Adults in Washington state will be able to smoke marijuana legally when it is officially decriminalized Thursday, even though the Justice Department has offered no guidance on the conflict with federal drug laws.
Prosecutors throughout the state have begun dismissing hundreds of misdemeanor marijuana cases, according to authorities there, and state and local police are being retrained to arrest drivers who are high and allow adults to light up in their homes.
KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait's Shiite minority candidates appeared Saturday set to win around 15 seats of the 50-member parliament in the polls boycotted by the Sunni-dominated opposition, their biggest ever tally.
Early results suggested Shiite candidates winning seats in all of the five constituencies, including as many as eight of the 10 seats in the first district, with half of its population being Shiites.
Kuwaiti Shiites, who form around 30 per cent of Kuwait's native population of 1.2 million, held seven seats in the previous scrapped parliament and nine MPs in the 2009 assembly.
All five candidates fielded by the National Islamic Alliance, the largest Shiite political group, won their seats, also the group's biggest win.
Shiites have defied calls by the Kuwaiti opposition to boycott the election and voted in large numbers.
Official results of the Kuwaiti election are expected within hours.
The opposition said that voter turnout was only 26.7 per cent, the lowest turnout at any Kuwaiti parliamentary elections.
- AFP/fa
BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Saturday that voting inside the parliament would decide as to who is in favour of national interest and who is working for international interests.
"The government feels that their responsibility is to safeguard the interest of international market mafias instead of national interest and for saving the interest of international market mafias, the government is ready to compromise with national interests. Now, the parliament will decide as to who is in support of international market mafias and who are supporting national interests," said Naqvi.
The government's decision to allow foreign supermarket chains such as Wal-Mart had triggered protest not only from opposition parties but also from some of its allies.
BJP had sought debate on the issue of allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the retail sector, under the rule that entails voting after discussions.
Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister Office (PMO), V Narayanaswamy said the government would answer all the queries raised by the opposition parties in the parliament and will explain the benefits of allowing FDI in retail sector.
The lower house of parliament has set December 04 and 05 as the date to vote and debate on FDI. The dates for the upper house are yet to be decided.
Narayanaswamy said the government is confident of becoming victorious in the debate.
Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
A spectacular natural phenomenon was on display early this week as lava from a vent in Hawaii's Kilauea volcano flowed into the ocean, sending up plumes of steam as it made contact with the waves.
Though lava can still be viewed from Kalapana near the Big Island's Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, ocean entry is no longer occurring, according to the National Park Service.
Published November 30, 2012
Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
The lava traveled 7 miles (11 kilometers) from Kilauea’s Pu'u O'o vent to the ocean. When lava reaches the water, it cools and hardens, forming a lava delta that can be dangerous to nearby onlookers, according to Reuters.
The news service reported that no communities on the Big Island were threatened by the lava flow.
Published November 30, 2012
Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
A burst of volcanic activity erupts from Kilauea’s crater in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on November 27.
The volcano has been erupting continuously for nearly 30 years. No major damage has been suffered by a town since 1986, according to Reuters.
Published November 30, 2012
Photograph by Hugh Gentry, Reuters
“Ocean entries are beautiful but dangerous,” said Janet Babb, spokeswoman for the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, in a statement reported by Reuters. She warned that the steam could be more hazardous than it appears.
Published November 30, 2012
Photograph by Matt Northam, My Shot
A plume of smoke billows where lava from Kilauea meets the sea in this aerial photo taken November 27.
Published November 30, 2012
Photograph by Peter Vancoillie, Your Shot
Published November 30, 2012
Jovan Belcher, a linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, committed suicide today in front of his coaches and police officers outside the team's stadium, shortly after he fatally shot his girlfriend, police said.
"We heard that they had been arguing in the past [and] as far as recently, they'd been arguing before the shooting occurred this morning," Kansas City Police spokesman Darin Snapp told ABC News Radio.
The victim was identified Kasandra Perkins, 22. Snapp said the couple had lived together and had a 3-month-old daughter.
A woman first alerted police this morning that her daughter had been shot by her boyfriend, who was a Kansas City Chiefs player, Snapp said. Police initially believed the woman was Perkins' mother, but later learned she was Belcher's mother, who lived with the couple to help care for their daughter and according to family members felt extremely close to Perkins.
It is believed Belcher drove to Arrowhead Stadium shortly after the shooting and police were called.
"When the officers arrived, when they were pulling up, they actually observed a black male who had a gun to his head and he was talking to a couple of coaches out in the parking lot," Snapp said. "As officers pulled up, and began to park, that's when they heard the gunshot and it appears the individual took his own life."
Snapp said the coaches told officers they didn't feel they were in any danger from Belcher.
"They said the player was actually thanking them for everything they'd done for him," he said. "They were just talking to him and he was thanking them and everything. That's when he walked away and shot himself."
Kansas City is scheduled to host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, and the league has told the Panthers to go ahead with their travel plans because the game will be played as scheduled.
In a statement posted on their website, the Chiefs said they are "cooperating with authorities in their investigation" and did not mention Belcher by name.
The 6-foot-2, 228-pound linebacker joined the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009, and had spent all four seasons of his career with the team. He has played every in game since joining the team.
Originally from West Babylon, N.Y., where he was a three-time all-America wrestler in addition to playing on the football team, Belcher went undrafted out of the University of Maine, where he started all 45 games in which he played.
Maine Head Football Coach Jack Cosgrove described Jovan as a "tremendous student-athlete."
"His move to the NFL was in keeping with his dreams," Cosgrove said in a statement released by the university today. "This is an indescribably horrible tragedy. At this difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with Jovan, Kasandra and their families."
Belcher signed with the Chiefs as a rookie free agent, started 15 of 16 games his second season and last year started all 16 games as left inside linebacker.
Belcher expressed gratitude for his NFL career in an article posted on Nov. 21 on the Chiefs' website that has since been taken down.
"First and foremost, God. Family and friends just keeping me focused, coaches and just everyone," he said.
NEW YORK: The euro surged against the dollar Friday, topping the $1.30 level before giving back most of the ground to end only slightly higher.
At $1.2982 at around 2300 GMT, it was still the European currency's best level in five weeks, finishing up from $1.2978 late Thursday.
