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Moon-Sun Alignment Increases Irene’s Destructive Power Say Scientists
nanopatentsandinnovations.blogspot.com
While residents along the New Jersey and New York coasts rush to the store for batteries and bottled water, scientists at Stevens Institute of Technology are heading to the laboratory to help predict the impact of Hurricane Irene.
At the Stevens Center for Maritime Systems (CMS), ocean researchers manage a large network of submerged sensors throughout the New York Harbor region, from the South Jersey shore to the eastern end of Long Island and north up the Hudson River. This Urban Ocean Observatory combines real-time and historic data with advanced understanding of Read more…
Peaceful Activist Is Banned By Austin Mayor For Stating His Name “Ronnie (TOKE) Reeferseed”
Recently Austin Texas Mayor Lee Leffingwell installed new rules for citizen communication that says a person can’t speak on more that three agenda items per session. Many Austin activists are outraged by this dictatorial new violation of the citizens right to participate in local government. Apparently Mr. Ronnie Reeferseed was outspoken on this issue and was warned not to complain again.
Ancient faults still prove to be powerful
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“Our discussion was interrupted,” Department Chair Chuck Bailey said, “by a motion from the floor.”
All joking aside, even the experts didn’t realize what was going on at first.
“We thought it was construction,” Chancellor Professor of Geology Heather Macdonald said.
However, when the tremor continued for nearly 20 seconds the geologists realized they had a quake on their hands – a major quake. A 5.8 on the Richter scale is significant for the region.
According to reports, the earthquake occurred at 1:51 p.m. and was centered in Mineral, Va., which is about half way between Richmond and Charlottesville. Tremors were felt as far north as Maine.
Bailey, a structural geologist who teaches courses on Virginia geology, is particularly familiar with the area’s seismic activity. Following Tuesday’s event, his expertise was sought out by national and local media.
“This is a once-in-a-century earthquake, anyway you slice it”, Bailey told the Associated Press, adding that quakes of a similar Read more…
Nigerian Radicals Say They Bombed UN Center, Killing 18
SaharaReporters, New York.©
A radical Islamic group in Nigeria says it carried out a car bombing that killed at least 18 people at the United Nations building in Abuja.
Witnesses said a vehicle forced its way past security gates at the sprawling complex and exploded inside the compound at about 11 a.m. Friday .
Rescuers raced to pull bodies and survivors from the rubble.
A spokesman for the radical group Boko Haram telephoned a VOA reporter (Hausa service) in Nigeria and said the bombing “is just the beginning.”
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he did not have exact casualty figures but predicted the toll would be “considerable.”
Mr. Ban told a meeting of the Security Council such “acts of terrorism are unacceptable,” and he warned the bombing signals that militants around the world increasingly view U.N. sites as “soft targets.”
About 400 Read more…
Closest Supernova in 25 Years Is a ‘Cosmic Classic,’ Astronomers Say
The arrow marks PTF 11kly in images taken on the Palomar 48-inch telescope over the nights of, from left to right, Aug. 22, 23 and 24. The supernova wasn't there Aug. 22, was discovered Aug. 23, and brightened considerably by Aug. 24. CREDIT: Peter Nugent and the Palomar Transient Factory
Astronomers have spotted the closest supernova in a generation — and in a week or so, stargazers with a good pair of binoculars might be able to see it, too.
The supernova, or exploded star, flared up Tuesday night (Aug. 23) in the Pinwheel Galaxy, just 21 million light-years from Earth. It’s the closest star explosion of its type observed since 1986, and astronomers around the world are already scrambling to train their instruments on it.
Researchers said they think they caught the supernova, named PTF 11kly, within Read more…
Supermassive black hole swallows star
This illustration released by the journal Nature shows an artist’s conception a surge of X-rays from deep space, which resulted after a black hole tore apart a star. (Amadeo Bachar – AFP/Getty Images) For the first time ever, astronomers say they have witnessed a supermassive black hole devouring a star.
In two papers released Wednesday by the journal Nature, scientists described blasts of radiation so bright and powerful they could only be explained by a luckless, sun-sized star being torn apart by the gravitational forces of a “cosmic monster” — the supermassive black hole.
While scientists say this has happened before, this is the first time they have witnessed the event.
On March 28, a detector on the Earth-orbiting Swift observatory picked up a Read more…
Race is on for new generation of supercomputer
China’s Tianhe-1
BEIJING – Chinese scientists are charting a new roadmap for the country’s independent research into building the fastest supercomputer in 2020.
“China is preparing to work on a supercomputer with a capacity of 100 petaflops by 2015 and try to produce the first exascale computer in 2020,” said Hu Qingfeng, deputy chief designer of Tianhe-1A, one of the world’s top 10 fastest supercomputers.
“We have kicked off the research of some core technologies and manpower cultivation for the plan,” Hu, a professor at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT), told China Daily.
Exascale computing is an attempt by scientists to take computing beyond the current petascale. If achieved, it will represent a thousandfold increase on that scale.
The challenges in core techniques include the performance of Read more…
The Central Banks and Gold
By Doug Hornig
If the mantra of the wise investor is “Buy low, sell high,” then those who run most of the Western world’s central banks must suffer from dyslexia.
These banks sold off their gold reserves for years, right into the teeth of a generation-long bear market. The last year before the sales began – i.e., during which central banks were net buyers of gold – was 1988, when the price of the metal fell from $485/oz. in early January to $410 at year’s end.
From then and right through the end of the century, they continued to sell as gold dropped steadily to its modern low of $250. The banks were in such haste to divest themselves of this disrespected relic – their single tangible asset – that it was deemed necessary to Read more…
Before Hurricane Irene hits, New York planning to shut down transportation system, evacuate areas
Astronaut Ron Garan tweeted this picture of Hurricane Irene from the International Space Station (NASA)The city is planning to shut down the entire transportation system on Saturday in anticipation of Hurricane Irene‘s arrival, officials revealed Thursday.
A mandatory evacuation of all nursing homes in flood-prone areas of the city was also ordered Thursday.
The monster storm is expected hit New York as a Category 1 storm sometime Sunday, barreling in with winds of 90 miles-per-hour and torrential rains.
Mayor Bloomberg said Thursday that it was “very conceivable” that he will order a mandatory evacuation of all low-lying areas of the city by Saturday.
“The storm is predicted to be very dangerous,” the mayor said.
As the storm finished ravaging the Bahamas Thursday and set its Read more…
New digital wiretap Bill – why you should be worried
Australia is one step closer to passing the controversial Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Bill 2011. Picture: Thinkstock Source: Supplied
A NEW “digital wiretap” law that would let police force companies like Telstra to store copies of emails and text messages has come under fire from civil rights advocates.
The Cybercrime Legislation Amendment Bill was passed in the House of Representatives this week after being introduced in June. It will now be debated in the Senate.
The Bill would let authorities issue a “preservation notice” to telco companies forcing them to keep copies of a suspect’s digital communications for up to 90 days while police applied for a warrant to access the data.
It would also extend the scope of existing cyber offences and allow for increased information-sharing between Read more…
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