World News

Apr 8 2013

RIP Margaret Thatcher

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Hilda Thatcher has died today at the age of 87 of a stroke. The Right Honorable  Baroness  is the longest-serving (1979–1990) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century, and the only woman ever to have held the post. The Iron Lady as she was nicknamed for her uncompromising politics and leadership style. Thatcher — born in October 1925 in the small eastern England market town of Grantham — came from a modest background, taking pride in being known as a grocer’s daughter. She married her husband, Denis Thatcher, a local businessman who ran his family’s firm before becoming an executive in the oil industry, in 1951 — a year after an unsuccessful run for Parliament. The couple had twins, Mark and Carol, in 1953.

Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election. In the midst of her 3rd term (relected in 1987) she resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. Thatcher held a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords.

As Prime Minister, she implemented Conservative policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism. She is the titular character in two films, portrayed by Lindsay Duncan in Margaret (2009) and by Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady (2011), in which she is depicted as having Alzheimer’s disease. There was never a lady leader like her and perhaps there never will be another.

By Roshan • World News • 2

Aug 25 2012

RIP Neil Armstrong

The first man to ever walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong passed away today. The astronaut who marked an epochal achievement in exploration with “one small step” from the Apollo 11 lunar module on July 20, 1969, becoming the first person to walk on the moon, died Aug. 25 at 82.

His family announced the death in a statement but did not disclose where he died. They attributed it to “complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.” Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was in the United States Navy and served in the Korean War. After the war, he served as a test pilot at theNational Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) High-Speed Flight Station, now known as the Dryden Flight Research Center, where he flew over 900 flights in a variety of aircraft. As a research pilot, Armstrong served as project pilot on the F-100 Super Sabre A and C variants, F-101 Voodoo, and the Lockheed F-104A Starfighter. He also flew the Bell X-1B, Bell X-5, North American X-15, F-105 Thunderchief, F-106 Delta Dart, B-47 Stratojet,KC-135 Stratotanker, and was one of eight elite pilots involved in the paraglider research vehicle program (Paresev). He graduated from Purdue University and the University of Southern California.

Armstrong, who had just turned 82, underwent surgery on August 7, 2012, to relieve blocked coronary arteries. He died on August 25, 2012, at a hospital in Columbus, Ohio, from complications following that surgery. He gave the immortal quote “”That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

RIP Neil Alden Armstrong (born August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012)

By Roshan • World News • 0

May 25 2012

Europa Has More Water Than Earth

Based on data acquired by NASA’s Galileo satellite, astronomers think that the oceans beneath Europa’s icy exterior are likely 2—3 times more in volume that that of water of all the oceans on Earth! Not 2—3 times more proportionally, 2—3 times more in total volume. Jupiter’s little moon is packing all that H2O and scientists say that there could be a significant chance of it harbouring life!

Even if it doesn’t think of all that water; we’d have a possible source to go to replenish our stock. Ofcourse no one knows for certain how thick the ice could be, could be a few miles thick, and it might be extremely tasking to dig deep down into it and arrive at the oceans. But if it could be done, exploring the oceans below would certainly be  amazing and who knows what we could find. And even if there no alien lifeforms there just exploring the waters would be so cool. I would love to be able to see that happen in my lifetime. Hell, I’d kill to be able to go there myself and be part of the first landing party.

The image above is from io9.com comparing all the water on Earth made into a globe on the right vs all the water on Europe made into a globe on the left. See the size difference?

By Roshan • World News • 2

Mar 14 2012

Scientists Venture To Bring Back Wooly Mammoths

2011 Scientists from South Korea and Russia have signed onto a project that looks to bring back the wooly mammoth (also known as the Tundra mammoth) from extinction. Like they didn’t learn a lesson from watching the Jurassic Park movies?

Even more controversial than the storyline is the participation of a disgraced cloning expert from South Korea in the project. Hwang Woo-Suk, now with South Korea’s Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, was found to have falsified data claiming a stem cell research breakthrough and then forced to resign his post at Seoul National University in 2009. Still, Suk continues to enjoy notoriety in his native country as the first scientist to clone a dog. Now the question is can his use that expertise to reproduce a long time extinct animal and the chances may hinge on a variable entirely out of his hands.

This isn’t the first time scientists have set their sights on cloning a mammoth. Scientists in Russia researching the project have had their progress blocked by not having nuclei with undamaged mammoth genes. That changed last August when paleontologists reported discovering a well-preserved mammoth’s thigh bone in Siberia, raising the chances for a successful cloning procedure. Assuming that the researchers can find nuclei with undamaged genes, they would implant the embryos into elephant wombs for delivery. Although mammoths became extinct about 10,000 years ago, they are considered to be close enough relatives to the modern elephant.

