Extrasolar planet: 18 new huge alien planets discovered

Extrasolar planet discoveries have boosted by 50 percent the number of known planets orbiting massive stars. Extrasolar planets are those outside of our solar system.

Astronomers have found 18 new alien planets, all of them Jupiter-size gas giants that circle stars bigger than our sun, a new study reports.

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The discoveries increase the number of known planets orbiting massive stars by 50 percent. The exoplanet bounty should also help astronomers better understand how giant planets form and grow in nascent alien solar systems, researchers said.

The haul comes just a few months after a different team of researchers announced the discovery of 50 newfound alien worlds, including one rocky planet that could be a good candidate for life. The list of known alien planets is now well over 700 and climbing fast.

The researchers surveyed about 300 stars using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii and instruments in Texas and Arizona. They focused on so-called "retired" type A stars that are at least 1.5 times more massive than our own sun.

These stars are just beyond the main stage of life ? hence the name "retired" ? and are now ballooning out to become what's known as subgiant stars.

The team scrutinized these stars, looking for slight wobbles caused by the gravitational tug of orbiting planets. This process revealed 18 new alien worlds, all of them with masses similar to Jupiter's. All 18 planets also orbit relatively far from their stars, at a distance of at least 0.7 times the span from Earth to the sun (about 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers). [Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets]

Planet-formation theories

In addition to boosting the ever-growing alien planet tally, the new finds lend support to one of two theories that attempt to explain the formation and evolution of planets, researchers said.

This theory, called core accretion, posits that planets grow as gas and dust glom onto seed particles in a protoplanetary disk. Core accretion predicts that the characteristics of a planetary system ? the number and size of planets, for example ? depend strongly on the mass of the star.

The main competing theory, called gravitational collapse, holds that planets form when big clouds of gas and dust in the disk spontaneously collapse into clumps that become planets. According to this idea, stellar mass should have little impact on planet size, number and other characteristics.

As the exoplanet finds pile up, it seems that stellar mass does in fact play an important role. The 18 huge newfound alien worlds, which all orbit massive stars, add more evidence in support of core accretion, researchers said.

"It's nice to see all these converging lines of evidence pointing toward one class of formation mechanisms," study lead author John Johnson, of Caltech in Pasadena, said in a statement.

Johnson and his colleagues reported their results in the December issue of the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series.

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Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/WpKbC3UGRUo/Extrasolar-planet-18-new-huge-alien-planets-discovered

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Activists raid French atomic site

5 December 2011 Last updated at 06:03 ET

Environmental activists have broken into a French nuclear power station, to highlight the "vulnerability" of atomic sites in France.

Greenpeace campaigners entered the site at Nogent-sur-Seine, 60 miles (95km) south-east of Paris, before dawn.

The activists climbed on top of a reactor building and unfurled a banner, said a Greenpeace spokesman.

The power company, Electricite de France (EDF), says the intruders were detected straight away.

Seven out of nine activists who entered the site have been arrested, said the firm.

The activists "were immediately detected by the security system and were permanently followed on the site, without a decision being made to make use of force," said an EDF statement.

Greenpeace also targeted two other nuclear sites in France at the same time.

Banners were unfurled at those sites, say police, but it is not clear whether the activists managed to gain entry.

The campaign group says it did succeed in putting up a banner on the Nogent-sur-Seine plant which read "Safe Nuclear Power Doesn't Exist".

"The aim is to show the vulnerability of French nuclear installations and how easy it is to get to the heart of a nuclear reactor," said a Greenpeace nuclear specialist, Sophia Majnoni.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

This does make one think about the security of access to nuclear power plants?

End Quote Henri Guaino Advisor to President Sarkozy

She said a recent security audit of French nuclear plants "did not learn the lessons of Fukushima," the Japanese nuclear plant crippled by an earthquake and tsunami in March.

'Irresponsible' action

French Industry Minister Eric Besson expressed surprise when told of reports about the Greenpeace action.

"That would mean there has been a dysfunction and that measures must be taken to ensure that it doesn't happen again," he told French radio.

An advisor to President Nicolas Sarkozy, Henri Guaino, said the Greenpeace action was "irresponsible", but acknowledged that it raised concerns.

"This does make one think about the security of access to nuclear power plants," French news agency AFP reported him as saying.