There was little news to provoke any firm moves, and analysts said the euro could move lower next week as the Greek bond buyback program opens and the European Central Bank sees more room from a lower inflation rate to ease monetary policy.
"With five major central bank interest rate decisions on the docket for the following week, the European Central Bank may have the largest impact on the currency market as headlines surrounding the debt crisis continue to drag on investor confidence," said David Song of DailyFX.
"As the EU prepares to release the details of the Greek bond buyback program, there's speculation that the ECB will provide further monetary assistance to alleviate the downside risks for the economy."
In addition, he added, with inflation on a trajectory to fall below 2.0 percent, "the central bank may show a greater willingness to lower the benchmark interest rate further."
The Japanese government's pre-election announcement of a new 880-billion-yen ($10.7 billion) stimulus package sent the yen lower.
The euro pushed to 107.07 yen from 106.58 yen, and the dollar gained to 82.48 yen from 82.10.
In other currencies, the dollar gained slightly to 0.9280 Swiss francs, and the British pound slipped to $1.6015, from $1.6043 Thursday.
-AFP/ac
High stamp duty discourages property registration at actual or market value and thereby increases scope of black money in the realty sector.
As per JNNURM norms, stamp duty was to be brought down to 5% or less, including surcharges by local municipal bodies, during implementation of the programme. "It was expected that a reduction in the rate would help develop a healthy real estate market, by providing a boost to the economy, and reduce black money. It was expected that reduction in stamp duty rates would lead to an increase in revenue both for the states and urban local bodies," the report said.
The CAG found that out of 30 states/UTs selected for scrutiny, only 16, including Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan had either 5% or less as stamp duty.
The report mentioned that in the case of Uttarakhand, stamp duty was reduced to 5% for men and 3.5% for women. On the contrary, in Haryana, stamp duty is 7% (5% plus 2% as local body surcharge) for men and 5% for women, including 2% surcharge for local bodies
Photograph by Jim Urquhart, Reuters
His overalls caked in mud, roughneck Brian Waldner wrestles with pipe as North Dakota's new horizon unfolds around him. (Related: "Oil Train Revival: Booming North Dakota Relies on Rail to Deliver Its Crude")
North Dakota, once a sleepy backwater of the petroleum industry, this year surpassed Alaska as the number two oil producer in the United States. The gush of North Dakota crude has helped lift U.S. oil production to its highest level in 14 years, and has the United States on track to regain its spot as the world's top energy producer within five years. (Related: "U.S. to Overtake Saudi Arabia, Russia as World's Top Energy Producer")
It's all due to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a new combination of old technologies that has yielded astounding results. Using high-pressure water, sand, and chemicals, the energy industry has been able to force abundant oil and natural gas production from underground shale formations around the United States. (See interactive, "Breaking Fuel From Rock.")
Controversy abounds over fracking's impact on land, water, and air. But there's no question it has boosted energy resources and local economies. (See Special Report, "The Great Shale Gas Rush")
Nowhere is this more visible in North Dakota, which has the lowest unemployment rate in the United States (3.1 percent.)
As workers labored in October on this True Company rig outside Watford City, North Dakota set a new one-month record for issuance of drilling permits, 370, up tenfold from just five years ago. (Related: "Shale Oil Boom Takes Hold on the Plains")
—David LaGesse
This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.
Published November 30, 2012
Three people are dead after an attack at Casper College, a Wyoming community college, that may have involved a type of bow and arrow.
The college was shut down Friday morning after the attack.
"Emergency Alert: All classes and activities are cancelled today," read a message posted on the school's website.
Initial calls came in just after 9 a.m. reporting a "traumatic injury" on campus, according to a statement provided by local law enforcement to ABC News. Officers found "multiple victims" and the school was immediately placed on lockdown.
Alan Rogers/Casper Star-Tribune/AP Photo
Three people were found dead. One was a Casper College faculty member and another was a suspect who died of "apparent suicide," according to the statement.
The suspect, authorities said, "was not a current student at Casper College and the incident does not appear to be school motivated."
"There were no firearms involved in the crime," they said, "and the victim's injuries were caused by a sharp-edged weapon."
Police told Wyoming station KCWY that one of the victims was stabbed with a "bow-and-arrow-type" weapon.
The school of around 5,000 students is located in Casper, the state's second-largest city. It was founded in 1945, according to the school's website.
Calls to Casper Police Chief Chris Walsh and school spokesman Rich Fujita were not returned Friday afternoon.
The lockdown was later lifted. The school's website said campus travel was "now permitted" and that counselors were available at the school's Gateway Building.
NEW YORK: The euro rose against the dollar Thursday, boosted by hopes that US politicians will find a compromise to avoid the year-end "fiscal cliff" that could jolt the economy into recession.
With investors' appetite for risk whetted, the euro bought $1.2978 at 2200 GMT, up from $1.2939 at the same time Wednesday.
The European unit rose against the Japanese currency, to 106.58 yen from 106.14 yen late Wednesday.
The dollar edged up to 82.10 yen from 82.03 yen.
"Investors want to believe that the full brunt of the US fiscal cliff is going to be somehow averted," said CurrencyThoughts.com.
David Solin at Foreign Exchange Analytics noted that the euro had softened somewhat from earlier highs, citing "some mixed comments from US officials in regards to these negotiations on the fiscal cliff."
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with congressional leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties seeking progress on a deal.
Republican speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner said, after meeting with Geithner, there had been "no substantive progress" in averting drastic tax hikes and spending cuts that take effect in January.
Solin said the risk market remained quite strong as investors believed that lawmakers would forge a longer-term debt-reduction budget to avoid the fiscal cliff.
"It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, they might be underestimating" the situation, he added.
The European currency also found support from the European Commission approving a plan to restructure some of Spain's banks Wednesday, said Nick Bennenbroek at Wells Fargo Bank.
The EC cleared the restructuring of four Spanish banks -- Bankia, Novagalicia, CatalunyaCaixa and Banco de Valencia -- paving the way for Spain to receive 37 billion euros ($48 billion) in aid next month.
The dollar fell against the Swiss currency, fetching 0.9274 francs, compared with 0.9300 late Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the British pound rose to $1.6043 from $1.6013.
-AFP/ac
"The government has agreed to a discussion in both Houses, but five days (in Rajya Sabha) need not have been lost," CPM MP Sitaram Yechury said.