You know what that means don’t u? Manny from the Ice Age movies will live. Will the mammoth be as cute as the one I have pictured here?

By Roshan • World News • 0

Mar 7 2012

McNugget That Looks Like Prez Washington

Heard this story? A three-year-old McDonald’s Chicken McNugget said to resemble George Washington has sold on eBay for $8,100, according to several news reports. Nebraska woman Rebekah Speight said in February that she was auctioning the McNugget to raise money for children at the Sioux City Family Worship Center to go to summer camp: total cost $15,000.

This is just great. There are, idiots or should I say rich idiots, who are willing to shell out money and lots of money for a small bit of meat, that they won’t be able to eat (if they do they might die, 3 year old nugget). They would then showcase that nugget in some glass case for people to see.

Speight said that during a McDonald’s visit with her kids three years ago, she almost trashed the uneaten McNugget before noticing a likeness to the country’s most distinguished forefather. She says that she looked down and laughed when she saw “this portrait of George Washington staring back at me.” She then stashed the McNugget in her freezer, she said. EBay took down the nugget at first, saying it violated its rules regulating expired food, but then the woman got an email saying the company was “willing to make exceptions to help your cause.” The McNugget drew 71 bids from 23 bidders, with bidding ending Monday morning. The auction had 44,795 views, with 1,610 people actively watching the proceedings.

So where’s my chicken tikka piece that looks like Mahathma Gandhi or burger patty that looks like Jawaharlal Nehru.

By Roshan • World News • 2

Mar 5 2012

Oxygen Molecules On Saturn Moon Dione

And now from NASA:

NASA’s unmanned Cassini spacecraft has detected molecular oxygen ions in the atmosphere of Dione, one of Saturn’s moons. This discovery confirms the presence of a very thin atmosphere. In fact, scientists reveal that the oxygen ions around Saturn’s moon are extremely exiguous (one for every 11 cubic centimeters of space or approximately 2,550 per cubic foot). This fact highlights the thinness of Dione’s atmosphere. For a comparison that might make more sense to the average reader, scientists believe that the atmosphere at Dione’s surface would only be as dense as Earth’s atmosphere 300 miles above the surface.

Scientists believe that Dione’s oxygen comes from either solar photons or energetic particles from space assaulting the moon’s water ice surface and freeing oxygen molecules. Despite this reasoning, scientists will continue to examine data from the Cassini spacecraft to see if the presence of oxygen around Saturn’s moon can be explained by geological processes or other events.

While a number of solid solar system bodies, like Earth, Venus, Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan, have atmospheres, they are usually a lot denser than the tenuous atmosphere detected around Dione. Back in 2010, however, Cassini scientists found a thin exosphere around Saturn’s moon Rhea, one that was very similar to what has recently been discovered around Dione. In fact, the density of the oxygen at the surfaces of Dione and Rhea is approximately 5 trillion times less than the density of the atmosphere at Earth’s surface.

Scientists reckon more moons around Saturn and Jupiter could also have oxygen in their atmospheres. They also think some of the moons have liquid oceans deep below their surfaces. With the possibility of both water and oxygen, experts hope to explore the moons further to see if there are any signs of life or if humans could survive there.

By Roshan • World News • 0

Mar 3 2012

4500 Sumerian Temple Found In Iraq

A group of Iraqi and foreign archaeologists have uncovered a temple at the Sumerian city of Ur, which dates back to about 2500 B.C., the head of the Antiquities Department says. So far the scientists have uncovered one of the walls of the temple along with numerous graves from the same period, said Hussein Rashid. Ur is one of ancient Iraq’s most fascinating cities. It has given the world priceless treasures from the Sumerian civilization that flourished in southern Iraq. The Sumerians, whose ethnic and linguistic stock is still a mystery, invented writing and established a civil system of government in southern Iraq more than 5000 years ago.

“An Italian excavation team in coordination with their Iraqi counterparts have uncovered the wall of a temple dating to 2500 B.C. at Tel Abu Tabeer in the ancient city of Ur,” said Rashid. Rashid said there were three foreign excavation teams currently working in Iraq. It is the first team of foreign archaeologists to be working in the country for more than two decades. Rashid said an American team was to arrive in Iraq to excavate ancient mounds in the southern city of Nasiriya, the capital of Dhi Qar Province where the richest and most ancient Mesopotamian ruins are found. Rashid also said another Italian group will be arriving in the country to excavate the ancient Assyrian military capital, Nimrud, in the northern Province of Nineveh.