"Conclusions must be drawn from this."

France generates about 75% of its electricity from nuclear power.

The future of the nuclear industry has sparked heated political exchanges in the run up to next year's presidential elections.

The opposition socialists say they want to reduce the country's dependence on nuclear power, but the French government has accused them of undermining the industry to win Green party support.

Greenpeace has repeatedly targeted the French nuclear industry over safety concerns.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-europe-16029572

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Eddie Long taking time off from US megachurch

FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010 file photo, Bishop Eddie Long speaks at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga. Megachurch leader Long has announced he's taking time off to focus on his family after his wife filed for divorce. Long's spokesman, Art Franklin, said that the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church leader told his congregation Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011, that he will continue to serve as senior pastor at the church in Lithonia, an Atlanta suburb. But Long said he needs a sabbatical. (AP Photo/John Amis, Pool, File)

FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010 file photo, Bishop Eddie Long speaks at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga. Megachurch leader Long has announced he's taking time off to focus on his family after his wife filed for divorce. Long's spokesman, Art Franklin, said that the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church leader told his congregation Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011, that he will continue to serve as senior pastor at the church in Lithonia, an Atlanta suburb. But Long said he needs a sabbatical. (AP Photo/John Amis, Pool, File)

LITHONIA, Georgia (AP) ? Megachurch leader Bishop Eddie Long announced Sunday he's taking time off to focus on his family after his wife filed for divorce.

Long's spokesman, Art Franklin, said the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church leader told his congregation during church services that he will continue to serve as senior pastor at the church in Lithonia just outside Atlanta. But Long said he needs a sabbatical.

Franklin declined to say how long the pastor's sabbatical from the church would be. He said Long and his family "are asking for privacy and sensitivity to their family."

The divorce filing comes more than a year after allegations last year that Long used his lavish lifestyle and position of spiritual authority to lure four young men into sexual relationships. Long settled the cases but has never admitted to any wrongdoing. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.

The scandal has tainted Long's reputation as an influential spiritual leader who transformed his suburban Atlanta congregation of 150 into a following of 25,000 members and an international televangelist empire that included athletes, entertainers and politicians.

Long's wife, Vanessa Long, filed a petition for divorce Thursday in DeKalb County Superior Court to end her 21-year marriage to the embattled minister. The church sent out a press release Friday morning saying Vanessa Long planned to withdraw her petition, but her attorney said later in the day that she had changed her mind.

In her petition, Vanessa Long indicated that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" and that there was "no hope of reconciliation of the parties." She asked the court for temporary and permanent alimony, as well as attorneys' fees and an equitable division of marital and non-marital property.

"Vanessa and I are working together in seeking God's will in our current circumstances," Eddie Long said in a written statement.

According to the divorce petition, the couple is "currently living in a bona fide state of separation."

The Longs were married March 10, 1990. The couple has three children together and has another child from Long's previous marriage.

Eddie Long, who has been a vocal opponent of gay marriage, built his empire with charisma and a prosperity Gospel message that told followers God would reward the faithful with wealth. It was an idea he embodied, sporting jewels on stage, living in a mansion and driving a luxury car.

The bishop was well-regarded in Lithonia, just outside Atlanta in DeKalb County, home to one of the most affluent African-American communities in the U.S.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-04-Georgia%20Megachurch-Pastor/id-6b48aefbf83e42f1b8d66ae57863aa1d

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Expanding oil exports top priority: natural resources minister (Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) ? Canada believes the United States will ultimately approve TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which Washington put on hold last month amid fierce environmental opposition, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said on Friday.

The $7 billion oil pipeline to Texas from Alberta, as well as a new pipeline to Canada's West Coast, are crucial to preventing a costly bottleneck in export capacity over the next four to seven years as oil sands production jumps, Oliver said.

Keystone XL, which would carry oil sands-derived crude to numerous refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, still makes enormous economic sense for the United States, he told a Reuters editorial board in Toronto.

"I think it will go through, but obviously later than we had hoped," Oliver said.

A recent decision by the state of Nebraska to back a shift in the pipeline's route, away from a major aquifer, was "a significant development", he said.