About two weeks ago, Left leaders had announced that they would move notices under Rule 184 in Lok Sabha and Rule 167 in Rajya Sabha that involve voting after discussion on a matter. Yechury signed the notice in Rajya Sabha and his party colleague Basudeb Acharia sent the notice in Lok Sabha seeking the two Houses reject the government's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail.
In an editorial in the latest issue of the party mouthpiece People's Democracy, CPM said Congress allowed disruption of Parliament "to buy time in order to marshal a majority in case they are forced by the opposition to take a vote on the floor of the House" on FDI in multi-brand retail. The Congress-led UPA government has been reduced to a minority after Trinamool Congress withdrew support.
Though the government is quite sure of winning a vote on FDI in Lok Sabha, it is not so confident in Rajya Sabha. If the government wins the vote in one House but loses in the other, it can still go ahead with the decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail as the opinion of the House is not binding on the government.
Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap said, "There may be political embarrassment for the government depending on the language of the notice. But it would not have legal, constitutional or procedural consequences."
Yechury though said if the government has a conscience, it would call a joint session of Parliament as happened for the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), 2002. POTA was defeated in Rajya Sabha but the then NDA government won in a joint session of Parliament.
The CPM also pointed out that amendments to Sections 47 and 48 of FEMA, 1999 to allow FDI in retail must be tabled in Parliament. Under the Constitution, neither the executive (government) nor the judiciary can make or amend laws.
"The sole authority for making laws, or, amending existing laws, is the Parliament. Thus, the decision to permit FDI in retail trade can only be taken by the legislature (Parliament) and the authority to do so is beyond the mandate of the executive as decreed by our Constitution," the CPM said in its mouthpiece.
The party believes the government was forced to follow rules and amended the FEMA regulations under pressure from the Supreme Court. The CPM hoped if the due process of law was not followed, then the SC "will surely invoke its constitutional authority of judicial review".
Photograph courtesy Damien Jemison, LLNL
Looking like a portal to a science fiction movie, preamplifiers line a corridor at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF).
Preamplifiers work by increasing the energy of laser beams—up to ten billion times—before these beams reach the facility's target chamber.
The project's lasers are tackling "one of physics' grand challenges"—igniting hydrogen fusion fuel in the laboratory, according to the NIF website. Nuclear fusion—the merging of the nuclei of two atoms of, say, hydrogen—can result in a tremendous amount of excess energy. Nuclear fission, by contrast, involves the splitting of atoms.
This July, California-based NIF made history by combining 192 laser beams into a record-breaking laser shot that packed over 500 trillion watts of peak power-a thousand times more power than the entire United States uses at any given instant.
"This was a quantum leap for laser technology around the world," NIF director Ed Moses said in September. But some critics of the $5 billion project wonder why the laser has yet to ignite a fusion chain reaction after three-and-a-half years in operation. Supporters counter that such groundbreaking science simply can't be rushed.
(Related: "Fusion Power a Step Closer After Giant Laser Blast.")
—Brian Handwerk
Published November 29, 2012
The U.N. General Assembly voted today to approve Palestinians' request to be upgraded to a "non-member observer state," defying opposition by the U.S. and Israel.
Before the vote, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the General Assembly that it "is being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine."
Of the 193 countries in the General Assembly 138 voted to recognize Palestine, nine voted against and 41 abstained.
The historic vote recognizes Palestine as a state and gives Palestine the right to join U.N. agencies. It opens the door for Palestine to become a party to the International Criminal Court, allowing them to bring cases against Israel.
Israel and the U.S. argued that the vote is purely symbolic, would change nothing on the ground, would hurt peace talks and could affect U.S. funding.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice downplayed the significance of the victorious resolution.
"Today's grand pronouncement will soon fade and the Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed, save that the prospects of a durable peace have only receded," Rice said.
"The United States therefore calls upon both the parties to resume direct talks without preconditions on all the issues that divide them and we pledge that the United States will be there to support the parties vigorously in such efforts. The United States will continue to urge all parties to avoid any further provocative actions - in the region, in New York and elsewhere," she said.
Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office dismissed the significance of the vote.
"This is a meaningless decision that will not change anything on the ground. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that there will be no establishment of a Palestinian state without a settlement that ensures the security of Israel's citizens," the statement said.
"He will not allow a base for Iranian terrorism to be established in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], in addition to those that have [already] been established in Gaza and Lebanon... By going to the U.N., the Palestinians have violated the agreements with Israel and Israel will act accordingly," the Israeli statement said.
After the results were announced, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon urged leaders of Israel and Palestine to resume peace talks.
"Today's vote underscores the urgency of the resumption of negotiations," he said.
The vote went ahead despite calls to Abbas from President Obama and other U.S. officials to abandon the bid. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that only direct Palestinian negotiations with Israel can bring about any real solution.
"We have made very clear to the Palestinian leadership -- you know I met with President Abbas just last week -- that we oppose Palestinian efforts to upgrade their status at the U.N. outside of the framework of negotiations to achieve a two-state solution," Clinton said, "because no matter what happens at the United Nations, it will not produce the outcome that this government, this president and certainly I strongly support."
The vote today falls short of triggering the law in Congress that automatically cuts all U.S. aid to Palestinian Authority and any programs in the Palestinian Territories, as well as aid to any organizations that recognize Palestine as a state. Non-member observer status falls short of being as being accepted as a "member state," which would allow Palestine to have full voting rights in the U.N. General Assembly, something Congress is vehemently opposed to if done outside of talks with Israel.
ABC News' Sarah Parnass and ABC Pollster Gary Langer contributed to this report.
(Marvin Joseph - The Washington Post)
Rumors have been flying for many months over Julius Genachowski’s successor at the Federal Communications Commission. He hasn’t officially announced a departure, but industry experts are floating several contenders to replace him:
Blair Levin, who had worked on Obama’s transition team, was a senior adviser to Genachowski and helped craft the agency’s National Broadband Plan. During the Clinton administration, he served two tours at the FCC as chief of staff to Reed Hundt.
But Levin may face steep opposition from the broadcast industry, who fought with him over using their airwaves for a proposed auction to wireless companies.
Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democratic FCC member, is a freshman commissioner but has telecom chops. She served for years on the Senate Commerce Committee as senior staffer on telecom issues for Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), whose support should smooth any confirmation concerns.
