Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2008 February 19

Columbus Laboratory Installed on Space Station
Credit: STS-122 Crew, Expedition 16 Crew, ESA, NASA Explanation: The International Space Station (ISS) has been equipped with a powerful new scientific laboratory. The Space Shuttle Atlantis delivered the Columbus Laboratory to the ISS and installed the seven meter long module over the past week. Columbus has ten racks for experiments that can be controlled from the station or the Columbus Control Center in Germany. The first set of experiments includes the Fluid Science Laboratory that will explore fluid properties in the microgravity of low Earth orbit, and Biolab which supports experiments on microorganisms. Future Columbus experiments include an atomic clock that will test minuscule timing effects including those expected by Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. Pictured above, mission specialist Hans Schlegel works on the outside of Columbus. Scientists from all over the world may propose and carry out experiments to be done on the laboratory during its ten year mission.

Report: Alberta Oil Sands Most Destructive Project on Earth

Environmental Defence has released a report calling the Alberta Oil Sands the most destructive project on Earth.

Few Canadians know that Canada is home to one of the world’s largest dams and it is built to hold toxic waste from just one Tar Sands operation,” Rick Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence.

And according to the report this is just the beginning. Approvals have already been given that will double the size of existing operations and Canada’s leaders have been talking with the US government to grow oil sands operations in a “short time span.”

Even a former Premier of Alberta is concerned. Peter Lougheed who served as Premier from 1971 to 1985 was recently quoted on the oil sands as saying:

… it is just a moonscape. It is wrong in my judgment, a major wrong… So it is a major, major federal and provincial issue.”

However, there is a silver lining in all this. A recent Canadian parliamentary committee recently stated that:

A business as usual approach to the development of the oil sands is not sustainable. The time has come to begin the transition to a clean energy future.”

Here’s a few facts about the Alberta Oil Sands:

Oil sands mining is licensed to use twice the amount of fresh water that the entire city of Calgary uses in a year.

- At least 90% of the fresh water used in the oil sands ends up in ends up in tailing ponds so toxic that propane cannons are used to keep ducks from landing in them.

- Processing the oil sands uses enough natural gas in a day to heat 3 million homes in Canada.

- The toxic tailing ponds are considered one of the largest human-made structures in the world. The ponds span 50 square kilometers and can be seen from space.

- Producing a barrel of oil from the oil sands produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil.

- The oil sands operations are the fastest growing source of heat-trapping greenhouse gas in Canada. By 2020 the oil sands will release twice the amount produced currently by all the cars and trucks in Canada.

A full copy of the Environmental Defence report is attached to the end of this post.

Attachment	Size
TarSands_TheReport final.pdf	963.2 KB

Fired black worker claims white boss put noose on him

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (AP) – A black former hotel worker who claims his white supervisor put a noose around his neck at an event on one of the country’s oldest plantations said he was fired when he complained about it.

John Green, 62, said he was scared and embarrassed by his boss’s actions at the Charleston Place Hotel function at Boone Hall Plantation in October.

Green and his attorney, Ed Brown, said a complaint was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s office in Savannah, Georgia. However, Mason Barrett, director of that office, said he would not confirm whether his office had received a complaint.

The hotel’s general manager said in a statement he had not seen a complaint from the commission and that Green was fired for violating company rules. Those rules were not specified.

Green, a former event supervisor at the hotel, said his boss laughed about the incident and “he thought it was funny.”

“He was actually showing another guy from another country how to make a hangman’s noose,” Green said. “He sneaked up from behind me and slipped the noose over my neck and began tightening the noose.”

Green said he was fired about a month later when he complained to hotel managers.

He said he recorded a meeting with hotel managers after he was fired, and when he told them about the recording, Green’s boss was fired.

Pippa Isbell, vice president of corporate communications for Orient-Express Hotels, which owns Charleston Place, confirmed that the supervisor was fired “as a direct result of the incident with the noose.”

Hotel general manager Paul Stracey said in a statement the company has a strong policy against discrimination.

“When any employee or former employee makes a complaint claiming unlawful discrimination, that complaint is thoroughly investigated and appropriate action is taken based upon the results of that investigation,” Stracey said.

Green said he hasn’t been able to find another job since being fired. He worked at the hotel about 10 years, he said. Before that, he owned a seafood market on Johns Island near Charleston.

