Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Budget Cuts Postpone Alien Seeking Telescopes

Radio telescopes of the Allen Telescope Array are seen in Hat Creek, Calif.

The San Jose Mercury News reports the SETI Institute has put its program to find aliens on hold. On April 22, SETI proposed a letter sent to supporters of their program that they were going to put alien seeking on hold. Tom Pierson, SETI's CEO made this announcment at the beginnin of this week. The Allen Telescope Array has been put into hibernation due to the shortfalls for funding the operations of the Hat Creek Radio Observatory where the telescope is located.

I mean i think that this is something cool to try and see if there are really aliens out there. But i think there is other stuff that we need to be worrying about beisides trying to find other life besides ourselves. Its kool to get out there and explore other life, but i think that it was a good idea to put the operation on hold. I hope that they succeed in trying to find alien life but i think that now is not the time to do it.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/04/26/135746059/budget-cuts-shutdown-setis-alien-seeking-telescopes?ft=1&f=1001

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Pop Star To President

Michel Martelly defeated his challenger, former first lady Mirlande Manigat, in a landslide, winning 67.6% of the vote.

Michel Martelly was very troubled and that everything had been done for him to lose at the polls. He thought that his dreams of leading Haiti out of devastation was surely over, but after four months of recounts and reviews, a runoff changed everything. The unexpected candidate is not ready to take his seat of presidency over Haiti.

This was very unexpected because Martelly never considered himself to be a politician. He's better known under the alias, "Sweet Mickey" which was a kompa singer who overwhelmed his fans on stage with his bad-boy image. He was the type to curse and swing alcohol bottles across the stage at his concerts and even mooned his audience on occasions. Martelly revealed that it was an image that only betrayed on-stage not in his personal life.

Their was a percieved lack of progress going on in Haiti thus far, and the government backed Jude Celestin. But the people said Martelly was a fresh face for politics, and would be a face to help stop the destruction in Haiti. Martelly won by a landslide with 67.6% of the votes, defeating his challenger who had 31.5% of votes. Martelly seemed really excited and said, "Haiti is on its way to a revolution." This should be good news for the people of Haiti because they have seen so much devastation, so maybe this will be a good ending for them.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/04/05/haiti.martelly/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Libya: Coalition Airstrikes Continue

Wreckage of US F15 Fighter Jet in Libya

U.S. Naval Forces Commander gave reportser a little insight that U.S. Forces had rescued a crew member of the F15 Fighter Jet that had crashed in Libya. The other crew member was rescued by Libyans and transported to U.S. Forces. Allies continue to launch bomb attacks over northern Africa where this is a no-fly zone that is backed by the United Nations.

The aerial attacks have spread more since the no-fly zone has been established over several hundred miles from  Benghazi. Members of Congress has expressed that the President probably doesn't have authority to commit the U.S. military to this operation. President Obama expressed, "the U.S. will hand over its role of military operations to other coalition members in a matter of days."

In addition, the United Nations is expected to vote to renew its mission in Afghanistan. The resolution is expected to be voted on Wednesday.

I don't think we shgould have a role in Libya, because it seems like everytime something happens in another country, the first thing that countries call for is to send the U.S. over. Why don't they come help us sometime? We need help over here too. I will jus be glad when everything is resolved, if that ever happens and everyone can do their own thing.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Fear Of Radiation Threat In Tokyo

A second fire was discovered at a nuclear plant in Tokyo. The fire happened after an explosion Tuesday at the plants No. 2 reactor in a storage pond used for spent nuclear fuel. The radiation level increased 16 times the average dose of radiation.

There was no immediate public health threat. But a shift in wind direction could send radiation toward the populated areas which prompted officials to warn people as far as 18.6 miles from the plant to stay inside.
About 200,000 people living within a 12.4 mile radius of the plant have already been evacuated. Flights have also been banned from the area and most of the workers have been evacuated.