But Rosenworcel would find it hard to land the top seat at the FCC before Democratic commissioner Mignon Clyburn, daughter of House Minority leader James Clyburn.
Lawrence E. Strickling, the highly regarded assistant secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is another possibility.
He also served on the president’s 2008 transition team and helped on the 2008 campaign. The Chicago native is seen as close to a number of White House officials.
NEW YORK: The dollar traded flat against the euro Wednesday after a slight push higher mid-session, as talks continued in Washington on averting the economy-crunching fiscal cliff.
At 2200 GMT, the euro bought $1.2939, a hair off the level at the same time Tuesday.
Just hours earlier, the euro fell to $1.2881 before rebounding, the swings apparently related to perceptions over whether the fiscal cliff talks were going well, analysts said.
President Barack Obama suggested key issues were still unresolved with a challenge to Republicans to compromise, deflating the impact of more optimistic remarks earlier by Republican House Speaker John Boehner on progress.
"Our ultimate goal is an agreement that gets our long-term deficit under control in a way that is fair and balanced," Obama said.
"I believe that both parties can agree on a framework that does that in the coming weeks," he said. "In fact, my hope is to get this done before Christmas."
Forex expert Neal Gilbert of GFT was skeptical even of that deadline.
"If no more positive comments are made by the Republican side tomorrow, then we can likely chalk this up to political gamesmanship and resume our regularly scheduled acceleration toward the edge of the fiscal cliff," Gilbert said.
The yen edged higher, with the looming election in Japan limiting any gains as long as the opposition Liberal Democratic Party continues to lead in the polls.
LDP leader Shinzo Abe has vowed to pressure the Bank of Japan into more aggressive monetary easing if his party wins.
The dollar bought 82.03 yen, compared to 82.16 on Tuesday, while the euro was at 106.14 yen, from 106.30.
The dollar was flat against the Swiss franc, trading at 0.9300 francs, and the British pound was also barely changed at $1.6013.
-AFP/ac
BANGALORE: The Congress led by Indira Gandhi fostered a generation of hero worship and dynasty politics after 1969. This inspired many others like Muthuvel Karunanidhi, who started off with noble intentions to fight against caste discriminations, to do the same and has led to a centralization of politics in present India, said Ramachandra Guha, on Wednesday.
He was speaking during the launch of his latest book, Patriots and Partisans.
The 54-year-old historian went on to add that Jawaharlal Nehru, one of the most charismatic leaders of Indian politics, has been slowly losing his popularity because of the Congress's dynastic politics.
"Sins of seven successive generations have been bestowed on Nehru," he said light-heartedly.
The highest paid non-fiction writer of the country also slammed the phenomenon called the 'Congress chamchagiri'. "I saw a long queue of Congress party members waiting outside Rahul Gandhi's house during his birthday, a couple of years ago, braving scorching sun. Nevertheless, Rahul didn't come out to greet them while the 100 kilogram cake they had brought for him disintegrated leaving a trail from the Congress general secretary's house till the Indira Gandhi circle," he said.
He said that scientific institutions in Delhi couldn't achieve the success of ones in other parts of the country as officials chosen in the capital-based institutions are often selected on the recommendation of politicians.
Guha went on to add that massacre of Muslims in Hyderabad during the annexation of the state by the Indian army happened before the constitution came into being in 1950, but it is sad that the perpetrators of 1984 Sikh massacre and 2002 Muslim massacre in Gujarat, which were initiated by Congress and BJP, respectively, haven't still been punished.
He slammed right and left wing politicians, saying that the citizens have allowed the Hindu rightists' claims to be truly patriots of the country because the left is often considered anti-patriotic because their fatherland has always been a different country - depending upon the prevalence of Marxists movements in these countries, like China, the USSR, Cuba and currently Venezuela - and also due to the high decibel levels and angry outbreaks of the saffron brigade.
"Violence unleashed by left ( Naxalites) and right (Hindu fundamentalists) is against democracy, liberalism, religious plularism and tolerance, the idea that our Constitution promotes. Citizens should protect the country from these extremisms," he said.
TOO EARLY
Guha had a word of advice for the Arvind Kejriwal-launched Aam Aadmi Party, saying that it's too early for them to participate in the 2014 general elections. "Their current economic policies are a bit naive," he added.
Astronomers have witnessed a record-breaking blast of gas and dust flowing out of a monster black hole more than 11.5 billion light-years away.
The supermassive gravity well, with a mass of one to three billion suns, lurks at the core of a quasar—a class of extremely bright and energetic galaxies—dubbed SDSS J1106 1939. (See "Black Hole Blasts Superheated Early Universe.")
"We discovered the most energetic quasar outflow ever seen, at least five times more powerful than any that have been observed to date," said Nahum Arav, an astronomer at Virginia Tech and co-author of the study to be published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Using the powerful telescopes of the European Southern Observatory in Chile, Arav and his team were able to clock the speed and other properties of the outflow.
Belching out material as much as 400 times the weight of our sun every year, the blast is located nearly a thousand light-years from the quasar and has a velocity of roughly 18 million miles (29 million kilometers) per hour.
"We were hoping to see something like this, but the sheer power of this outflow still took us by surprise," said Arav.
The central black hole in this quasar is true giant dynamo. It's estimated to be upward of a thousand times more massive than the one in the Milky Way, producing energy at rates about a hundred times higher than the total power output of our galaxy. (See black hole pictures.)
Clues to Galaxy Evolution
Supermassive black holes are large enough to swallow our entire solar system and are notorious for ripping apart and swallowing stars. But they also power distant quasars and spew out material at high speeds.
(See "Monster Black Holes Gobble Binary Stars to Grow?")
The outflows have been suspected to play a key role in the evolution of galaxies, explained Arav, but questions have persisted for years in the astronomical community as to whether they were powerful enough.
This newly discovered super outflow could solve major cosmic mysteries, including how the mass of a galaxy is linked to its central black hole mass and why there is a relative scarcity of large galaxies across the universe.
"I believe this is the smoking gun for several theoretical ideas that use the mechanical energy output of quasars to solve several important problems in the formation of galaxies and cluster of galaxies," said Arav.
While Kirk Korista, an astronomer not connected to the study, believes these claims may be a bit premature, the research is expected to shed new light on the most powerful and least understood portions of typical quasar outflows.