Oliver's comments were among the most bullish from Canada's Conservative government since Washington announced the Keystone go-ahead decision would be delayed at least until early 2013, after next year's U.S. presidential election.

The postponement was a big blow to Ottawa, which has made bolstering exports of crude from the tar sands - the world's third-largest oil deposit - a top policy priority and one that has kicked off a lobbying effort spanning three continents.

"This delay is not a happy event for us, but we're going to continue to talk about the advantages of the pipeline," Oliver said. Those include jobs, economic activity and reliable energy supplies, he said.

Washington's move followed protests by environmental campaigners and Hollywood celebrities, who warn that exploitation of the oil sands is causing a huge spike in greenhouse gas emissions.

The demonstrations intensified after a U.S. environmental impact assessment concluded that the pipeline, which would carry 700,000 barrels a day, would have limited ecological impact, Oliver said. He said much of the opposition in the United States was from groups opposed to all hydrocarbon development.

Oliver said the delay showed the importance of diversifying Canada's oil exports, in particular by developing pipelines to the Pacific Coast, which would allow major shipments to Asia for the first time.

The concept, which he called a "nation-building exercise", is already sparking friction with aboriginal groups and environmental activists, who say such pipelines would present oil-spill risks in environmentally sensitive areas in the British Columbia interior and in coastal waters.

More than 60 British Columbia aboriginal groups flexed their muscles on Thursday by saying they had formed a united front to oppose all exports of crude oil from the Alberta tar sands through their territories.

Such a ban would create a roadblock for Enbridge Inc's planned C$5.5 billion ($5.4 billion) Northern Gateway pipeline, which would transport tar sands crude to the British Columbia coast.

Oliver would not speculate on what the legal implications for the government might be if native communities maintain their opposition to the Northern Gateway or subsequent proposals.

Enbridge has said it is still in talks with native communities, offering a 10 percent interest in the project and as much as C$1 billion of community development money. One group, the Gitxsan First Nation, said on Friday it had agreed to support the pipeline, saying it would get C$7 million in benefits.

"It has to be built in a way that takes into account the environmental impact and the needs and the wishes of the aboriginal community," Oliver said. "I think that can be done. I'm not saying it will be easy."

West Coast oil routes represent "an enormous opportunity" for aboriginal groups, offering badly needed economic development, education and jobs, he added.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the industry's main lobby group, has said production could approach export capacity as early as 2015 without new pipelines and that could slow investment.

Oliver said expansions to current systems could push that out to 2018, but the issue remained crucial and showed the need to move forward with his plans to streamline approvals major projects.

"This decade we're going to confront that issue," he said. "It's a really big issue. That's the key reason why I think improving the regulatory process is a key objective."

($1=$1.02 Canadian)

(Editing by Peter Galloway and Rob Wilson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_minister_pipelines

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Make your alerts a little more festive with Pops' holiday alerts

 

We have taken a look at Pops a few times before, and they even released a special Halloween update, and now they have a Christmas / Holiday package available. These alerts will be sure to put you in the holiday mood with each notification you receive. If you are already a Pops user be sure to check out the new notifications, and if you haven't downloaded it yet be sure to hit the break for download links.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/T7HhMnEqBmw/story01.htm

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Economy improving but job growth still weak

In this Nov. 16, 2011 photo, Kent Displays/Improv Electronics communications director Kevin Oswald shows off the company's flexible plastic LCD screen at the Kent, Ohio company. The small firm makes LCD tablets for writing, and earlier this month released the Boogie Board Rip model which they say could replace notebooks by letting users write on the screen, save the images to the tablets internal storage chip, and then transfer those images to their computers. U.S. factories grew last month at the fastest pace since June, helped by a jump in new orders and production. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

In this Nov. 16, 2011 photo, Kent Displays/Improv Electronics communications director Kevin Oswald shows off the company's flexible plastic LCD screen at the Kent, Ohio company. The small firm makes LCD tablets for writing, and earlier this month released the Boogie Board Rip model which they say could replace notebooks by letting users write on the screen, save the images to the tablets internal storage chip, and then transfer those images to their computers. U.S. factories grew last month at the fastest pace since June, helped by a jump in new orders and production. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

In this Nov. 22, 2011 photo, construction worker Will Capper works on a new house in Palo Alto, Calif. U.S. builders spent more in October on new homes, offices and shopping centers, pushing construction spending up for a third straight month. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

