Posts
Japan's space agency (Jaxa) is working to establish the status of its Akatsuki mission to Venus.
The spacecraft fired its main engine just before midnight GMT on Monday in a manoeuvre designed to allow the planet's gravity to capture the probe.
Akatsuki then briefly lost contact with Earth as it moved behind the Venus.
Scientists said they would know later on Tuesday whether the operation to insert the satellite into the correct orbit had been successful or not.
Akatsuki was launched to the inner-world by an H-IIA rocket in May. Its goals include finding definitive evidence for lightning and for active volcanoes.
It will not be alone at Venus; the European Space Agency's Venus Express craft arrived at the planet in 2006. The pair are due to conduct joint observations.
Venus is almost identical in size to our planet, and is thought to have a similar composition. But there the resemblance ends.
Continue reading the main story
AKATSUKI ('DAWN') VENUS ORBITER
Akatsuki (Jaxa)
* Will study atmosphere and surface
* Size: 1.0m by 1.4m by 1.4m
* Mass at lift-off: About 500kg
* 5 cameras; 1 radio experiment
* Designed for 4.5-year life
* Will sit in 300km by 80,000km orbit
The thick Venusian atmosphere is opaque to instruments that operate at visible wavelengths and so the Japanese probe carries five cameras that are sensitive in the infrared and ultraviolet parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
more here
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
News:List of facilities 'vital to US security' leaked
6 December 2010 Last updated at 03:01 GMT
By Jonathan Marcus BBC Diplomatic Correspondent
A long list of key facilities around the world that the US describes as vital to its national security has been released by Wikileaks.
The US State Department in February 2009 asked all US missions abroad to list all installations whose loss could critically affect US national security.
The list includes pipelines, communication and transport hubs.
Several UK sites are listed, including cable locations, satellite sites and BAE Systems plants.
This is probably the most controversial document yet from the Wikileaks organisation.
more here
By Jonathan Marcus BBC Diplomatic Correspondent
A long list of key facilities around the world that the US describes as vital to its national security has been released by Wikileaks.
The US State Department in February 2009 asked all US missions abroad to list all installations whose loss could critically affect US national security.
The list includes pipelines, communication and transport hubs.
Several UK sites are listed, including cable locations, satellite sites and BAE Systems plants.
This is probably the most controversial document yet from the Wikileaks organisation.
more here
Sunday, December 5, 2010
News:China leadership 'orchestrated Google hacking'
4 December 2010 Last updated at 23:40 GMT
Senior Chinese figures were behind the hacking of Google earlier this year which forced the search engine to quit the country, leaked US cables suggest.
One cable, released by whistle-blowing site Wikileaks, cites a "well-placed" contact as saying the action against Google was "100% political".
A politburo member is said to have been angered after Googling his name and finding critical comments online.
The cable says it is unclear whether China's top leaders were involved.
Other cables show Beijing has been "extremely concerned" about the use of high-resolution satellite imagery on Google's mapping software, Google Earth.
In January, Google said it had been subjected to a "sophisticated cyber attack originating from China" - it said the e-mail accounts of human rights activists were among those hacked.more here
Senior Chinese figures were behind the hacking of Google earlier this year which forced the search engine to quit the country, leaked US cables suggest.
One cable, released by whistle-blowing site Wikileaks, cites a "well-placed" contact as saying the action against Google was "100% political".
A politburo member is said to have been angered after Googling his name and finding critical comments online.
The cable says it is unclear whether China's top leaders were involved.
Other cables show Beijing has been "extremely concerned" about the use of high-resolution satellite imagery on Google's mapping software, Google Earth.
In January, Google said it had been subjected to a "sophisticated cyber attack originating from China" - it said the e-mail accounts of human rights activists were among those hacked.more here
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Russian man pleads not guilty to global spam scheme
4 December 2010
A Russian man accused of operating an e-mail spam business that at times accounted for one third of global spam has pleaded not guilty in a federal court in the US state of Wisconsin.
Oleg Nikolaenko is charged with running a global network of more than 500,000 virus-infected personal computers, in violation of a US anti-spam law.
Mr Nikolaenko asked to be allowed a form of house arrest, pending a trial.
But the judge ordered him held without bail, ruling he was a flight risk.more here
A Russian man accused of operating an e-mail spam business that at times accounted for one third of global spam has pleaded not guilty in a federal court in the US state of Wisconsin.
Oleg Nikolaenko is charged with running a global network of more than 500,000 virus-infected personal computers, in violation of a US anti-spam law.
Mr Nikolaenko asked to be allowed a form of house arrest, pending a trial.
But the judge ordered him held without bail, ruling he was a flight risk.more here
Friday, December 3, 2010
News:Bhopal: India wants compensation doubled
India is seeking to more than double to $1.1bn (£700m) the compensation paid by a US chemical company for the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster.