"The superb spectroscopic data of this quasar have allowed for a breakthrough in quantifying the energetics of what is probably a typical quasar outflow," said Korista, an astronomy professor at Western Michigan University.
"This definitely is an important step in piecing together the story of galaxy evolution, and in elucidating the role of quasars in that story."
Powerball fever is sweeping the nation.
The Powerball jackpot is at a record high of $550 million. And with the winnings so high, everyone is rushing to buy a ticket in the hope that they'll be the lucky winner.
A popular means of lotto ticket purchasing is an office pool -- in which a group of colleagues pools their money, buys a slate of tickets together and promises to share the winnings equally. It can be a fun bonding experience with your co-workers, but there are do's and don'ts to abide by, on the off-chance that your ticket(s) have the winning numbers.
Write a Contract
It may seem too serious for what's supposed to be fun and harmless, but this amount of money can make people a little crazy, so it's worth taking precautions. You don't need to draft a formal, notorized document -- a simple piece of paper with the terms of your pool and everyone's signature suffices. Make sure to store a copy of the contract in a safe place.
Make Sure Everyone Contributes an Equal Amount
Sure, if you contribute $2 and your colleague contributes $4, that's not a big difference. But if you win, that colleague will have a claim to 50 percent more of the pool than you, and that will undoubtedly create some office tension.
Photocopy the Tickets for All Participants
Yes, it's unlikely that someone would lie about the tickets outcome, say they lost when they won, claim the money, and then come into the office and continue acting like nothing had happened. But it's unlikely that you're going to win the lottery in the first place, so normal reasoning does not apply here.
Make a List of People Who Opted Out This Time
Rely on a Verbal Contract
Words won't hold up in a court of law if someone claims the winning ticket first and runs off with all of the winnings for themselves.
Let Anyone Contribute Money on Behalf of Someone Else
It's a nice idea to include all of your colleagues, even the ones who are out of the office the day you buy the tickets, or short of cash for the pool. But if you do win, those individuals who did not actually put up any of their own money for the tickets will almost certainly not be seen as having a legitimate claim to the winnings.
Trust the Tickets to the Interns
They're working for little to no money, so their loyalty is probably low.
Run Multiple Pools at Once
When members of Congress need factual information and insights into the effectiveness of the financial laws put in place after the 2008 economic crisis, they regularly turn to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Orice Williams Brown.
Initially as director and now as managing director of the GAO’s financial markets and community investment section, Brown and her staff have issued dozens of reports examining the flaws and offering recommendations to improve the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund, the Wall Street regulatory reform law and the initiatives to prevent housing foreclosures.
NEW YORK: The euro fell against the dollar Tuesday following a week of gains after the European Union and IMF reached agreement on recasting Greece's bailout to avert a looming default.
But the dollar's gains were limited by signs that negotiations in Washington over the looming fiscal cliff, remained divided on key issues.
At 2200 GMT the euro was at $1.2938, down from $1.2971 at the same time Monday.
The yen was mixed, falling to 82.16 yen per dollar from 81.98 yen Monday, but gaining to 106.30 yen per euro from 106.38.
Neal Gilbert of GFT said profit taking set in on the euro after its rise ahead of the Greek debt talks Monday.
"The Eurogroup worked overtime yesterday to finally come to an agreement on Greece after two postponements delayed it into this week," Gilbert said.
"In response, risk markets rose, but not as handily as some had expected. The euro-dollar in particular barely reached $1.30 from $1.2960 before profit taking shoved it back down toward the $1.29 handle throughout the US trading session."
Greece won breathing space with long-frozen eurozone loans to restart from December and a first clear admission that a chunk of the country's debt burden will eventually have to be written off.
After 13 hours of talks in Brussels, the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund agreed to unlock 43.7 billion euros ($56 billion) in loans and on the need to grant significant debt relief for decades to come.
Greece must still meet a series of agreed conditions but "the decision will certainly reduce the uncertainty and strengthen confidence in Europe and in Greece," said European Central Bank President Mario Draghi who left the talks before a final press conference.
Meanwhile Gilbert said he expected the yen to slip further ahead of the December 16 Japanese election, with the opposition Liberal Democratic Party leading in the polls.
LDP leader Shinzo Abe has vowed to pressure the Bank of Japan into launching aggressive monetary easing measures if his party wins.
"Since Abe's LDP party is expected to be victorious in the December 16 elections, the yen may well continue to depreciate," said Gilbert.
In other currencies, the Chinese yuan was steady as the US Treasury ruled against labeling Beijing a currency manipulator, trading at 6.227 yuan per dollar, shy of the record high of 6.220 hit on Monday.
The dollar rose to 0.9306 Swiss francs from 0.9278 francs.
The British pound fell to $1.6019 from $1.6026.
-AFP/ac
KOLKATA: With the Congress likely to garner a majority in Parliament over the FDI issue, the Trinamool Congress is yet to carve out its strategy in Parliament, in case Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar allows the debate under rule 184.
Trinamool leaders have left it to Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee to decide whether the party will stage a walkout along with parties such as Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party or record their dissent during voting with the BJP and the Left.
"We still believe that no-confidence motion is the only way to remove this minority government and stop this unethical political charade being played out. Even now this can be done.
Only one MP is required to move this motion. It doesn't matter which political party it is. Let those, who're so vocal on price rise, FDI in retail and removal of subsidy cap on domestic LPG, come forward and vote on it. If one is convinced that these are anti-people policies, what stops them from nudging the government out of power. Why resort to rules to save them?" said Trinamool all India general secretary Mukul Roy.
Roy was more keen on nailing down Left Front chairman Biman Bose's recent argument that the Left didn't support the Trinamool's no-confidence notice because parties reluctant to bring down the government would vote against the government if the debate is allowed under rule 184. Roy, however, didn't want to foretell the party's strategy in the fast changing situation.
While Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Ray held that the party will fight FDI tooth and nail, senior party MP Sultan Ahmed said, "Whether to vote or not will be decided later by the Trinamool parliamentary party and the party supremo Mamata Banerjee, let the Speaker decide it first. The government will never agree to a discussion under rule 184 without majority. Our leader in the Lok Sabha, Sudip Bandopadhyay, has already cleared our stand on the matter. There is nothing more to add to it." Domestic compulsion is also weighing heavily on Trinamool Congress before it is seen aligning with CPM and BJP.
