October 24, 2012

Hyperfast stars point to black hole slingshot at the center of our milky way galaxy

By Ray Villard
Discovery News
October 24, 2012

-snip-

In 1940, a young blue star was found amongthe ancient stars inhabiting the vast halo of our Milky Way. It is barreling through the halo at speeds several times faster than the staid halo population. Astronomers firsthypothesized that a runaway star was in a binary system and ejected though some sort of gravitational interaction with a third star entering the system, or perhaps propelled by a supernova explosion. In 1988 the gravitational slingshot effect from the galaxy's central black hole was hypothesized as the propulsion source.

In recent years, more of these so-called hypervelocity stars have been found zooming far away from our galaxy. In a survey of the northern sky five especially bright short-lived hypervelocity stars have been identified. They are all under 200 million years old. But if these wayward stars were ejected from the diskofour galaxy theywould be randomly distributed on the sky. Instead theyare found farabove the galaxy’s northern pole and clustered in a patch about 1/8th the area of the northern sky.

A supermassive black hole "launcher" is the simplest explanation because the concentration suggests that the hypervelocitystarsfollow an escape trajectory, perhaps perpendicular to the plane of stars encircling the black hole. If this is true, then a survey of the southern sky for high velocity stars should uncover a mirror-image concentration on the sky.

Researchers propose that every 10,000 years our supermassive black hole knocks a hypervelocity star out of the ballpark. An idea is that one star in a binary system near the black hole loses momentum and falls toward the black hole. This momentum is transferred to the binary companion that is then accelerated to escape velocity from our galaxy. The single giant black hole propulsion theory is supported by observations that show the stars seem spaced sequentially, like a series of fired cannonballs.

More: http://news.discovery.com/space/hyperfast-stars-point-to-black-hole-slingshot-121024.html

October 24, 2012

Deadly fighting rages in Libya's Bani Walid

Al Jazeera
October 23, 2012

At least three people have been killed and seven more injured in fighting in the northern Libyan town of Bani Walid.

The casualties come as clashes continue in the town of 85,000 residents, a former stronghold of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Libyan soldiers have been fighting Gaddafi loyalists in the beseiged town for more than three weeks. But troops blame officials for not providing enough equipment or supplies to win the battle.

"We have nothing," Field Commander Mohamed Hetwash told Al Jazeera. "We don't know why. The problem is all the people here are under the administration of the minister of defence - and we buy the weapons, we buy the water, we buy the food, by ourselves. Rich people in Tripoli buy the food for us - the minister is absent."

More: http://aje.me/Tv62bh

October 23, 2012

Rebels battle Assad's forces for gateway to north Syria

Source: Reuters



By Mariam Karouny
October 23, 2012

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels are battling to seize an army base close to the main north-south highway and say its capture would be a big step towards creating a "safe zone" allowing them to focus on Bashar al-Assad's southern strongholds.

For two weeks they have surrounded and attacked Wadi al-Deif, east of the town of Maarat al-Numan. They say the ferocity of counter-attacks by government forces shows how important holding the base is to the president's military strategy.

Assad is fighting an insurgency that grew out of protests 19 months ago and has escalated into a civil war in which 30,000 people have been killed. His overstretched army has lost swathes of territory and relies on air power to keep rebels at bay.

If Wadi al-Daif fell to rebels, who already control northern border crossings to Turkey, Assad would be dependent on a single land route - from the Mediterranean port of Latakia -to supply his forces fighting to win back Aleppo, Syria's biggest city.

Read more: http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAF

October 23, 2012

Armstrong stripped of Tour de France titles

The International Cycling Union (UCI) strips Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and bans him for life.



Al Jazeera
October 22, 2012

Cycling's governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), has agreed to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and ban him for life.

UCI President Pat McQuaid announced on Monday that the federation accepted the US Anti-Doping Agency's report on Armstrong and would not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

McQuaid said: "Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling."

On what he called a "landmark day for cycling", McQuaid said that Armstrong had been stripped of all results since 1 August, 1998 and banned for life.

More: http://aje.me/PLXZWa

October 23, 2012

AP EXCLUSIVE: FRANCE TO SEND DRONES TO MALI REGION

Source: AP

BY Jamey Keatan
October 22, 2012

PARIS -- France will move surveillance drones to West Africa and is holding secretive talks with U.S. officials in Paris this week as it seeks to steer international military action to help Mali's feeble government win back the northern part of the country from al-Qaida-linked rebels, The Associated Press has learned.

France and the United Nations insist any invasion of Mali's north must be led by African troops. But France, which has six hostages in Mali and has citizens who have joined al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, is playing an increasing role behind the scenes.

Many in the West fear that northeast Mali and the arid Sahel region could become the new Afghanistan, a no-man's-land where extremists can train, impose hardline Islamic law and plot terror attacks abroad. And France, former colonial ruler to countries across the Sahel, is a prime target.

