Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/282072188?client_source=feed&format=rss
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শনিবার, ২ ফেব্রুয়ারি, ২০১৩
Seeing the aurora in a new light: Sounding rocket to help scientists study Northern Lights
Feb. 1, 2013 ? On a cold February night in Poker Flat, Alaska, a team of scientists will wait patiently for the exotic red and green glow of an aurora to illuminate the sky. Instead of simply admiring the view, this group from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center of Greenbelt, Md., and The Aerospace Corporation of El Segundo, Calif. will launch a sounding rocket up through the Northern Lights. The rocket could launch as early as the night of Feb. 2, 2013, but the team has a two-week window in order to find the perfect launch conditions.
Armed with a series of instruments developed specifically for this mission, the VISIONS (VISualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral atom imaging during a Substorm) rocket will soar high through the arctic sky to study the auroral wind, which is a strong but intermittent stream of oxygen atoms from Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Although the rocket will survive only fifteen minutes before splashing down in the Arctic Ocean, the information it obtains will provide answers to some long-standing questions, says Doug Rowland, who is the VISIONS principal investigator at Goddard.
VISIONS will study how oxygen atoms leave Earth's atmosphere under the influence of the aurora. Most of the atmosphere is bound by Earth's gravity, but a small portion of it gets heated enough by the aurora that it can break free, flowing outwards until it reaches near-Earth space. The atoms that form this wind initially travel at about 300 miles per hour -- only one percent of the speed needed to overcome gravity and leave Earth's atmosphere.
"This oxygen would normally never gain enough energy to leave the atmosphere," says Rowland. "On the other hand, at very high altitudes, satellite experiments have measured oxygen atoms moving faster than 50 miles per second. These experiments have shown that if oxygen can reach these high altitudes, there are plenty of ways for it to gain even more energy, in which case the oxygen atoms can escape near-Earth space entirely. What we don't know is how the oxygen gets enough energy to fight against gravity and reach the higher altitudes where these slingshots are active."
To find out what is doing the heavy lifting to kick start the oxygen, Rowland and his team are waiting to launch the rocket during the active phase of an aurora, which only lasts from 20 to 30 minutes. Auroras indicate a dramatic increase in the energy input to the upper atmosphere, creating a golden opportunity for the rocket to study the escaping oxygen, and learn more about what gives the oxygen the energy it needs to escape from Earth.
The VISIONS mission will highlight the advantages of using a sounding rocket instead of a satellite to gather the new information. In addition to being smaller and less expensive, sounding rockets provide vertical profiles of the auroral environment, on both the upleg and downleg portions of their parabolic trajectory, with speeds much less than those of orbiting satellites. Further, rockets can be launched from the right place at just the right time to study the aurora -- unlike a satellite that can only encounter an aurora when it flies through it by chance.
To solve the mystery behind the auroral wind, the sounding rocket will use four unique instruments. The key instrument is Goddard's MIniaturized Low-energy Energetic Neutral Atom imager, known as MILENA, which will directly observe the oxygen flowing out of the atmosphere.
In the past, scientists have only been able to study the up-flowing oxygen on a small scale -- because the oxygen is electrically charged, it is confined by Earth's magnetic field, and instruments can only measure the oxygen close to its source region. The revolutionary MILENA instrument, however, contains twin imagers that can observe the oxygen further along on its journey, after it has stolen an electron from a neutral gas atom in the atmosphere. This allows the oxygen to break free from its magnetic prison and travel a long distance, where it can be detected remotely. By mapping the oxygen, MILENA acts as a type of camera that builds up a picture of the auroral wind using oxygen atoms instead of light.
Although the MILENA instrument itself is new, it already has a successful history. The instrument was modeled after a similar imager known as MINI-ME (for Miniature Imager for Neutral Ionospheric Atoms and Magnetospheric Electrons) that flew on the NASA/U.S. Dept. of Defense FASTSAT (Fast Affordable Science and Technology Satellite) mission, which ended in Nov., 2012, after two years on-orbit.
The other instruments aboard VISIONS, including the Rocket-borne Auroral Imager (RAI), the Fields and Thermal Plasma (FTP) instrument, and the Energetic Electron Analyzer/Energetic Ion Analyzer (EEA/EIA), will work with MILENA to detect where the auroral activity occurs and measure the auroral energy that heats the oxygen. Goddard is providing MILENA and the FTP, while the RAI and EEA/EIA instruments are provided by The Aerospace Corporation of El Segundo, Calif.
NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Va., including the NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (NSROC), is providing the rocket and payload support systems. The Poker Flat launch range is operated by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, under contract to NASA.
Although the VISIONS mission will last only 15 minutes, Michael Collier, a planetary scientist at Goddard who is the MILENA instrument lead, said the information gathered in its short trip will be crucial.
"What we're doing is launching into a specific period of intense geomagnetic activity," Collier said. "With VISIONS, it may be the case we're not getting a whole lot of data, but we get the data we want."
