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Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Do Newfound Alien Planets Need Better Names? (SPACE.com)
This story was updated at 2:40 EST.
Astronomers on Tuesday (Dec. 20) announced the discovery of the first two Earth-size alien planets ? a historic find for sure, but the newfound worlds didn't exactly receive historic names.
The two alien planets are officially known as Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, a nod to the instrument that detected them, NASA's prolific Kepler space telescope. The planets' host star is Kepler-20, and the letters indicate that 20e was the fourth planet discovered in this alien solar system and 20f the fifth. (By convention, the first planet found in a system is always designated "b," not "a.")
All of this is standard exoplanet-naming procedure ? star name plus letter. But the Kepler mission isn't the only planet-hunting project working today, and the others choose their star appellations differently. So there are also alien worlds out there with names like HD 171028 b and MOA-2007-BLG-192-L b.?
Such monikers don't roll trippingly off the tongue or lodge firmly in most folks' memory. So it may be time to think about a nomenclatural shake-up, some researchers say, to make alien worlds' names more consistent ? and to help make exoplanet science more accessible to the public as well. [Gallery: The Smallest Alien Planets]
"There's no way the public should have to remember these names," said Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, lead author of the study announcing the discovery of Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f. "I'm working like 15 hours a day on Kepler, and I'm not sure I could tell you which one is each of the Kepler planets."
Exoplanet researchers could work together to develop a coherent naming system, one with consistent rules or guidelines, Fressin suggested. As an example of such a system, he pointed to the planets of our own solar system, all of which except Earth are named for Greek or Roman gods.
"If we start doing that with more accessible names, it would be a plus," Fressin told SPACE.com. "So I really encourage those kinds of discussions."
Kepler team member Dave Charbonneau, Fressin's colleague at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and a co-discoverer of Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, voiced similar sentiments.
"Sadly, we do just use the boring nomenclature of starname + letter.? We really need to fix this!" Charbonneau told SPACE.com via email. "I have three daughters, and the oldest is just starting kindergarten. We need engaging names for the benefit of schoolchildren everywhere."
Public engagement could also come in more active ways, suggested veteran planet hunter and Kepler scientist Geoff Marcy of the University of California, Berkeley.
"We need SPACE.com to hold a naming contest!" Marcy wrote in an email to SPACE.com.
We were thinking along similar lines. After the announcement of Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, SPACE.com asked readers on Facebook to vote for their favorite names for the Earth-size planets. The winning monikers? Romulus and Remus, which "Star Trek" fans will recognize as the names of the twin homeworlds for the fictional Romulan alien race.
You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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Penn St AD: 'Deliberate, measured' coach search
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? Penn State may still be without a replacement for fired coach Joe Paterno by the time the Nittany Lions play in the TicketCity Bowl on Jan. 2
The six-person search committee is taking a "very deliberate and measured approach to the process in order to identify the coach that best fits the requirements of the position," acting athletic director Dave Joyner said Thursday in a written statement.
School president Rodney Erickson and Joyner had both said they hoped to have a new coach before No. 24 Penn State's bowl game.
But Thursday, Joyner said a new coach would be introduced "at the appropriate time," and the statement offered no specific timeline.
Erickson was out of town Thursday for the holidays. Spokesman Bill Mahon said Joyner was providing Erickson with regular updates.
"I think they have both emphasized the most important element here is to get the right coach, not speed up the timing of the search," Mahon said. "There is no update on possible timing."
Longtime defensive coordinator Tom Bradley has been running the program on an interim basis since school trustees fired Paterno on Nov. 9 in the aftermath of child sex abuse charges against retired defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.
Paterno is not a target of an investigation into the Sandusky case by the state attorney general's office, though he was dismissed amid mounting criticism that school leaders should have done more to prevent alleged abuse. Sandusky, who has maintained his innocence, is awaiting trial.
Making a good hire, and soon, is generally seen as a critical step to secure the future of Penn State's storied football program. A couple of recruits have already revoked their verbal commitments to the school in the wake of the Sandusky scandal.
Erickson said earlier this month one of the top criteria in the coaching search is "how that person would fit into the value system of Penn State, which clearly has to be honesty, integrity and commitment to excellence in academics."
According to Joyner, the school "is continuing to talk with individuals that we're interested in and work through the interview process." He called it a "very important hire for Penn State."
Bradley and defensive line coach Larry Johnson are among those who have been interviewed.
Green Bay quarterbacks coach Tom Clements was scheduled to have a phone interview last week, USA Today has reported. At Packers practice Thursday, Clements declined comment on whether he was interested in the job and would not confirm if he had interviewed for it.
Nebraska's Bo Pelini also emerged this week on the seemingly endless rumored list of potential college-level prospects. Pelini after practice Tuesday called the reports irresponsible and untrue, and said he had not interviewed at Penn State.