Boone Hall Plantation offers guided tours of what life was like in the 1800s and is the site of wedding receptions and other events. It is about 10 miles from Charleston.

Lutje femijesh

Sky turns black as thousands of starlings flock into Gretna Green

Time was when the only visitors flocking to Gretna Green were eloping English couples.Now the Scottish border village is getting arrivals by the million - and most of them come by air.

Swooping and swirling across the dimly lit sky, they could almost be mistaken for an approaching storm cloud.

In this dazzling aerial display, over a million starlings wheel and dive across the setting sun, creating elaborate patterns and drawing the admiring gaze of fascinated onlookers.

Scroll down for more…

Black sky: Thousands of starlings fly over a house

Every evening at dusk they take to the skies above Gretna Green, after a long day spent feeding in reed beds.

So begins the perilous search for somewhere safe to roost for the night, sheltered from the blustery February winds.

It is a a path fraught with danger, as hungry predators hover nearby.

The little birds must converge, flocking together and squawking, in an attempt to confuse the sparrowhawks, buzzards and peregrine falcons. Reaching speeds of over 20mph, it’s a wonder that there aren’t more feathers flying in mid-air collisions.

But scientists have recently discovered the secret behind their amazing spatial awareness. Each starling tracks seven other birds - irrespective of distance - enabling the group’s impressive cohesion.

It is a spectacle that occurs only during the winter.

Scroll down for more…

Amazed: Birdwatchers gaze at the sky

Caught on camera: The starlings blacken the sky

Dr Andre Farrar, spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, thinks the sight should not be missed.

“It is one of the world’s greatest wildlife experiences and anyone can enjoy it,” he said.

“You just need to open your eyes and look up.”

But don’t leave it too long. As spring approaches, the same urge overtakes them as those runaway couples of old.

They pair off and look for suitable nesting grounds. They will not regroup until September, when their amazing daily display will begin again.

Terhiqet Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro announces retirement

Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since his operation in July Castro’s career Cuba’s ailing leader Fidel Castro has said he will not accept another term as president, ending 49 years in power.“I neither will aspire to, nor will I accept, the position of president of the council of state and commander in chief,” he told the newspaper, Granma. The 81-year-old handed over power temporarily to his brother, Raul, in July 2006 when he underwent surgery. US President George W Bush said the news should mark the beginning of a transition towards democracy for Cuba. “The international community should work with the Cuban people to begin to build institutions that are necessary for a democracy, and eventually this transition ought to lead to free and fair elections,” he told reporters in Rwanda. This should be a period of democratic transition for the people of Cuba US President George W Bush Reaction in quotes Send us your reaction “And we’re going to help. The United States will help the people of Cuba realise the blessings of liberty.” Mr Castro has ruled Cuba since leading a communist revolution in 1959. In December, Mr Castro indicated that he might possibly step down in favour of younger leaders, saying “my primary duty is not to cling to any position”. Soon afterwards, Raul Castro appeared to suggest that his older brother still had an important political role to play, saying the president still had full use of his mental faculties and was being consulted on all important policy issues. ‘Not saying farewell’ In the letter, published on Granma’s website during the middle of the night in Cuba, Mr Castro said he would not accept another five-year term as president when the National Assembly meets on Sunday, because of the health problems. “It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical condition to offer,” he wrote. I just want to carry on fighting like a soldier of ideas Fidel Castro Letter published in Granma Excerpts of Castro’s letter Castro: The great survivor Profile: Raul Castro Mr Castro said Cuban officials had wanted him to remain in power after he underwent emergency surgery in 2006. “It was an uncomfortable situation for me vis-a-vis an adversary that had done everything possible to get rid of me, and I felt reluctant to comply,” he said in a reference to the US government. Despite the announcement of his impending retirement, the Cuban leader insisted he was “not saying farewell”. “I just want to carry on fighting like a soldier of ideas,” he added. “I will continue writing under the title, Reflections of Comrade Fidel.” “I will be one more weapon in the arsenal that you can count on. Perhaps my voice will be heard. I will be careful.” The National Assembly is widely expected to elect 76-year-old Raul Castro as his successor, although analysts say there is speculation about a possible generational jump with Vice-President Carlos Lage Davila, 56, a leading contender. “There is also the intermediate generation which learned together with us the basics of the complex and almost unattainable art of organising and leading a revolution,” Mr Castro wrote in Tuesday’s letter. FIDEL CASTRO Born in 1926 to a wealthy, landowning family Took up arms in 1953, six years before coming to power Brother Raul (pictured) was deputy and Che Guevara third in command Has outlasted nine American presidents Target of many CIA assassination plots Daughter is a dissident exile in Miami Castro’s life in pictures If elected, Raul Castro has indicated that major economic reforms and “structural changes” could be on the way. Fidel Castro did not say whether he would continue to be involved in government affairs or retain his post of secretary of the ruling Communist Party. The Cuban ambassador to the Netherlands, Oscar de los Reyes, told the BBC that Mr Castro “embodies to a very large extent what Cuba is today” and would always remain Cuba’s “elder statesman”. “Fidel will always preside over our revolution… In our minds and hearts he will always be the leader,” he said. The BBC’s Michael Voss in Havana says nobody knows whether Mr Castro’s decision not to seek another five-year term has been prompted by a decline in his health - it has been an official secret since the moment he was taken ill. The president has not been seen in public for 18 months, although the government occasionally releases photographs and pre-edited video of him meeting visiting leaders from around the world. Last month, Mr Castro was shown talking to his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who described him as being lucid and in good health. Mixed legacy In power since he led a communist revolution which ousted the regime of President Fulgencio Batista in 1959, Mr Castro has been a dominant force in Latin American politics and a thorn in the side of the United States. Under his leadership, Cuba underwent an economic and social transformation. Most foreign and local businesses were nationalised, land reform was introduced, and education and health care for the poor improved. Mr Castro created the western hemisphere’s first communist state His government saw off an early threat from Cuban exiles, backed by the US, who launched an abortive invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. The following year saw the Cuban missile crisis, when the US and the Soviet Union came to the brink of war over the presence of Soviet nuclear warheads in Cuba. Mr Castro also backed a string of left-wing leaders in South America and Africa and, in 1975, sent thousands of troops to fight in Angola. It is said that Mr Castro has been the target of many CIA-sponsored assassination plots as a result of such policies - in 1999 a Cuban interior ministry official put the figure at 637. Washington has also imposed an economic embargo on Cuba for more than four decades, which helped cripple the Cuban economy in the 1980s after the Soviet Union withdrew financial aid and subsequently broke up. A tourism boom along with a rapprochement with oil-rich Venezuela, run by Mr Castro’s great friend, Hugo Chavez, has allowed the economy recover slowly in recent years. Our correspondent says the news of his retirement will take some digesting by Cubans, 70% of whom have known no other leader. Mr Castro will leave a mixed legacy, he adds, with both friend and foe recognising him as an iconic leader and major figure in the post-war era.

15 things man’s say but don’t really mean

Men are widely known for their straight talking and tell-it-like-it-is attitude. But sometimes, us gentlemen say things that we really do not mean. Things that more often than not, get us into trouble. It’s written into our DNA. We have to protect our manliness at all costs. If it means bragging about scoring with a porn star you met at a strip club - then so be it. We never reveal the truth that we were actually escorted from the premises for trying to ‘fondle’ said porn star! So what common things do we say and not mean? Let’s investigate.

15. I want to learn a new language. Do we really want to learn a new language? The majority of people struggle to perfect the Queen’s English and the advent of social media sites such as Facecrap has only made it worse. You’re not going to become the voice of your generation simply because you’re talking Italian!

14. “Let’s put the tip in, just for a second to see what it feels like.” As if! This is standard practice for deflowering women the world over. There was never going to come a point when we said, “Right okay, that’s not working for me. I’ll just pull it out and put my clothes back on.”

13. “I’m only having one drink tonight, lads.” Men are genetically incapable of having just one drink at the pub! One pint quickly progresses into karaoke madness, arm-wrestling competitions, a quick fumble in the toilet with the porky barmaid we swore we’d never touch and ends with us declaring our undying love to our best mate!

12. “It’s not you, it’s me.” This is the biggest lie ever uttered by man. Even women have got in on the act and are now using it as a way to dump us! The truth is - it is you but I don’t want to hurt your feelings. You’re too fat, crap in bed, you moan all the time, your friends are hotter and you smell really bad.