This unfortunate event began on Friday off the northeast coast of Japan after a 9.0 magnitude struck. Radiation levels in Tokyo, about 140 miles southwest of the plant, were twice the average level on Tuesday. But the concentration posed no health threat.

The tsunami and earthquake were unfortunate events for Japan. I hope that they will make it out of this catastrophie. This is something not to be taken lightly, and with all the events going on today America better wake up or we could be next again.

Source:http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/15/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?eref=rss_topstories&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_topstories+%28RSS%3A+Top+Stories%29
 
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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

How Much Sleep Do We Need?

Illustration by Robert Neubecker. Click image to expand.

The National Sleep Foundation says that Americans don't get enough sleep. Doctors say that adults are the most sleep deprived, getting about 7 1/2 hours of sleep. Adults should be getting about 9 hours and 15 minutes of sleep a night. Scientists really don't know why we sleep, and that makes it very difficult to determine how much sleep we need.

Researchers look for correlations between people's self-reported sleep habits and their real-world behavioral patterns Adults who sleep less than seven hours self-report memeory loss and difficulty concentrating. Adolescents who sleep fewer than eight hours tend to get lower grades. Research studies show that adults sleeping fewer than six hours suffer cognitive impairment.

If sleeps nine hours or more mean that it is good for their health, for example, adults who sleep between six and seven hours per night live the longest. While those who sleep fewer than 5 hours and those who sleep more than 8 hours die younger.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Refugees Need Evacuation From Libya

Men reach for food being thrown to them while they wait to enter Tunisia from Libya in the border town of Ra's Ajdir, March 1. U.N. officials say Tunisia cannot cope with the thousands of refugees entering the fragile nation.

The fighting continues in Libya, more than 140,000 refugees try to flee the capital of Tripoli. There are many aid workers trying to grant these refugees their wishes. Aid workers are giving the refugees the basic sheltering and necessities that they need to survive the ongoing riots and protests.

A U.N. Official said, "there are acres of people just waiting to cross the border". There have been many people waiting in these freezing cold temperatures without food, water, or shelter. The U.N. Commissioner has called for a "massive evacuation" for the refugees who have crossed the border from Libya to Tunisia. The broken country cannot handle all of the people who have made it into Tunisia. If something isn't done fast then this could turn into a big humanitarian disaster.

According to reports, about 14,000 people have left Libya and fled to Tunisia Monday. There was expected to be another 15,000 to be on there way to Tunisia by Tuesday. Something has to be done now about this situation, first it was Egypt, now it's Libya. These people need food and shelter to survive the winter weather conditions that are going on over there right now.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/03/01/134179204/u-n-official-massive-evacuation-needed-for-refugees-from-libya?ft=1&f=1001

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Internet Blackout In Libya

Protestors in Egypt show their support for an ongoing anti-government demonstrations in neighboring Libya.

Since Egypt, Libya is now next up for democratic protests and internet blackouts. The Libyian people are now ready to get rid of their dictator, Moammar Gadhafi. There is no specific cause to why there have been internet cuts, but there could be many reasons why there is a crackdown. Some of those reasons are: government crackdown, internet traffic overload, or just basic power outages. But, people are saying electricity is working fine, cell phones are working good, but the internet has been down for days.

International Internet traffic began to shutdown from about 1 to 8 am. People are saying that it is kind of like there is an internet curfew. This is not good for the people of Libya. It is a big possibility that Gadhafi's regime cracked down on the internet to not let the Libyian people have their voice and be heard. Egypt and Iran are known for shutting down the internet for the public.

I believe that the Libyian people deserve to have their internet and have a voice. I am also glad that Egypt and other surrounding countries are taking a stand over dictatorship before it's too late. This shows how much we take for granted here in America, because we basically can say and do what we want to do. Even though, there may be slight consequences. But, the people in Libya and Egypt are willing to lose their lives for the freedom of their country and I respect all of the countries that take a stand.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/02/22/libya.internet

What It Takes To Win