As for the Nittany Lions, players have gone home for the holidays. They are scheduled to regroup Monday in Dallas to prepare for the bowl game against No. 20 Houston.
___
Sports Writer Chris Jenkins in Green Bay, Wis., contributed to this report.
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Turkey slams France over genocide debate (AP)
ISTANBUL ? Turkey responded to French genocide allegations with a charge of its own Friday, accusing France of committing genocide during its colonial occupation of Algeria.
French lawmakers passed a bill Thursday making it a crime to deny that the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks constitute genocide.
The deepening acrimony between two strategic allies and trading partners could have repercussions far beyond the settling of accounts over some of the bloodiest episodes of the past century.
Turkey was already frustrated by French opposition to its stalled European Union bid, and hopes for Western-backed rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia seem ever more distant ahead of 2015, the 100th anniversary of the Armenian killings.
The bill strikes at the heart of national honor in Turkey, which maintains there was no systematic campaign to kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the chaotic disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.
The French bill still needs Senate approval, but after it passed the lower house, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan halted bilateral political and economic contacts, suspended military cooperation and ordered his country's ambassador home for consultations.
Turkey and France worked closely together during NATO's operation against Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, and had been coordinating policy on Syria and Afghanistan.
"What the French did in Algeria was genocide," Erdogan said Friday in a heavily personal speech, laced with criticism of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
He alleged that beginning in 1945, about 15 percent of the population of Algeria was massacred by the French. He also said Algerians were burned in ovens.
"They were mercilessly martyred," he said.
Erdogan appeared to be referring to allegations that the French burned the dead in ovens after a 1945 uprising that began in the Algerian town of Setif. Algerians say some 45,000 people may have died. French figures say up to 20,000.
The French bill's passage "is a clear example of how racism, discrimination and anti-Muslim sentiment have reached new heights in France and in Europe," Erdogan said. "French President Sarkozy's ambition is to win an election based on promoting animosity against Turks and Muslims."
France holds presidential elections in April.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the French vote was comparable with attempts by Mideast rulers to stifle free speech.
"Europe has philosophically and ideologically reverted to the Middle Ages," Davutoglu said at a conference of Turkish ambassadors in Ankara, the capital.
France formally recognized the Armenian killings as genocide in 2001, but had previously provided no penalty for anyone refuting that. The bill sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine of euro45,000 ($59,000) for those who deny or "outrageously minimize" the killings, putting such action on par with denial of the Holocaust.
France is committed to human rights and respect for "historical memory," Sarkozy said in Prague, where he was attending the funeral of Vaclav Havel, the dissident who became president of the Czech Republic.
"France doesn't give lessons to anyone, but France also doesn't plan on taking them," Sarkozy said in a clip shown on France's LCI television. "I respect the convictions of our Turkish friends ? it's a grand country, a grand civilization ? and they must respect ours. To cede on one's convictions is always cowardice, and one always ends up by paying for cowardice."
Most historians contend the Ottoman killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians constituted the first genocide of the 20th century. But the issue is dicey for any government that wants a strong alliance with Turkey, a rising power. In Washington, President Barack Obama has stopped short of calling the killings genocide.
The Armenian National Committee of America said the French vote "reinforces the growing international consensus ? and the mounting pressure on Turkey ? for a truthful and just resolution of the Armenian Genocide."
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Boehner: Obama should make Senate bargain on taxes (AP)
WASHINGTON ? House Speaker John Boehner says it's time for President Barack Obama to help end Congress' impasse over renewing the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits.
The Ohio Republican said Tuesday that he wants Obama to call on the Democratic-led Senate to return to Washington and bargain with the House over a compromise plan. He said at a news conference, "I need the president to help out."
The Senate has passed a bipartisan plan to extend those expiring tax cuts and unemployment benefits for two months, giving negotiators time to agree to a year-long plan.
The GOP-run House has rejected the Senate plan and wants to start bargaining now. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he won't negotiate until the House approves the Senate's two-month package.
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Thursday, December 22, 2011
Verizon Galaxy Nexus car dock lacks three-pin connection of its HSPA twin, requires manual micro-USB connection
While Verizon customers are happily lording it over their HSPA-bound counterparts with those LTE speeds, they may be less happy to hear about the lower-grade car dock they've been saddled with. Setting you back $40, the dock is a protective bracket for your phone that attaches to your windscreen with a suction cup. However, the GSM version includes the Galaxy Nexus' three-pin contacts, with micro-USB and mic ports built into the dock, meaning there's no need to constantly plug and unplug -- unlike the US model. Take a judicious look at the two images above; on the right is the predominantly hollow Verizon-branded car dock, while the similarly-shaped (but internally different) dock on the left is the UK's official Galaxy Nexus version. Why the difference? It's a transatlantic mystery to us.
[Thanks Brian]
Verizon Galaxy Nexus car dock lacks three-pin connection of its HSPA twin, requires manual micro-USB connection originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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