All they have to do is wait.
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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130201093128.htm
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শুক্রবার, ১ ফেব্রুয়ারি, ২০১৩
As world reacts to strike, Hezbollah hints Syrian target was military
Shiite group, reported to have received chemical weapons from Assad, condemns Israeli attack, as do Russia and the Arab League.
Armed Lebanese movement Hezbollah seemingly acknowledged on Thursday that a site destroyed outside Damascus, reportedly by Israel, was responsible for ?military and technological development.?
Hezbollah was one of a number of bodies on Thursday to condemn the reported attack by Israeli planes, calling the action ?barbaric.?
In a statement issued on its website Al-Manar, the Shiite organization ? a close ally of the Assad regime in Syria ? condemned the attack, claiming that it was intended to stunt ?Arab and Islamic technological development.? More
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Marine leader: Infantry skeptical about women
FILE - In this July 29, 2011 file photo, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos speaks with reporters at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. The Marine Corps commandant said Thursday Jan. 31, 2013, the infantry side is skeptical about how women will perform in those units and some positions may end up being closed if not enough females fail to meet the rigorous standards. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - In this July 29, 2011 file photo, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos speaks with reporters at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md. The Marine Corps commandant said Thursday Jan. 31, 2013, the infantry side is skeptical about how women will perform in those units and some positions may end up being closed if not enough females fail to meet the rigorous standards. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
SAN DIEGO (AP) ? The commandant of the Marine Corps said the infantry side of the most male of all military branches is skeptical about how women will perform in their units, and some positions may end up closed again if too few females meet the physically demanding standards of combat.
Gen. James Amos made the remarks to reporters Thursday at a defense conference in San Diego hosted by the U.S. Naval Institute and the defense trade group AFCEA.
Amos says most Marines support the Defense Department's lifting of the ban last week, which opened thousands of positions to women.
He pointed out that over the past decade, many male service members already have been fighting alongside women in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Women who serve in supply troops, as clerks and with military police have ended up on the unmarked front lines of modern warfare, blurring the distinction between combat and noncombat jobs. More than 150 women have been killed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan while serving in support roles.
Many of the positions opened by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's announcement are in Army and Marine infantry units and in potentially elite commando jobs. It will be up to the military service chiefs to recommend and defend whether women should be excluded from any of those more demanding and deadly positions, such as Navy commandos or the Army's Delta Force.
The infantry units are smaller and spend more grueling time in battle.
"I think from the infantry side of the house, you know they're more skeptical," Amos said. "It's been an all-male organization throughout the history of the U.S. Marine Corps so I don't think that should be any surprise."
Military officials say they will not lower standards, but they are reviewing them to ensure they are necessary in making a warfighter and not just difficult to be difficult.
When asked by The Associated Press about whether women will be allowed to someday serve as SEALs, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert said it will be up to special operations commands to determine how they will transition the standards to females.
"It is a matter of what are the expectations, and is it feasible to change the standards they have right now, physical standards," Greenert said. "They would say early on 'No, we can't do that,' but I think that's really to be determined."
Amos said his branch also wants to gauge how much interest there is among women to join the infantry units and whether enough can qualify for those units. If there is little interest or few can pass the infantry officers school, then certain positions may be closed to women.
Still, he emphasized, that doesn't mean he is expecting that to happen. He said military leaders want to ensure the military continues to be an effective war-fighting force. And if the data and analysis support closing some positions, he believes the defense secretary will support that.
"I have every expectation that the secretary of defense will honor that," Amos said. "It's a commonsense approach to this thing."
The Marine Corps opened its tough infantry course at Quantico, Va., to female volunteers last fall. Two tried unsuccessfully in the first session. In the second session, none signed up. Amos said two female lieutenants have signed up for the third session that will start in March.
Amos said he met with them Monday.
"They're stalwart," he said. "It looks like they're in great shape and they're excited about it."
Amos said he also met with one of the female officers who almost made it to the second-week mark of the course last fall. He said she was forced to drop out because of a stress fracture that was so severe it could have left her permanently injured.
"She did anything but quit," Amos said, adding that the woman was cheered on by her male counterparts. "She's a phenomenal officer."
The woman is now in flight training school in Pensacola, Fla. Amos said she was part of the team so he is optimistic that "we're going about it the right way."
"It's just a very, very difficult course, and it's a very small community," he added.
Women make up about 7 percent of the Marine Corps, compared with about 14 percent overall among the military's 1.4 million active military personnel.
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Ind. DNR wants charges dropped in deer rescue case
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ? The Indiana Department of Natural Resources said Friday it is asking a prosecutor to drop charges against a couple who nursed an injured baby deer back to health and kept it in an enclosure on their property for two years.
The misdemeanor charges of illegal possession of a white-tailed deer against police officer Jeff Counceller and his wife, Jennifer, spawned a public outcry. A Facebook page and online petition sprung up in their defense.