"This is actually a major threat - to French interests in the region, and to France itself," said Francois Heisbourg, an expert at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a partially state-funded think tank in Paris. "This is like Afghanistan 1996. This is like when Bin Laden found a place that was larger than France in which he could organize training camps, in which he could provide stable preparations for organizing far-flung terror attacks."

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FRANCE_MALI?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-10-22-17-12-39

October 22, 2012

"I think there's only so many people that can take care of themselves,

and can take care of other people. And the rest of the people … they're useful in terms of compost for the whole planet, you know."

- Bill Murray

October 22, 2012

If there's a more reductive, demeaning political maneuver than "trying to appeal to women,"

I can't think what it is. You 155,000,000 ladies all feel the same about every issue, right? It's a vagina thing.

- Awesome Facebook quote

October 21, 2012

Feds OK live bomb to be planted in Jersey City

Feds reject request to reconsider OK of $857 million natural-gas pipeline for NJ/NY

Terrence T. McDonald
The Jersey Journal
October 18, 2012

The federal agency that in May green-lit Spectra Energy’s controversial proposal to build a natural-gas pipeline in parts of Hudson County has denied the city’s request that the agency reconsider its earlier decision.

The move is a setback for Jersey City and pipeline opponents, who are left with only one more option to stop the $857 million plan: a lawsuit filed in federal court.

Today’s decision is also a blow to Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who has made the pipeline fight a top priority of his administration.

Healy has vowed to initiate the federal lawsuit that now is the only avenue left for the city to stop the project. In a statement, Healy said the city expected today's decision.

More: http://mobile.nj.com/advnj/pm_31086/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=gjPZnU4g&rwthr=0

This is what happened down the way in Edison, NJ:



Some info on this:

Chesapeake signs on to ship with Spectra’s new pipeline

Pipelines International
January 6, 2010

Spectra Energy’s proposed 26 km pipeline will ship gas from Chesapeake Energy’s Marcellus Shale production to serve the growing natural gas market in metropolitan New York.

The new pipeline will extend from Spectra’s existing metering and regulating station at Staten Island through Bayonne and Jersey City to Manhatten.

Spectra’s New Jersey – New York expansion project also includes the replacement of 8 km of existing 12 inch and 20 inch diameter pipelines with a single 42 inch diameter pipeline from a compressor station at Linden to Staten Island, the construction of three new metering and regulating stations in Morris County and Jersey City as well as modifications to existing compressor stations.

Spectra’s expansion project will increase the capacity of its existing Texas Eastern and Algonquin Gas Transmission pipelines to 800 MMcf/d of gas. Cheseapeake is the largest capacity holder with a commitment of up to 425 MMcf/d of gas.

The expansion is expected to be in service by the end of 2013.

More: http://pipelinesinternational.com/news/chesapeake_signs_on_to_ship_with_spectras_new_pipeline/009366/

How you can help: http://nogaspipeline.org/

October 21, 2012

Careful With The Laser Pointer, It Could Put You in Prison

By Earic Limer
Gizmodo
Oct 21, 2012

Laser pointers are no joke, and neither is shining them at planes. You may recall that the FBI recently set up a national laser attack task force, and they aren't kidding around. One laser-happy moron just got sentenced to 18 months in prison.

56-year-old Robert Bruce Jr of Virginia Beach had a habit of shining lasers at Navy pilots because the noise they were making pissed him off. Surely he'll be more comfortable in prison, and during the three years of probation due to follow his sentence. He's not the only one either. A Las Vegas man was sentenced to eight months, and a Florida man got six. Bruce's 18 months might seem like a lot, but he was actually up against a possible 100 years.

So let that be a warning that this is serious business, for the folks in the air and the morons on the ground. Don't be an idiot; they'll put you in prison for it.

More: http://gizmodo.com/5953538/careful-with-the-laser-pointer-it-could-put-you-in-prison

October 21, 2012

Libyan Turmoil Persists Year After Gadhafi Death

The Associated Press
October 20, 2012

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — On the anniversary of the capture and killing of Moammar Gadhafi, Libya is still grappling with the legacy of his four decades of rule as the interim government and the dictator's former spokesman engaged in a war of words amid the ongoing chaos.

The Libyan government said Saturday its forces had detained Gadhafi's high profile spokesman Moussa Ibrahim, but an online recording from a man purporting to be Ibrahim denied that claim and said he wasn't even in the country.

The conflicting reports, neither of which could be independently verified, reflect the turmoil that has persisted over the past year, leaving the oil-rich North African nation deeply divided. Tensions have spiked as rival forces battle over the city of Bani Walid.

Bani Walid, some 140 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of Tripoli, was the last major city in Libya to fall to the uprising, thanks in part to its protected location in a valley near the mountains. Over the past year, it has seen periodic violence and emerged as the most significant town in Libya still resisting the country's new authorities since Gadhafi was slain near his hometown of Sirte last year.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/10/20/world/middleeast/ap-ap-ml-libya.html?ref=world