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by Max Eddy | 3:34 pm, January 23rd, 2012

Biggest solar storm since 2005 pummels Earth

AFP – 20 hours ago

A January 19 image provided by NASA shows an M3.2 solar flare captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. A potent solar flare has unleashed the biggest radiation storm since 2005 and could disrupt some satellite communications in the polar regions, US space weather monitors said Monday

A potent solar flare has unleashed the biggest radiation storm since 2005 and could disrupt some satellite communications in the polar regions, US space weather monitors said Monday.

The event started late Sunday with a moderate-sized solar flare that erupted right near the center of the Sun, said Doug Biesecker, a physicist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center.

"The flare itself was nothing spectacular, but it sent off a very fast coronal mass ejection traveling four million miles per hour (6.4 million kilometers per hour)," he told AFP.

A rush of radiation in the form of solar protons already has begun bombarding the Earth and is likely to continue through Wednesday.

The radiation storm is the largest of its kind since 2005 but still ranks only a three on the scale of one to five, enough to be considered "strong" but not "severe," he added.

NOAA said its website the S3 ranking means "it could, e.g., cause isolated reboots of computers onboard Earth-orbiting satellites and interfere with polar radio communications."

Biesecker said that when it comes to radiation storms, the polar regions are affected most.

For instance, the storm could spell disruptions to airline flights, oil operations, Arctic exploration and space satellites.

Night-sky viewers in Asia and Europe may be able to witness the aurora, or Northern Lights, late Tuesday as a result of the storm.

"We don’t expect major impacts from an event like this," Biesecker said.

"It’s the people who need GPS (global positioning system) accuracy of centimeters who have to worry, not people who want to know if you’re going to turn the car 30 meters (100 feet) ahead."

Biggest solar storm since 2005 pummels Earth – Yahoo!

An instructor from the Tianjiao Special Guard/Security Consultant Ltd. Co, smashes a bottle over a female recruit’s head during a training session for China’s first female bodyguards in Beijing 13 January 2012. According to the company, the training session consists of 20 women, mostly college graduates, who will undergo 8-10 months of training to develop sufficient skills to become security guards. The company will then offer the best trainee a chance to attend the International Security Academy in Israel.

That’s an idea worth floating: The amazing wildlife haven built on water designed to combat urban pollution

By Graham Smith

 

Wide open spaces in cities are becoming an increasingly scarce commodity as the world’s urban population continues to expand.

Now an architect has developed a floating park that is a haven for wildlife and will in turn address the rise in pollution.

Koen Olthuis, of Dutch firm Waterstudio, has unveiled the Sea Tree, a multi-tiered structure comprising of layered green habitats.

Urban future: The Sea Tree offshore nature park will be a haven for wildlife and will address the rise in pollution

The water-based park will provide valuable living areas for birds, bees, bats and other small animals, bringing positive green effects to urban environments.

It will also extend underwater, providing aquatic creatures with an environment to thrive.

Designed for use in cities with large waterways, such as London and New York, the Sea Trek will not be accessible to humans.

Mr Olthuis came up with the concept because it is so difficult to add extra park zones to a city on land. Open space such as rivers, seas, lakes and harbours should instead be utilised, he believes.

He proposes using offshore technology similar to oil rigs to construct the Sea Trees and has even suggested that oil companies donate them to cities to show ‘their concern for a better city environment’.

Anchored: The water-based park will provide valuable living areas for birds, bees, bats and other small animals, bringing positive green effects to urban environments. It will also provide a habitat for aquatic creatures

Eco-friendly: Designed for use in cities with large waterways, such as London and New York, the Sea Trek will not be accessible to humans

The giant floating towers would be moored to the seabed with underwater cables; the height and depth of the Sea Tree can be adjusted depending on the location.

Mr Olthuis said: ‘Underwater, the Sea Tree provides a habitat for small water creatures or even, when the climate allows for it, artificial coral reefs.

‘The beauty of the design is that it provides a solution and at the same time does not cost expensive space on land, while the effect of the species living in the sea tree will affect a zone of several miles around the moored location.’

Waterstudio claims the structure will be fully realised within two years and that an undisclosed client has already expressed a keen interest.