Left parties, on the other hand, have dumped the number game getting a whiff that the Congress might gather the numbers. Asked whether the CPM is heading towards a situation similar to the confidence debate on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, CPM Rajya Sabha MP Shyamal Chakrabarty said: "Not at all. We have been trying to forge the broadest possible unity against FDI entry in multi-brand retail. I am confident that we will be achieving our target to a great extent. The Trinamool's no confidence move would have given the government a leeway to continue with their anti-people policies on all fronts for a period of six months instead," Chakrabarty said.
Trinamool leaders, on the other hand, believe that a debate under rule 184, will give Trinamool an opportunity to expose the Opposition "double-speak." "Biman Bose had argued if the government survived our no-confidence motion, they will get a parliamentary mandate to introduce FDI in retail. So if a vote under rule 184 does take place and the government wins it, would it be any different? The CM had made it clear that we believed in moving a no-confidence for it wasn't a half-measure. What is happening now only vindicates her belief," a Trinamool MP said.
Photograph courtesy Conservation India
A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.
Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.
"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.
"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")
According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.
Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.
"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."
(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")
Published November 27, 2012
Nov 27, 2012 1:33pm
Khalil Hamra/AP Photo
CAIRO – Waves of protesters poured into Cairo’s Tahrir Square today to protest the far-reaching constitutional declaration made by President Mohammed Morsi last week that has essentially granted him unchecked power.
Click here for images of the demonstrations in Tahrir Square.
The new declaration frees Morsi from judicial oversight and with no parliament currently in place, many said longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak had simply been substituted with another.
“This is the first step for tyranny, he’s trying to put all the power in his hands and this is against the constitution and the law,” said Hassan Gamal, a professor of orthopaedic surgery. “No exceptions for anybody. Mubarak was tyrant because of the exceptions. We’re not going to tolerate any exceptions anymore.”
Liberal groups had called for the mass protest against Morsi, many of which have long complained of Islamists’ strength in post-Mubarak Egypt, led by Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. Protesters today said they were afraid of the constitution being written by an Islamist-dominated constitutional assembly, which will be put to a referendum once finished.
“The Muslim Brotherhood, they say something and then do the opposite,” said English teacher Nadine Mustafa. “We are in the 21st century, we want democracy, we don’t want a pharaoh ruining the country. This is ridiculous.”
Morsi’s office published the seven-article declaration on Thursday, the second of which states that Morsi’s laws and decrees “are final and binding and cannot be appealed by any way or to any entity” until the constitution is approved and a parliament elected.
Violence immediately broke out with clashes between Morsi opponents, supporters and police leading to more than 500 injuries and at least three deaths. To prevent more violence, the Muslim Brotherhood on Monday night cancelled their own rallies planned for today, though supporters did turn out in Alexandria.
“He’s a president that was elected to office with no constitution, no parliament and no defined powers in the state. It’s an exceptional circumstance,” argued Muslim Brotherhood senior adviser Jihad Haddad, who accused Mubarak-appointed judges of blocking Morsi’s attempts to reform the country’s institutions.
Morsi’s office insisted that the powers are only temporary. Haddad said the declaration will only be valid until a draft of the constitution is submitted.
“[Morsi] tried to do this through the only available avenue and choice,” Haddad said. “It does terrify [Morsi opponents] because the only thing they can rely on is trust and that trust was given to us during the presidential elections.”
NEW YORK: The euro traded in a narrow range against the dollar Monday in a nervous market awaiting the outcome of a meeting of Greece's creditors on crucial aid for the debt-crushed country.
The euro bought $1.2971 at 2200 GMT, slightly down from $1.2973 at the same time Friday.
The euro fell against the Japanese currency, to 106.38 yen from 106.90 late Friday, while the dollar fell to 81.98 yen from 82.60.
The eurozone and the International Monetary Fund battled late Monday in Brussels under mounting pressure to conclude a long-delayed deal on immediate funding to avert bankruptcy for Greece.
With creditors struggling to agree on how to tackle the country's ever-growing mountain of debt over the medium term, the aim was to get short-term financing taps switched back on.
The pressure grew over the day, with the European Union's euro commissioner Olli Rehn deeming it "essential" to reach a deal before the talks broke up.
"Following last week's unexpected failure to come to an agreement, people aren't exactly sure what to expect from today's meeting," said Benjamin Spier at DailyFX.
The British government's surprise nomination of Canadian central bank chief Mark Carney as the new Bank of England governor, had little impact on the market, said Sebastien Galy at Societe Generale.
Carney will take over from Mervyn King, who has led the BoE since 2003 and is due to step down on June 30.
"By leaving the BoC and taking the head seat at the BoE, Carney brings with him the experience of rebuilding an economy that rebounded faster than all other G8 nations while maintaining a strong AAA rating with the rating agencies," said Neal Gilbert at GFT.
The dollar was virtually unchanged at 0.9278 Swiss francs from 0.9279 late Friday, while the British pound fetched $1.6026, down from $1.6033.
- AFP/fa
Born in a poor farmer's family in Haryana's Chhara, Singh had seen action in the Kargil war in 1999, was a part of the United Nations Peace Mission to Congo and was later posted in strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipore. He was also one of the 26/11 heroes, having gunned down two terrorists during the Mumbai carnage.
In spite of his rustic Haryanvi accent, Surender, who is left hearing impaired after a hand grenade explosion during the attack, said, "While the jawans are sacrificing so much, the funds meant for them are being spent on parties in five-star hotels."
He also drew people's attention to the symbolism of '26/11.' Surender cited that on the same day in 1949 the Indian constitution was unveiled, but ironically the nation faced a terrorist attack in Mumbai on the same date in 2008. "Today is also 26/11. It's a very important date and is symbolic of India's journey. I am glad that the AAP is being launched on this date," he said.
Surender, who along with former India Against Corruption activists, had earlier charged the government of not honoring him and non-payment of pension. On Monday, Surender retorted, "I have not received a single penny. Whatever is in my account is from my insurance and an amount of Rs 2 lakh that I had got earlier. Information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari's tweet that I have been paid is completely false," added Surender.
On being asked that he was being considered least experienced in politics, he said, "Indeed I don't have experience of corruption and crime record politicians have and I don't even wish to have such experiences."