11. “Yeah, Dog Day Afternoon is a masterpiece of directing.” This doesn’t particularly apply to Dog Day Afternoon, but any movie that comes up in discussion down the pub that you haven’t seen! We try to blag our way through the conversation despite knowing nothing about the film, the cast, the plot or even what constitutes a masterpiece of directing!

10. “We need to catch up soon over a pint.” Don’t you just hate bumping into that annoying twat from school who was the sports star, ladies man and all around nice guy! The only way to get rid of him short of a shotgun is to agree to meet up soon. Preferably, when hell freezes over.

9. “Your new girlfriend is lovely mate. Really nice.” Well, what else can you say? “I know you’re lonely since the love of your life dumped you for her yoga instructor, but you need to set your standards a little higher than a woman with more facial hair than ZZ Top!”

8. “Give me the hottest curry on the menu. NOW!” In a desperate bid to show our manliness, we try to convince ourselves that shoving a vindaloo down our throats is the best way to establish our male dominance. In reality, we’re crying on the inside!

7. “I’m rethinking my career choices.” Every now and again we get a little jaded with our worklife and decide to research the possibility of joining an Alaskan crab-fishing crew. Obviously, we get bored quickly and check to see if anyone posted a comment on our zany “Get Me Out Of This Office” blog.

6. “Keep that up and I’ll phone the police.” We know we won’t call the police. We’d have to repeat the post code ten times to the operator, have to let the fuzz into our home to ask us questions and then watch as they drive away - never to hear from them again. Besides, chavs measure their success through ASBO’s so really, what’s the point?

5. “I’ll pay you back mate, I promise.” To be fair, this is half true. We will, eventually, pay you back. Once we’ve paid off our 50″ LCD-HD telly, our yearly subscription to The Adult Channel, our gym membership and our brand-new Audi S3.

4. “Of course I’m listening to you, dear.” This is usually followed by a few caveman grunts and a nod or two. We’re not really listening but we are paying just enough attention to not get caught watching the football while you describe, in excruciating detail, everything that happened to you today.

3. “I’m not like other guys. I don’t kiss and tell.” This is a loop-hole in the dating system that men have exploited for years. Technically, we don’t kiss and tell. When we’re bragging to our mates about shagging you in the back of the car, the last thing we’d ever want to tell them about is the kissing!

2. “She’s just a friend.” Yeah, she’s just a really hot, big bosomed, nymphomaniac friend. Who are you trying to kid, chief?

1. “Oi! You and me, outside, right now!” In a desperate attempt to solidify our dominance in the presence of another alpha-male we try to bluff our way out of it by calling them out! For the love of God, why?? Chances are he’s going to answer your bluff with one of his own. The best you can hope for is that you’re both regretting your decision and when you get face to face, you have a bit of a shout, a few shoves and maybe beat your chest in that ever-so manly way before your mates mercifully pull you away!

Official: HD DVD is DEAD

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/hardware/It_s_official_HD_DVD_is_dead_the_format_war_over’;

It’s official. Toshiba just made a statement saying, ” it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders.” Cessation of the player and recorders are targeted for March 2008. Volume production of HD DVD disk drives for PCs and games will end in the same time frame. However, Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation did say that Toshiba will, “continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives.” That’s it folks, the format war is over, Blu-ray has won. Full press release after the break.Update: Besides stating “no plans” to go Blu-ray during the Q&A, Toshiba committed to stockpiling HD DVD recording media for those who own HD DVD recorders. These will be sold on-line. As for future HD DVD software releases, Mr. Nishida could only say, “it was not our business, we cannot predict their business.” Oh really? Is the lack of new titles on a dead platform really so hard to predict?

Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses

19 February, 2008

Company Remains Focused on Championing Consumer Access to High Definition Content

TOKYO–Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.

“We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called ‘next-generation format war’ and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop,” said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. “While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality.”

Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.

Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.

This decision will not impact on Toshiba’s commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.

Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.

Fotot qe ndryshuan boten

 

BERLIN—A young man bridges the wall between East and West Berlin, 1989. © Raymond Depardon

Slate magazine has a collection of Magnum photos which changed the world. Mostly doused in black and white gradients, these pictures feature significant historical incidents. Some of them, like the picture of the girl who grew up in a concentration camp are remarkably powerful reflections on our actions.

Here are some of my favorites:

CERRO MURIANO, Spain—Federico Borrell Garcia, Spanish loyalist militiaman, collapses into death, 1936.