Positive effect: The Sea Tree will allow all sorts of wildlife to thrive in areas of cities where it previously was unable to do so

Above and below: Airborne creatures will occupy the top half of the Sea Tree, while underwater an aquatic environment will thrive

Sea Tree: The amazing wildlife haven built on water that will combat urban pollution | Mail Online

Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight

 

By Gaby Leslie

The Doomsday Clock has been moved one minute closer to midnight – meaning that the world is theoretically one step closer to a huge global disaster.
This week, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS) moved the hands of the symbolic clock from six to five minutes before midnight to reflect the world’s lack of progress on battling climate change, and new states pursuing nuclear weapons that could spell Armageddon.
Japan’s Fukushima accident last year was also a deciding factor in the clock’s change.
In a formal statement issued at the time of Tuesday’s announcement, the BAS noted: “It is five minutes to midnight. Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed. For that reason, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is moving the clock hand one minute closer to midnight, back to its time in 2007.”

Why forward?
The decision was made following a symposium in the US where scientists reviewed the implications of recent events and trends for the future of humanity with input from other experts on nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, climate change and biosecurity.

The last update of the clock was in January 2010 when a whole minute was gained. But that was when BAS thought the world was cooperating in terms of their nuclear ambitions.

“The challenges to rid the world of nuclear weapons, harness nuclear power, and meet the nearly inexorable climate disruptions from global warming are complex and interconnected. In the face of such complex problems, it is difficult to see where the capacity lies to address these challenges.

“Political processes seem wholly inadequate; the potential for nuclear weapons use in regional conflicts in the Middle East, Northeast Asia, and South Asia are alarming; safer nuclear reactor designs need to be developed and built, and more stringent oversight, training, and attention are needed to prevent future disasters; the pace of technological solutions to address climate change may not be adequate to meet the hardships that large-scale disruption of the climate portends,” the BAS added.
Origins

Created in 1947 by the board of directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago, the Doomsday Clock was originally seen as a symbol of the threat of nuclear war.

The original time was set at 11.53pm, or seven minutes to midnight, with the latest setting being 11.58pm in 1953, when the US and Russia each tested thermonuclear devices within the space of nine months.
It was 17 minutes to midnight in 1991 after the end of the Cold War – the furthest the clock hands have ever been away from midnight.

The clock has become a universally recognised indicator of the world’s vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and emerging technologies in the life sciences.

Doomsday Clock moves closer to midnight – Yahoo!

CSW speaking up for Iran’s Christians

Church’s pastor has been targeted in the past

Pastor Farhad has been detained on several occasions in the past and warned not to allow Muslim converts into his church. This is also not the first time that Christmas celebrations in Iranian churches have been raided in this way. Similar raids and detentions during the Christmas season have occurred in Iran for the last three years.

This wave of arrest comes as Iranian media has been publicising a Christmas message sent to Pope Benedict from Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, in which he congratulated his Christian counterparts on the “auspicious anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ”, wished blessing, happiness and prosperity to the Pope and all Christians in the coming year, and stated that the world’s ills were caused by ignoring ethics and justice.

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas said, “Mr Larijani’s Christmas message may have been well intentioned, but it is entirely undermined by these arrests, which violate the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and Iran’s own constitution. The Iranian authorities often insist that Christians are being arrested for indulging in actions that threaten public security, however, it is difficult to conceive how children attending Sunday school or, for that matter, legitimate Christmas celebrations fit into this category. It increasingly appears as if the Iranian regime has decided to deem every act of Christian worship a threat to national security. If this is indeed the case, then the right to freedom of religion or belief is gravely under threat in Iran.”

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It mutt be love: Woman spends $50,000 to have her dog cloned after his death

A distraught dog lover had her beloved pet cloned so that she could be with him even after he had died.

New Yorker Danielle Tarantola paid an incredible $50,000 for the procedure using pet Trouble’s DNA to create another dog exactly the same as the first.

She named the new pup Double Trouble after she contacted the world’s only animal cloning company in South Korea.

Double Trouble: The cloned pup may only a few months old but already he is living the same life as Trouble, in this photo the little pup is dressed as an angel, complete with halo.

Clone ranger: Trouble dressed as an elf at Christmas time, his DNA has since been cloned by his New York owner

And she said of her new pooch: ‘I really can see no difference between them. So many of their gestures and the way they play is identical.’

Just a few months ago, the former Wall Street worker got a phone call from the company’s scientists informing her that the surrogate bitch carrying the embryos developed from Trouble’s DNA had been successfully impregnated.

Weeks later, the surrogate went into labour and Danielle watched the birth by webcam from her home in the U.S.

Danielle had been so upset by the death of her constant companion three years ago that she shelled out the massive fee so that she could have an identical replacement.

She said: ‘He was like the child I never had – and I probably did treat him better than most people treat their children.’