Photograph by Greg Parker, Your Shot
The Horsehead Nebula rears its pretty head in a November 17 photograph submitted to National Geographic's Your Shot photo community.
Taken from the New Forest Observatory in the United Kingdom, the image shows how the nebula's horse head is part of a larger cloud of dust. Situated about 1,500 light-years away, the Horsehead Nebula is visible only because its obscuring dust is silhouetted against another, brighter nebula, according to NASA.
(See "'Soccer Ball' Nebula Discovered by Amateur Astronomer.")
Published November 26, 2012
Photograph by Jeremy La Zelle, My Shot
Green curtains of aurora stretch over the sky in the Alaska Arctic in a picture submitted to National Geographic's My Shot on November 17.
"The constantly changing kaleidoscope of colors are reminiscent of a fireworks display—but without sound," photographer Jeremy La Zelle wrote with his submission.
"All we hear is the quiet peaceful sounds of a freezing Alaska night."
(See "Aurora Pictures: Best Fall Photos of Northern Lights.")
Published November 26, 2012
Image courtesy Caltech/NASA
NASA's Curiosity rover snapped this picture after moving 83 feet (25 meters) eastward on November 18—the 102nd Martian day, or sol, of its mission to study whether life once existed on Mars.
The view shows Yellowknife Bay, part of the Glenelg area of the Gale Crater, which is located near the base of a three-mile-high (five-kilometer-high) mountain rich with layered sediment deposits laid down over hundreds of millions of years.
(Read more about the Gale Crater.)
Published November 26, 2012
Image courtesy ESA
The sands of the Sahara appear like golden brush strokes around the Tibesti Mountains in a March 2012 satellite image recently released by the European Space Agency.
Located in Chad and Libya, the mountains' highest peak is Emi Koussi-pictured above as a circular structure in the lower-right portion of the dark area.
Lava flows can be seen extending from the westernmost volcano, Toussidé.
(See volcano pictures.)
Published November 26, 2012
Photograph by Quang Nguyen Luong and F. Motte, Herschel SPIRE/ESA
Published November 26, 2012
The mother of 13-year-old boy Dylan Redwine, who disappeared a week ago during a court ordered visit to his father, fears that the dad may have done something to "remove Dylan from the situation."
Dylan Redwine was last seen at the home of his father, Mark Redwine, when he vanished seven days ago.
"I was married to Mark for a lot of years, and I know the way he reacts to things," Elaine Redwine told ABC News. "If Dylan maybe did or said something that wasn't what Mark wanted to hear, I'm just afraid of how Mark would have reacted."
Elaine and Mark were divorced and live about five hours away from each other, ABC News affiliate KMGH reports. Dylan was staying at his father's home because of a court order granting his father visitation rights for Thanksgiving.
Elaine Redwine told ABC News she believes her ex-husband was upset that she was the court-mandated primary custodian of their son.
"I don't think Mark treats him very well," Elaine Redwine said. "I would not put it past Mark to have done something to remove Dylan from the situation. You know, like 'if I can't have him, nobody will.'"
Dylan had been with his dad in Vallecito, Colo., for just one day before he went missing. Mark Redwine told police that his son was in his home when he left to run some errands at 7:30 a.m. When he returned four hours later, the boy was missing.
Elaine Redwine told ABC News she was having a difficult time getting in touch with her ex-husband about their son.
"He hasn't had any contact with us. [My older son] tried to get a hold of him by texting him, and he wouldn't respond," she said. "I just find it odd that at a time like this, he would be so evasive."
Mark Redwine declined to speak to ABC News.
Police say they are considering a number of possibilities, including abduction and the possibility that Dylan ran away.
"Foul play is definitely something we are looking at, but we're hoping it's a runaway case and that Dylan will show up and will be fine," La Plata Sheriff's Office spokesman Dan Bender said. "Because we don't have any clues that point in any particular direction, we have to consider every possibility."
Dylan's mother and older brother both insist Dylan wouldn't run away without contacting them, or if he did run away from his dad's home, he would have gone to them.
"When he was afraid in any situation, he knew he could call me and I would drop everything and go out there, first thing," Dylan's brother, Cory Redwine, 21, told ABC News. "He knew that me, my mom, my step-dad, any of us, if he called us and said, 'I need your help,' he knew we'd be there."
Hundreds of people have turned up to help search for Dylan, but so far police say they are no closer to finding him.
"We had people in the air, on horseback, on ATVs, search dogs, and we got no clues from any of that," Bender said.
Dive teams are searching nearby Vallecito Lake using a high-powered sonar gun, after searches this weekend revealed nothing, according to KMGH. Search teams are also combing the shoreline around the lake.
Elaine Redwine told ABC News she thinks somebody must know something, and she hopes they come forward.
"Vallecito is a small community. If anybody has seen anything or knows anything, no matter how big or small it seems, please tell us," Redwine said. "Everything right now is crucial to bringing my little boy home."
Redwine is described as 5 feet tall, 105 pounds, blond hair, blue eyes and fair complexion. He was last seen wearing a black Nike shirt, black basketball nylon shorts, black Jordan tennis shoes and a two-tone blue and white Duke Blue Devils baseball hat.
They are still counting votes in Ohio, a process that once seemed as if it might transfix the nation and require the attention of the Supreme Court, but now it’s something more like an asterisk.
County elections boards around the state are putting the finishing touches on the democratic process. They must decide which of the more than 200,000 provisional ballots should be accepted and which rejected.
SINGAPORE: A forum for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents to share what societal values and qualities are important to them was dominated by bread-and-butter issues instead.
The discussion held at the Woodlands Galaxy Community Club on Sunday was organised as part of the Our Singapore Conversation national project. It was hosted by Sembawang Group Representation Constituency (GRC) grassroots advisers, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, Mr Hawazi Daipi, Ms Ellen Lee and Mr Ong Teng Koon, who are also Members of Parliament.
The 250 participants - residents who come from all walks of life - were broken up into groups of up to 12, with facilitators to lead the discussion. The participants, about a quarter of whom were new citizens or Permanent Residents, had been expected to provide input on the type of society and home they would like to have in 2030 as well as how they can work towards achieving their desired future.
However, the one-and-a-half-hour discussion was mostly spent on issues such as cost of living and housing, as well as municipal complaints like the low-frequency of bus services and the litter situation in the estate.