This photo taken Nov. 25, 2011, shows a commercial construction project at the Bala Cynwyd Shopping Center in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. Friday Nov. 25, 2011. U.S. builders spent more in October on new homes, offices and shopping centers, pushing construction spending up for a third straight month. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)

In this photo taken Nov. 16, 2011, Kent Displays/Improv Electronics communications director Kevin Oswald shows off the company's new Boogie Board Rip eWriter, in Kent, Ohio. The small firm makes LCD tablets for writing. U.S. factories grew last month at the fastest pace since June, helped by a jump in new orders and production.(AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

In this Nov. 16, 2011 photo, Kent Displays/Improv Electronics communications director Kevin Oswald shows off the company's flexible plastic LCD screen at the Kent, Ohio company. The small firm makes LCD tablets for writing, and earlier this month released the Boogie Board Rip model which they say could replace notebooks by letting users write on the screen, save the images to the tablets internal storage chip, and then transfer those images to their computers. U.S. factories grew last month at the fastest pace since June, helped by a jump in new orders and production. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The U.S. economy is picking up. If only job growth would follow.

A spate of data Thursday showed U.S. factories grew last month at the fastest pace since June, construction spending increased for a third straight month, and both retail sales and auto sales rose in November.

But the number of people applying for unemployment benefits is still too high to signal strong hiring.

The reports offered a mixed picture for the economy one day before the government reports on job growth in November. Economists project that employers added a net 125,000 jobs. That's not enough to lower the unemployment rate, which is projected to stay at 9 percent for the second straight month.

And manufacturers could face strains overseas in key export markets, especially if Europe's debt crisis worsens and leads the continent into another recession.

For now, factories are growing. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Thursday that its manufacturing index rose to 52.7 in November, up from 50.8 in October. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. Factories have grown for 28 straight months.

Bradley Holcomb, chair of the ISM's survey committee, said manufacturers "are cautiously more optimistic about the next few months based on lower raw materials pricing and favorable levels of new orders."

Still, companies have tempered their outlook with concerns about future economic growth, government regulation and the debt crisis in Europe, he added.

New orders rose to a seven-month high and production increased, according to separate indexes in the report.

Ian Shepherdson, an economist at High Frequency Economics, said the gains suggest factory output will expand at an even faster pace next month.

"The economy seems finally to be developing real momentum; growth is accelerating," he said in a note to clients.

But a measure of factory employment fell. The drop indicates manufacturers are still hiring, but at a slower pace than the previous month.

"Manufacturers are trying to meet demand without significantly increasing their work force," said Ryan Wang, an economist at HSBC Securities.

Worker productivity rose in the July-September quarter by the most in 18 months, while labor costs fell, the government said Wednesday.

A more productive and less-costly work force can boost corporate profits. But unless companies see more demand, they're unlikely to step up hiring.

And manufacturers could soon see less demand overseas. Most economists expect Europe's financial crisis to tip that region into recession next year. About 20 percent of U.S. exports are shipped to Europe.

China, the world's second-largest economy, is also slowing. Manufacturing in China contracted in November for the first time in nearly three years, according to business surveys released Thursday.

Separately, the Labor Department said the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week rose above 400,000 for the first time in four weeks. The increase comes after applications had drifted lower over the past two months.

About 7 million people are still receiving benefits. House Republicans said they are drafting legislation to continue an extended benefits program set to expire at the end of this year. That program provides up to 99 weeks of aid in states with the highest unemployment rates.

Another report showed that U.S. builders spent more in October on new homes, offices and shopping centers. Construction spending rose for a third straight month, the Commerce Department said. Despite the gains, overall construction spending remained depressed.

The projected job growth in November would be an improvement from the previous month, when the economy added just 80,000 jobs.

Some economists are more optimistic after payroll provider ADP said Wednesday that companies added 206,000 workers last month, the most this year. That survey doesn't include government agencies, which have been cutting jobs.

Other economic indicators reinforce the outlook for an improving economy. Retailers reported a strong start to holiday sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, consumer confidence surged in November to the highest level since July, and Americans' pay rose in October by the most in seven months.