Gov. Mike Pence asked the DNR to review the case this week, and on Friday the agency said in a statement that it would ask prosecutors to dismiss the charge, which carries a penalty of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
The Decatur County prosecutor's office said in a statement that it would review the case once it has received the department's request, but that it had not yet arrived.
"Clearly, this was the right decision. And while we are a state of laws, there is also room for grace, and particularly for people who are trying to care for an injured animal," Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said Friday.
Jennifer Councellor said she is pleased the agency has reconsidered.
"I had hopes that it would come out this way because it was obvious that much of the world saw the compassion of what we did and there was not criminal intent," she told The Indianapolis Star. The Councellers did not return phone calls Friday from The Associated Press.
Jeff Counceller said he found the deer in 2010 curled up on a front porch with maggot-infested puncture wounds, so he took it back to his family's 17-acre farm in Connersville to try to save it. The couple named the fawn Dani and kept it in a fenced enclosure.
The Councellers said they had intended to release the deer once it was strong enough to survive on its own. They tried to find it a home at animal rescue operations, petting zoos and deer farms, but no one would take it. They applied for a rescue permit but were turned down.
Then, last summer, the deer vanished on the very day the DNR planned to euthanize it. The agency then asked for charges to be brought against the Councellers.
A Facebook profile supporting the couple ? Drop Charges Against Connersville Police Officer ? has drawn more than 38,000 likes, and an online petition calling for the charges to be dismissed has attracted more than 30,000 signatures. The page lit up with triumphant comments following Friday's announcement.
Pence said Wednesday it appeared that conservation officers had properly followed state law barring residents from keeping wild animals. But he also said he had asked the DNR for a briefing and noted that Hoosiers clearly love animals.
The Decatur County Prosecutor's Office, which handled the case because Jeff Counceller is a police officer in Fayette County and works with prosecutors there, urged state officials to review the law.
"We hope that the Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana legislature will take this opportunity to review that statute and decide if matters like these allegations should be handled as crimes or infractions in the future," the prosecutors' statement said.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ind-dnr-wants-charges-dropped-deer-rescue-case-172704647.html
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Slain Chicago teen's family prepares for funeral
Two days after a teen who performed at President Obama's inauguration weekend was gunned down, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is set to yank 200 cops from desk jobs and make them fight crime on the streets. NBC's Kevin Tibbles reports.
By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News
Hadiya Pendleton's family faced the most heart-breaking of tasks Thursday: choosing the dress the 15-year-old shooting victim will wear at her funeral.
"It's been 48 hours of nothing but love, but now they need some time alone," cousin Shatira Wilks said.
The Chicago teen's death on Tuesday -- just a week after she performed during President Barack Obama's inaugural festivities -- put her loved ones in the spotlight.
They consoled the high school sophomore's many friends and cousins. They met with the mayor and spoke to the city's top cop.
Then they asked to be left alone for a day, so they could finalize plans to say farewell to a girl whose death had made headlines across the country and to grieve together.
For Pendleton's 10-year-old brother, Nate, known as Junior, that meant spending time in his big sister's now-empty room.
"He has been sleeping in her bed at night," Wilks said. "It's really sad. He was a serious little brother. And she loved being a big sister."
Pendleton was gathered with fellow members of the volleyball team in a park near the selective King College Prep High School when a gunman opened fire on the group Tuesday afternoon.
Scott Olson / Getty Images
Hadiya Pendleton's parents, Nate and Cleo, and her 10-year-old brother, whom she called Junior.
Police believe the shooter mistakenly thought the teens were members of a rival gang hanging out on disputed turf. He has not been caught.
Pendleton's mother, Cleopatra Cowley, told MSNBC's Al Sharpton on Thursday how she was at work when she got the call that her daughter had been shot.
"I took the first cab I could come across to get to my baby," she said, racked with sobs. "Never in a million years did I imagine I would be getting a call that my baby was shot."
She spoke of her daughter's love of books, her wide-eyed trip to Washington and her promising future.
"She loved life ... and she didn?t want to be anything more than she was ? and that was just 15," Cowley said.
The pastor of the family's church said there is a sliver of consolation in the knowledge that the teen's death is stirring more debate about crime and guns in a city where more than 500 people were murdered last year.
"Something has to be done," Pastor Courtney C. Maxwell said, not long after Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced he was putting 200 more cops on the street. "I pray something positive comes out of this."
He said he had known Pendleton for about five years and was working on the tribute he will read to mourners at the Greater Deliverance Temple Church.
"What do you say about a young person to her hurt parents, to a hurt community, to a hurt nation?" he said.
Chicago teenager Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed Tuesday, a victim of gun violence. Her death is inspiring people around the country to push for change to gun laws. Hadiya's mother Cleo Cowley shares her story with Rev. Al Sharpton.
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