This is a classic photo and I like it because the Spanish soldier looks totally peaceful and dare I say it, graceful even when falling to his death. Some have said it was faked but I don’t care. It’s beautiful.

POLAND—Teresa, a child in a residence for disturbed children, grew up in a concentration camp. She has drawn a picture of “home” on the blackboard, 1948. © David Seymour

This picture is just mind blowing. The kid is out of whack and severely traumatized by growing up in a concentration camp. Chalk lines that go nowhere and stay nowhere.

NORTH CAROLINA—A black man drinks at segregated water fountains, 1950. © Elliott Erwitt

White’s man burden. The difference is stark and very direct. It just hits you right in the face. White Americans even believed that they deserved better drinking fountains. Absurd.

SHARPEVILLE, South Africa—Police open fire on a crowd, killing more than 70 and injuring hundreds of others during what came to be known as the Sharpeville massacre, 1960. © Ian Berry

I love the shot of the clouds in the picture. Ominous. Apocalyptic. Bearing weight upon everyone beneath it.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—At the climax of his “I Have A Dream” speech, Martin Luther King Jr. raises his arm on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and calls out for deliverance with the electrifying words of an old Negro spiritual hymn, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”, 1963. © Bob Adelman

Walking in the shadow of the valley of death, King does his thing and the audio for this speech is electrifying.

ARLINGTON, Va.—Jan Rose Kasmir confronts the National Guard outside the Pentagon during the 1967 anti-Vietnam War march, 1967. © Marc Riboud

This is a very iconic picture for many reasons as it totally symbolized the hippy creed of love overcoming all adversity and conflict.

The key to the appeal of Riboud’s seminal image may be Kasmir’s empathy for her adversary. “All of a sudden, I realized ‘them’ was that soldier in front of me—a human being I could just as easily have been going out on a date with,” Kasmir says. “It wasn’t a war machine, it was just a bunch of guys with orders. Right then, it went from being a fun, hip trip to a painful reality.” (Source)

SAIGON, Vietnam—The Saigon fire department, which has the job of collecting the dead from city streets, has just placed a girl, killed by U.S. helicopter fire, in the back of their truck, where her brother finds her, 1968. © Philip Jones Griffiths

Grief has been a main subject for many photographers and the little boy’s despair is heartbreaking.

PARIS—Students hurl projectiles during the May 1968 student protest. © Bruno Barbey

The student protest in Paris was no Tiananmen but was a remarkably fun period for many students because of the massive energy on the streets. Protests, films, arts, secret meetings, marches, songs.. .the id unleashed in full glory. Barbey’s picture makes them look like they were dancing.

MEXICO—Mexicans are arrested while trying to cross the U.S. border, 1979. © Alex Webb

I love the color in this one. The maroon and browns of the shirts with the yellow daffodils. The helicopter becomes a misplaced contraption within the natural environment.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan—An Afghan girl at Nasir Bagh refugee camp, 1984. © Steve McCurry

No worthy collection of seminal photography would ignore this iconic picture by McCurry. National Geographic made it big and this is really just a beautiful picture. Her eyes are incredible.

NEW BRIGHTON, United Kingdom—1985. © Martin Parr

I would love to know the context of this slightly surrealistic picture. Is he sunbathing or protesting with his body? The placement of the body just in front of the demolishing tractor just makes it so ambiguous. Love the little kid in pink.

TEHRAN, Iran—Veiled women learn how to shoot in the outskirts of the city, 1986. © Jean Gaumy

Powerful picture. Women in Iran are generally treated like crap and heavily controlled by many fundamentalist rules. This picture is empowering and shows the strength of Iranian women.

BEIJING, China—Tiananmen Square, 1989. © Stuart Franklin

I can see why this picture was such a big hit when it was published. One person can make a change. Just one is usually enough to derail a movement or at least force it to reflect upon itself.

Tank Man, or the Unknown Rebel, is the nickname of an anonymous man who became internationally famous when he was videotaped and photographed during the Tiananmen Square protests on 5 June 1989. Several photographs were taken of the man, who stood in front of a column of Chinese Type 59 tanks, preventing their advance

E gjithe bota ne 7 foto

Only In Thailand

Only in Texas

Only in Mexico

Only in India

Only in Hawaii

Only In America

Only in China