For example, a participant in her 60s cited worries about rising healthcare costs. When a facilitator asked her what could be done to alleviate the situation by 2030, she replied that she did not want to think so far ahead.
Other older participants said they were worried that their children or grandchildren may not be able to afford their own homes, while some wondered if there will be enough homes for everyone in the future.
Younger participants spoke about the challenge of balancing work and family while they try to keep up with the rising cost of living.
Among those who kept to the discussion's theme was Singapore Management University undergraduate Clarine Chai, who felt Singaporeans should have a sense of gratitude. Retiree Chong Weng Yoke suggested focusing on moral education from young to inculcate values such as respect, while Garry Luyun stressed the need for new citizens like himself to "integrate ourselves and work as a team, as a community".
At the end of the session, Mr Khaw noted that many of the participants used the opportunity to engage him on housing concerns, given his portfolio. He also assured the residents on the availability and affordability of flats.
Speaking to TODAY, Sembawang GRC MP Ellen Lee said that residents airing their grouses at the discussion was "not surprising at all".
On the challenge of getting residents to focus on the themes of the national project, Ms Lee said: "The value is not obvious but the process itself is important because the process itself shows that the Government wants to hear them ... even if they can't think so far ahead, it doesn't matter, at least we have approached them."
- TODAY
SHIMLA: In a major setback to the ambitious plan of the Himachal Pradesh government to draw power through a thermal plant outside the state, the Union coal ministry has cancelled allocation of a coal block to the state. The state government, which wanted to create an additional source of power for winter months when electricity generation from hydro-power generation dips, will lodge a protest after ascertaining the details.
Sources said the Union coal ministry, in its letter dated November 23, intimated Himachal EMTA Power Corporation Limited and JSW Steel Limited about cancellation of the coal block. In June 2010, the Himachal Pradesh government decided to get a joint venture company to set up a thermal power plant in West Bengal to meet escalated power demand in the winter. The state government authorized Himachal EMTA Power Limited (HEPL) to set up a coal pithead at Raniganj in West Bengal.
Himachal Pradesh chief secretary Sudripta Roy said they are aware of the decision but a detailed order is yet to come. "On Monday we will ask for the detailed order to examine the reasons given by the ministry. We will protest," he said.
The chief secretary said thermal power would have helped the state overcome power deficit in the winter when hydro power generation goes down. "Now the union government is taking the plea that Himachal Pradesh has decided not to have thermal power plants so why would they need the coal block," he said, adding that they would check if this was the basis for the cancellation of the coal block.
In the summer, Himachal Pradesh supplies power to other states under the banking system and draws the same in winter when power generation in the state dips. With the onset of winter, power crisis has already hit the state. The situation will worsen with snowfall in the upper reaches. Officials said they would deal with the situation by using banked power in Haryana from next month.
Orbiting at the frozen edges of our solar system, the mysterious dwarf planet Makemake is finally coming out of the shadows as astronomers get their best view yet of Pluto's little sibling.
Discovered in 2005, Makemake—pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh after a Polynesian creation god—is one of five Pluto-like objects that prompted a redefining of the term "planet" and the creation of a new group of dwarf planets in 2006. (Related: "Pluto Not a Planet, Astronomers Rule.")
Just like the slightly larger Pluto, this icy world circles our sun beyond Neptune. Researchers expected Makemake to also have a global atmosphere—but new evidence reveals that isn't the case.
Staring at a Star
An international team of astronomers was able for the first time to probe Makemake's physical characteristics using the European Southern Observatory's three most powerful telescopes in Chile. The researchers observed the change in light given off by a distant star as the dwarf planet passed in front of it. (Learn how scientists found Makemake.)
"These events are extremely difficult to predict and observe, but they are the only means of obtaining accurate knowledge of important properties of dwarf planets," said Jose Luis Ortiz, lead author of this new study and an astronomer at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Spain.
It's like trying to study a coin from a distance of 30 miles (48 kilometers) or more, Ortiz added.
Ortiz and his team knew Makemake didn't have an atmosphere when light from the background star abruptly dimmed and brightened as the chilly world drifted across its face.
"The light went off very abruptly from all the sites we observed the event so this means this world cannot have a substantial and global atmosphere like that of its sibling Pluto," Ortiz said.
If Makemake had an atmosphere, light from the star would gradually decrease and increase as the dwarf planet passed in front.
Coming Into Focus
The team's new observations add much more detail to our view of Makemake—not only limiting the possibility of an atmosphere but also determining the planet's size and surface more accurately.
"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices—mainly of methane," said Ortiz.
"But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark," he added.
Why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere remains a big mystery, but Ortiz does have a theory. Pluto is covered in nitrogen ice. When the sun heats this volatile material, it turns straight into a gas, creating Pluto's atmosphere.
Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, so there is nothing for the sun to heat into a gas to provide an atmosphere.
The dwarf planet has less mass, and a weaker gravitational field, than Pluto, said Ortiz. This means that over eons of time, Makemake may not have been able to hang on to its nitrogen.
Methane ice will also transform into a gas when heated. But since the dwarf planet is nearly at its furthest distance from the sun, Ortiz believes that Makemake's surface methane is still frozen. (Learn about orbital planes.)
And even if the methane were to transform into a gas, any resulting atmosphere would cover, at most, only ten percent of the planet, said Ortiz.
The new results are detailed today in the journal Nature.
Nov 25, 2012 10:37am
(Image Credit: Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)
The Powerball jackpot has swelled to $425 million, the largest in the lottery’s history, after no tickets matched the winning numbers in a drawing Saturday night.
The Powerball numbers for Saturday were 22-32-37-44-50, and the Powerball was 34.
Iowa Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said the jackpot could get even bigger before Wednesday, because sales tend to increase in the run-up to a big drawing.
The previous top windfall was $365 million. The jackpot was claimed by eight co-workers in Lincoln, Neb., in 2006.
PHOTOS: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners
While millions of Americans can have fun dreaming about how they’d spend the jackpot, the odds of winning are 1 in 175,000,000, according to lottery officials.
To put that in perspective, a ticket holder is 25 times less likely to win the jackpot then they are to win an Academy Award.
Even still, the old saying holds true: “You’ve got to be in it to win it.”
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