Beloved pet: Danielle Tarantola paid £32,000 to have Trouble cloned, she is pictured in her New York home with the massive portrait she had painted of him after his death

She even dressed the dog up in elaborate costumes which included a tuxedo for her wedding and an elf at Christmas.

After his death Danielle, who got Trouble as a pet when she was just 18, had a huge portrait of him painted on the wall of her home.

She still talked to him every day and even had his face printed on her pillowcases and bedspread to remind her of the pet she had lost.

Danielle first heard of the Asian cloning company in 2005 when Trouble was still alive.

She toyed with the idea of having the pet cloned while he was still with her so that he could meet the second dog.

But she decided against it and instead choose to have Trouble’s vet take a DNA sample during a routine check up.

Coverage: Danielle’s deal with a TV station meant that her incredible £32,000 fee was only half that originally quoted.

Doggy throne: Trouble’s comfortable bed, no expense spared for the little dog

She said: ‘Originally I wanted to clone Trouble in his lifetime as I would love to have seen how they interacted together. But in the end I waited – and Double Trouble is the result.

‘I know this isn’t for everyone but it was my decision and I’m incredibly happy with it. I can never replace Trouble but I love Double Trouble to pieces.

And she added: ‘Trouble loved to hide under the bed and then nip your feet when you came near and Double Trouble does that too.’

Danielle negotiated a reduced fee from the original $100,000 price tag for the operation after she secured TV coverage of her quest to replace Trouble.

The cloning of animals was first achieved in 1996 when researchers at the Roslin Institute in Scotland successfully produced Dolly the sheep.

The world’s first cloned mammal sparked huge debate and opened the door for researchers across the world to experiment in the controversial techniques.

Deer, cattle, dogs, cats and horses have since been cloned.

But the commercialisation of the process has sparked controversy.

John Woestendiek, the author of ‘Dog, Inc.’, a book about the dog cloning industry, says that the practice is centred in South Korea because there are much lower ethical standards for the treatment of dogs than in Europe and the United States.

‘You can rent [dogs] from farmers for the laboratory and, hopefully, everything goes OK, return them to the farmer, but everything’s not going to go OK.’

The author says that some of the dogs used in the cloning process as egg donors or surrogate mothers are later sent back to the farms where they are killed and eaten.

In South Korea, dogs are raised on farms for their meat.

Danielle Tarantola spends £32k to have her dog cloned after her beloved pet died | Mail Online

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 3:48 PM on 12th January 2012

Police condemn 147mph Jaguar driver

 

Press Association – 20 hours ago

Owen Swift was caught driving at 147mph by an officer using a laser speed gun

A police sergeant who caught a pensioner driving a luxury car at 147mph on a bypass has described the incident as "the worst case of excessive speed I have ever seen in 26 years of policing".

Company director Owen Swift, 68, was clocked travelling at more than twice the speed limit in his Jaguar XKR on the Malton bypass, in North Yorkshire, on the evening of June 11 last year.

He was caught by Traffic Sergeant John Clayton using a laser speed gun.

North Yorkshire Police confirmed Swift was found guilty of speeding at Scarborough Magistrates’ Court after his claim that he was not the driver of the car was rejected.

A force spokeswoman said he was fined £700, ordered to pay £650 costs and an admin fee of £15.

He received six penalty points which were added to six points already on his licence and he was therefore disqualified from driving for nine months under the "totting" rules.

Speaking after the case, Mr Clayton said: "This is the worst case of excessive speed I have ever seen in 26 years of policing.

"Swift’s disregard for his own safety and the safety of other road users beggars belief.

"The potential consequences of such shocking driving do not bear thinking about.

"I have seen first-hand the destruction caused by excessive speed. Swift should consider himself extremely lucky to be here to face the court and walk away with just a ban and a fine."

By the: Police condemn 147mph Jaguar driver – Yahoo!

Iran intensifies war of words with U.S. over threat to close oil shipping lane following nuclear arms row

 

A war of words broke out between Washington and Tehran last night after the Iranians threatened to choke off one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

Tensions rose after Iran’s top naval commander bragged that shutting down the Gulf to oil tankers would be ‘easier than drinking a glass of water.’

The implied threat triggered an angry response from the US Fifth Fleet, which warned it would not allow any disruption in the strategically important Strait of Hormuz – through which 40 per cent of the world’s tanker-borne oil passes.

Tensions: A military helicopter flies over a submarine during the Velayat-90 war games by the Iranian navy in the Strait of Hormuz today

‘Anyone who threatens to disrupt freedom of navigation in an international strait is clearly outside the community of nations; any disruption will not be tolerated,’ said a spokesperson for the Bahrain-based fleet.

