 23:00:00New robotic repair system will fix ailing satellites
INT23International/Science/TechnologyNew robotic repair system will fix ailing satellitesToronto, Oct 3 IANS Researchers are working on a new robotic system to service more than 8,000 satellites in orbit, beyond the flight range of ground-based repair operations. Currently, when the high-flying celestial objects malfunction - or simply run out of fuel - they become "space junk" cluttering the cosmos."These are mechanical systems, which means that eventually they will fail," pointed out electrical and computer engineering professor Michael Greenspan, who leads the Queen's project. But because they are many thousands of kilometres away, the satellites are beyond the reach of an expensive, manned spaced flight, while Earth-based telerobotic repair isn't possible in real time. Greenspan's solution is the development of tracking software that will enable an autonomous space servicing vehicle ASSV to grasp the ailing satellite from its orbit and draw it into the repair vehicle's bay. Once there, remote control from the ground station can be used for the repair, he explains. "The repair itself doesn't have to be done in real time, since everything is in a fixed position and a human can interact with it telerobotically to do whatever is required."The Queen's team is now working to develop the ASSV with the aerospace company MDA McDonald-Detweiller Associates Space Missions, which earlier built the Canadarm and has been responsible for all Canadian systems in the International Space Station, according to a Queen's release. Computer vision is the main technical challenge of grasping the satellites, Greenspan continued. Since these objects circle the globe in "geosynchronous" orbit, their speed is synchronised with the Earth's rotation. The robotic system must recognize the satellite first, then determine its motion and match that motion before grabbing it.Due to the harsh illumination conditions in space, conventional video cameras are of limited use. The preferred sensor is a form of light-based radar called LIDAR, which provides a set of 3D points that accurately measure the surface geometry of the satellite.The Queen's team, which includes graduate students Limin Shang, Babak Taati and Michael Belshaw, has developed software that allows such a system to identify a satellite, determine its position and finally track it in real time, using this specialized range data. Another potential, terrestrial application of their findings is in the area of "flexible" manufacturing, said Greenspan. Using vision systems and algorithms, objects can be recognised and tracked as they go down a conveyor belt or assembly line."Once you can do that, automated manufacturing systems can interface much more flexibly with the objects," he noted. "The result will be a much easier and more cost effective manufacturing process."--Indo-Asian News Servicest/dg469 Words03101339
2008-10-03 04:05:10'Kidnap' stars, cricketers walk the ramp for Provogue
BUS8Business/Fashion/Lifestyle'Kidnap' stars, cricketers walk the ramp for ProvogueNoida, Oct 2 IANS A range of corporate, party and casual wear and an array of accessories were on view as the star cast of the Bollywood movie "Kidnap" - Imran Khan, Minissha Lamba, Vidhya Malvade - joined cricketers Chetan Sharma, Craig McMillan, Rohan Gavaskar and Shane Bond to set the ramp ablaze for fashion brand Provogue's autumn/winter collection.The evening also saw composer Sanjeev Vyas perform live the super hit track "Mit Jayee" from the movie at the Spice Cinema in this Delhi suburb Wednesday in what was a unique double: a fashion show and a movie promotion."This is a mélange of Bollywood and fashion like never before," "Kidnap" director Sanjay Gadhvi said at the event.The collection had a classy, sophisticated and smart "Regain Reclaim" men's line that featured jackets, party wear, t-shirts, corporate wear, casual wear and inner wear in a variety of hues like grey, yellow, blue, white and black. Apart from this, a wide variety of accessories like belts, wallets, eye wear and ties were also part of the collection.For women, luxury, glamour and style were the key to the "Glam Hollywood" collection. The line had mini skirts, tunics, t-shirts, skinny jeans and long gowns in hues of purple, green and grey. Talking about the cocktail of fashion and entertainment, Spice group and Spice Enfotainment B.K. Modi said: "Entertainment is one of the fastest growing areas of business and we are at the threshold of a new opportunity.""We plan to capitalise on every important emerging opportunity, leveraging resident knowledge in various sectors," he added.The Provogue brand was launched in 1998 since then has been in the business of designing, manufacturing and selling readymade garments for men and women, as also a range of accessories.Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan and Esha Deol are the brand ambassadors for the apparel, while model-turned actor Upen Patel performs the role for the accessories. Initially, actor Fardeen Khan and Katrina Kaif were its brand ambassadors. --Indo-Asian News Serviceshi/vm/dg 365 Words02101452
2008-10-02 05:02:08
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