The Italian team in Ur is closely cooperating with scientist at Dhi Qar University. Rashid said Italian scientists will be lecturing on Iraq’s ancient civilizations and languages in English. Ur is the dream place for foreign scientists specialized in Near Eastern studies. It is often referred to in the literature as “the world’s Archaeological Museum” for its great number of ancient sites.

By Roshan • World News • 0

Mar 1 2012

Comet Could Collide With Earth In 2040

Not another one – call Bruce Willis & Ben Affleck! Scientists have detected a comet 140 meters in diameter that is due for a fly-by in 2040. There is an outside chance that it could collide with Earth. Doomsday Sayers & religious fundamentalists now have a new year to predict the destruction of earth.

The giant rock, which is called 2011 AG5 & is about 460 feet (140 meters) wide, has an elliptical orbit that will bring it within striking distance of our planet in 23 years. According to researchers the comet could be diverted towards Earth by a gravitational keyhole – an area of space subject to the gravitational pull of surrounding planets. Detlef Koschny of the European Space Agency’s Solar System Missions Division says that since they have only observed it for about half of it’s orbit, they aren’t very confident of the calculations.

NASA has calculated that AG5 has a one in 625 chance of striking Earth in 2040. Scientists at the 49th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space in Vienna are taking the threat in all earnest and have even begun to draw up possible deflection scenarios. They are using comet AG5 as a “desktop exercise” for the development of technologies to deflect asteroids and meteorites that stray too close to our planet. It is thought scientists will be able to better gauge the course of the comet in 2013 as it will be observable from the ground, but until then they will be keeping a close eye on the celestial giant.

I will be 64 years old in 2040 (When I’m 64 by the Beatles, ring any bells?)

When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now.
Will you still be sending me a Valentine.
Birthday greetings bottle of wine.
If I’d been out till quarter to three.
Would you lock the door.
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I’m sixty-four.

By Roshan • World News • 3

Feb 21 2012

300 Million Year Old Forest Discovered

From Gizmodo & Science Daily:

Much like Pompeii, a 300-million-year-old tropical forest was preserved in ash when a volcano erupted in what is today northern China, under a coal mine. American and Chinese scientists are flabbergasted after discovering a giant 298-million-year-old forest buried intact under a coal mine near Wuda, in Inner Mongolia, China. It is being called the Pompeii of the Permian period because it is covered & preserved by volcanic ash, just like the Ancient Italian city. This swamp forest is so perfectly maintained that scientists know where every plant originally was, labeling it to be like a time capsule.

Standing there you will be able to find a branch with the leaves attached, and then onto the next branch and the next branch and the next branch and finally the stump of the same tree. They are in fact finding entire trees and plants exactly as they were at the time of the volcanic eruption. The researchers discovered the 10,763-square-foot (1000-square-meter) area hidden under a coal mine using heavy industrial machinery. They believe that this frozen-in-time fossilized forest was covered under gigantic amounts of ash that fell from the sky for days. During the Permian, which extends from 299 to 251 million years ago, During the Permian, which extends from 299 to 251 million years ago. This is also when the first groups of mammals, turtles, lepidosaurs and archosaurs started to roam the Earth.

Haha and the Christian fundamentalists & the bible wants you to believe that the earth is only 6000-10,000 years old!

By Roshan • World News • 1

Feb 20 2012

A Great Survival Story

A Swedish man snowed in his car survived for two months while being trapped in. The 45-year-old man, who had no food, was huddled inside a sleeping bag, emaciated, and close to death when he was discovered by people on snowmobiles on Friday. He told his rescuers that he was trapped in his car from December 19, 2011. Doctors say that this rare kind of situation, was probably because his snowed in became like an igloo, which is why he has managed to get through this cold, which went down to -30 centigrade in that area.

No-one is sure why the man, identified in the media as Peter Skyllberg, apparently chose to stay in the car at the end of a road leading off a major highway, but it has certainly attracted attention from around the world. Bertil Wallin, who has been covering the story for the local newspaper the Vasterbotten Courier, said the man had been eating snow. “Nothing else. He had food for one day and I think he had decided to stay with the car for some reason that no one knows why,” he said.

No-one has missed him during this time which sounds sad. His full story of two months with nothing but melted snow may never be told and, if his rescuers had been a little less curious, one of the most remarkable stories of all time would never have survived – and nor would he.

By Roshan • World News • 1