‘The free flow of goods and services through the Strait of Hormuz is vital to regional and global prosperity,’ the statement added.

Britain dismissed the Iranian boasts as an attempt to draw attention from its nuclear ambitions.

Playing down the threat, a Foreign Office spokesman said: ‘Iranian politicians regularly use this type of rhetoric to distract attention from the real issue, which is the nature of their nuclear programme.’

Military personnel place an Iranian flag on a submarine in the Strat of Hormuz, as tensions escalate over the country’s apparent design of nuclear weapons

Lookout: A submarine performs naval maneuvers on the Sea of Oman during naval exercises in international waters

Tehran warned a week ago it would shut down the strategically vital shipping lane if the West took tougher action against Iran.

Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said Iran wouldn’t allow ‘a drop of oil’ to pass through the strait if sanctions were widened.

The row ratcheted up another notch yesterday after Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, head of the Iranian navy, declared that ‘closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran’ s armed forces is really easy – or as Iranians say it will be easier than drinking a glass of water.’

Whilst naval chief Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told state-run Press TV: ‘Iran has comprehensive control over the strategic waterway.’

The comments drew a quick response from the U.S, with Pentagon press secretary George Little saying: ‘This is not just an important issue for security and stability in the region, but is an economic lifeline for countries in the Gulf, to include Iran.’

Threat: An Iranian politician claims the country’s military is preparing to close off the Strait of Hormuz – the most important oil transport channel in the world

Western tensions with Iran have increased since a U.N report claimed last month that Tehran appears to have worked on designing an atomic bomb.

Iran strongly denies this and insists it is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

The possibility of imposing sanctions on Iran has divided U.N nations.

Iran has defiantly expanded nuclear activity despite four rounds of U.N. sanctions meted out since 2006 over its refusal to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment.

Parviz Sarvari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee, said Iran was preparing to close off the Strait as part of an exercise

Many diplomats believe only sanctions targeting Iran’s lifeblood oil sector might be painful enough to make it change course, but Russia and China – big trade partners of Tehran – have blocked such a move at the United Nations.

Iran this week repeated the warning it issued earlier this month, stating that should sanction be imposed it will cut off oil access through the Strait of Hormuz – the world’s fourth biggest oil shipping lane.

However, the U.S. State Department has since dismissed Iran’s threats by describing them as having ‘an element of bluster’.

According to official Iranian news agency IRNA, Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned this week: ‘If they (the West) impose sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, then even one drop of oil cannot flow from the Strait of Hormuz.’

But Mark Toner, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, responded: ‘It’s another attempt to distract attention away from the real issue, which is their continued non-compliance with their international nuclear obligations.’

Rahimi’s remarks coincided with a 10-day Iranian naval exercise in the Strait and nearby waters, a show of military force that began on Saturday.

‘Our enemies will give up on their plots against Iran only if we give them a firm and strong lesson,’ Rahimi said.

Important: Around a third of the world’s shipped oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz

Around a third of all shipped oil passes through the four mile-wide Strait between Oman and Iran and U.S. warships patrol the area to ensure safe passage.

Former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney said President Obama should have ordered an airstrike over Iran after their refusal to hand back the unmanned spy plane that crashed last month

Most of the crude exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq – together with nearly all the liquefied natural gas from lead exporter Qatar is transported through the channel.

After a news agency mistakenly reported the straight had already been closed, crude oil prices leapt by almost $2 to $100.45/per barrel, but they later stabilised.

Last month, Iran’s energy minister told Al Jazeera that Tehran could use oil as a political tool in the event of any future conflict over its nuclear program.

Tensions over the program have increased since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on November 8 that Tehran appears to have worked on designing a nuclear bomb and may still be pursuing research to that end.

Iran has warned it will respond to any attack by hitting Israel and U.S. interests in the Gulf and analysts say one way to retaliate would be to close the Strait of Hormuz.

Last month former U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney said President Obama should have ordered an airstrike over Iran after their refusal to hand back the unmanned spyplane that crashed in November.

During a White House news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Mr Obama said: ‘We have asked for it back. We’ll see how the Iranians respond.’

But Mr Cheney told CNN: ‘The right response would have been to go in immediately after it had gone down and destroy it.

Boast: Officials in Iran claim they can ‘mass produce’ the captured RQ-170 Sentinel drone and build a ‘superior’ version following its crash on December 4

From the: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Iran intensifies war of words with US over threat to close oil shipping lane | Mail Online