The attorney general's office has filed a case at the Supreme Court to increase the $470m settlement reached in 1989.
The petition coincides with the 26th anniversary of the disaster.
Thousands of people died after the leak from Union Carbide's plant in the Madhya Pradesh state capital.
In June, an Indian court finally convicted seven former managers at the plant, handing down minor fines and brief prison sentences.
But many victims and campaigners have felt justice has still not been served against Union Carbide.
Dow Chemicals, which bought Union Carbide in 1999, has said in the past that the $470m settlement was fair and final.
more here
The attorney general's office has filed a case at the Supreme Court to increase the $470m settlement reached in 1989.
The petition coincides with the 26th anniversary of the disaster.
Thousands of people died after the leak from Union Carbide's plant in the Madhya Pradesh state capital.
In June, an Indian court finally convicted seven former managers at the plant, handing down minor fines and brief prison sentences.
But many victims and campaigners have felt justice has still not been served against Union Carbide.
Dow Chemicals, which bought Union Carbide in 1999, has said in the past that the $470m settlement was fair and final.
more here
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
News:'Trillions' of Earths orbit red stars in older galaxies
1 December 2010 Last updated at 18:48 GMT
By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
Astronomers say the Universe may contain three times the number of stars as is currently thought.
Their assessment is based on new observations showing other galaxies may have very different structures to our Milky Way galaxy.
The researchers tell the journal Nature that more stars probably means many more planets as well - perhaps "trillions" of Earth-like worlds.
The Yale University-led study used the Keck telescope in Hawaii.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
There are possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars”
End Quote Professor Pieter Van Dokkum Yale University
It found that galaxies older than ours contain 20 times more red dwarf stars than more recent ones.
Red dwarfs are smaller and dimmer than our own Sun; it is only recently that telescopes have been powerful enough to detect them.
According to Yale's Professor Pieter van Dokkum, who led the research, the discovery also increases the estimate for the number of planets in the Universe and therefore greatly increases the likelihood of life existing elsewhere in the cosmos.
"There are possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars," he said. "Red dwarfs are typically more than 10 billion years old and so have been around long enough for complex life to evolve on planets around them. It's one reason why people are interested in this type of star."
Spiral Galaxy and Elliptical Galaxy Two-thirds of the observable Universe consists of spiral galaxies (L) like our own Milky Way. The remainder is made up of older elliptical galaxies (R)
The findings also help to account for what astronomers describe as the "missing mass" in the Universe. more here
By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News
Astronomers say the Universe may contain three times the number of stars as is currently thought.
Their assessment is based on new observations showing other galaxies may have very different structures to our Milky Way galaxy.
The researchers tell the journal Nature that more stars probably means many more planets as well - perhaps "trillions" of Earth-like worlds.
The Yale University-led study used the Keck telescope in Hawaii.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
There are possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars”
End Quote Professor Pieter Van Dokkum Yale University
It found that galaxies older than ours contain 20 times more red dwarf stars than more recent ones.
Red dwarfs are smaller and dimmer than our own Sun; it is only recently that telescopes have been powerful enough to detect them.
According to Yale's Professor Pieter van Dokkum, who led the research, the discovery also increases the estimate for the number of planets in the Universe and therefore greatly increases the likelihood of life existing elsewhere in the cosmos.
"There are possibly trillions of Earths orbiting these stars," he said. "Red dwarfs are typically more than 10 billion years old and so have been around long enough for complex life to evolve on planets around them. It's one reason why people are interested in this type of star."
Spiral Galaxy and Elliptical Galaxy Two-thirds of the observable Universe consists of spiral galaxies (L) like our own Milky Way. The remainder is made up of older elliptical galaxies (R)
The findings also help to account for what astronomers describe as the "missing mass" in the Universe. more here
News:US soldier faces court martial over Afghan killings
1 December 2010 Last updated at 15:52 GMT
The first of 12 US soldiers accused of being part of a group that killed Afghan civilians for sport faces court martial on Wednesday.
Charges against Staff Sgt Robert Stevens include conspiracy to commit assault and battery, dereliction of duty and aggravated assault.
These relate to an incident in March where he is said to have shot at three Afghan men near an Army base.
Eleven others are charged in the affair, including five with murder.
Sgt Stevens faces up to 27 years in prison if convicted by the military hearing in Washington state, the Army said.more here
The first of 12 US soldiers accused of being part of a group that killed Afghan civilians for sport faces court martial on Wednesday.
Charges against Staff Sgt Robert Stevens include conspiracy to commit assault and battery, dereliction of duty and aggravated assault.
These relate to an incident in March where he is said to have shot at three Afghan men near an Army base.
Eleven others are charged in the affair, including five with murder.
Sgt Stevens faces up to 27 years in prison if convicted by the military hearing in Washington state, the Army said.more here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