Those reports have caused many economists to forecast a pickup in growth in the final three months of the year, to about a 3 percent annual rate. That would be an improvement from growth of 2 percent in the July-September period.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-01-Economy/id-08a8cee36b56464b9bc893c3da878df4

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Sandusky accuser, charity settle legal dispute

FILE - This Nov. 5, 2011 file photo provided by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General shows former Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky, who sexually abused a boy more than 100 times, then threatened his family to keep him quiet about the encounters, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 that details new accusations not included in criminal charges against him. (AP Photo/Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, File)

FILE - This Nov. 5, 2011 file photo provided by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General shows former Penn State football defensive coordinator Gerald "Jerry" Sandusky, who sexually abused a boy more than 100 times, then threatened his family to keep him quiet about the encounters, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 that details new accusations not included in criminal charges against him. (AP Photo/Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, File)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? Lawyers for a young man described in a grand jury report as a victim of sexual abuse by former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky said Thursday they settled a legal action regarding a charity's assets.

Harrisburg attorneys Ben Andreozzi and Jeffrey Fritz said the settlement protected the claim their client plans to assert to the assets of The Second Mile, a nonprofit for at-risk children Sandusky founded in 1977.

"We intend to initiate a civil lawsuit seeking damages from the organizations and individuals responsible for the sexual assaults upon our clients," the lawyers said in a release. "However, our priority at this time is to support our clients, including Victim No. 4, who will be testifying against Mr. Sandusky at the preliminary hearing."

Sandusky, 67, has been charged with sexual abuse of eight boys over a 15-year period. His preliminary hearing on 40 criminal counts is scheduled for Dec. 13 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte.

Andreozzi and Fritz said that under terms of the settlement, The Second Mile has agreed to obtain court approval before transferring assets or closing and give their client the ability to weigh in before a judge regarding any distribution of assets.

The Second Mile released a statement calling the agreement a reiteration of its existing legal liabilities and saying it does not include a finding of liability.

The Second Mile said earlier this week that its donors should consider giving money to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, the latest sign that the charity may not be a going concern much longer. The Second Mile said its December programs would go on as scheduled, however.

Prosecutors said Sandusky found his alleged victims through The Second Mile, which is based in State College.

Also Thursday, state Rep. Ronald Waters, D-Philadelphia, asked the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare ? the agency that licenses programs dealing with youth and children ? to provide him with detailed information about The Second Mile's activities.

Penn State President Rodney Erickson said Thursday the school would conduct a wide-open search for a new football coach, following the dismissal of head coach Joe Paterno shortly after Sandusky was arrested. Paterno has not been charged with any crime, although two other high-ranking administrators, former athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz, have been charged with lying to a grand jury and failure to properly report suspected child abuse.

They have denied the allegations and await a preliminary hearing in Harrisburg Dec. 16.

Penn State's trustees held a four-minute meeting Friday to formally approve decisions made in the immediate aftermath of the arrests of Sandusky, Curley and Schultz. The board scheduled the meeting after criticism that the trustees violated the state open-meetings law by taking its initial votes behind closed doors last month.

Erickson said the university will donate $1.5 million in bowl proceeds to a pair of sex-crime advocacy organizations in the wake of shocking sex-abuse allegations levied against a once-revered assistant football coach.

He said Big Ten bowl revenue, which usually goes back to the athletic department, will go instead to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

"This presents an excellent opportunity for Penn State to raise the national visibility of this issue," Erickson said. "Our students and fans are focused on a cause to play for, to cheer for."

In addition on Thursday, Sandusky's lawyer said he has not discussed pleading guilty with his client and that the former coach continues to maintain he is innocent of the charges against him.

Joe Amendola said Sandusky has never considered a plea in his case and the topic of a guilty plea came up as a "what-if" question from a reporter about potential additional charges.

"My answer to the 'what if' question was analogous to saying, if weather forecasters were predicting a blizzard next week, which they are not, I would have to at least consider the possibility of postponing my scheduled trip to Philadelphia," Amendola said in an email.

Authorities say the sex abuse allegations were not immediately brought to the attention of authorities even though investigators say high-level people at Penn State apparently knew about at least some of them.

School President Graham Spanier was ousted as a result.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-02-Penn%20State-Abuse/id-687f101fdb9747a996cfcce2b3482a3b

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