The 2009 Orionid Meteor Shower

The Orionid meteor shower peaks this week and it could be a very good show.

"Earth is passing through a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, the source of the Orionids," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Flakes of comet dust hitting the atmosphere should give us dozens of meteors per hour."

The best time to look is before sunrise on Wednesday, Oct. 21st. That's when Earth encounters the densest part of Halley's debris stream. Observing is easy: Wake up a few hours before dawn, brew some hot chocolate, go outside and look up. No telescope is required to see Orionids shooting across the sky.


Above: An Orionid meteor photographed on Oct. 21, 2008, by amateur astronomer Rich Swanson of Sierra Vista, Arizona.

Orionids appear every year around this time when Earth orbits through an area of space littered with debris from the ancient comet. Normally, the shower produces 10 to 20 meteors per hour, a modest display. The past few years, however, have been much better than usual.

"Since 2006, the Orionids have been one of the best showers of the year, with counts of 60 or more meteors per hour," says Cooke.

According to Japanese meteor scientists Mikiya Sato and Jun-ichi Watanabe, 2006 marked Earth's first encounter with some very old debris. "We have found that the [elevated activity of 2006] was caused by dust trails ejected from 1P/Halley in 1266 BC, 1198 BC, and 911 BC," they wrote in the August 2007 edition of Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. In their paper "Origin of the 2006 Orionid Outburst," Sato and Watanabe used a computer to model the structure and evolution of Halley's many debris streams stretching back in time as far as 3400 years. The debris that hit Earth in 2006 was among the oldest they studied and was rich in large fireball-producing meteoroids.

Repeat encounters produced good displays in 2007 and 2008—and "the meteoroids are expected to approach Earth [again] in 2009," say Sato and Watanabe. They note that these old broad streams tend to produce equally broad showers, lasting several nights around the peak. So, if clouds interfere on the 21st, try again on the 22nd or 23rd.


Above: Orionid meteors stream from the elbow of Orion the Hunter. Because the shower's radiant point is close to the celestial equator, sky watchers in both hemispheres can enjoy the show.

The phase of the Moon favors a good show. The Moon is almost new and completely absent from the pre-dawn sky at the time of the shower's peak. Bright moonlight will not be a problem.

Last but not least, the display will be framed by some of the prettiest stars and planets in the night sky. In addition to Orionids, you'll see brilliant Venus, red Mars, the dog star Sirius, and bright winter constellations such as Orion, Gemini and Taurus. Even if the shower is a dud, the rest of the sky is dynamite.

Engineers Excited by EuTEF's Return on Discovery

When Fabio Tominetti and Marco Grilli last saw the EuTEF research platform in early 2008, it was carefully packed inside the payload bay of space shuttle Atlantis. It had been built and handled with the utmost care, and its white and thermal insulation and golden reflective sheets and experiments were pristine.

EuTEF didn’t look much different as it hung upside down in a work stand a few days after coming back to Earth aboard Discovery following about a year and a half attached to the orbiting International Space Station.

"It’s almost brand new," said Tominetti, the EuTEF program manager for the Milan-based Carlo Gavazzi Space. "It could probably fly again tomorrow. I expected to see something to tell you that it had been exposed to 18 months in space."

EuTEF is short for European Technology Exposure Facility, a remote-controlled base complete with power and communications networks built to host nine experiments from Europe’s scientific community, including prestigious universities and foundations. The research largely focused on the effects of space on materials, including window materials that could be used on future spacecraft.

Tominetti and Grilli, a systems engineer with Carlo Gavazzi, recently traveled to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to pack the research platform and its experiments for their return to Europe.

The EuTEF went into space with the European Space Agency’s Columbus laboratory module as part of the STS-122 mission in February 2008. After Columbus was connected to the space station, spacewalking astronauts attached EuTEF to one of its platforms on the outside.

From there, the experiments would be exposed to the harshness of a constant vacuum, a round-the-clock dose of radiation, and heat and cold extremes that vary 200 degrees during each 90-minute orbit of the planet.

Despite the conditions, EuTEF returned exciting early results, Tominetti said. For example, a study of atomic oxygen around the space station revealed that two computer models of the chemical’s distribution were not as accurate as they should be, but a third model was correct. Knowing where corrosive atomic oxygen molecules are and how they behave in orbit helps future spacecraft designers.

Although EuTEF delivered some results while still in space, researchers will get the chance to look at the materials samples and other experiment results firsthand once EuTEF is taken back to Europe and shipped to their sponsors.

"There are a lot of small samples to see the exposure to atomic oxygen and to radiation, so they will be quite busy analyzing the chemical reactions of the samples," Tominetti said.

The mission also proved that the design for the research facility was sound.

"Starting with nothing in your hands but some scrap paper and then building it up was the first big achievement," Tominetti said.

"What was a little bit scary to me was the amount of paperwork you have to do before you have the real hardware working, to be tested, designed and flown," Grilli said.

The team had worked for years to design and build the research station, including extensive discussions and review sessions with agencies such as ESA and NASA, plus many conversations about the experiments that designers planned for orbit.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t a couple glitches along the way, though.

"We fixed a couple problems by remote," Grilli said.

High radiation in orbit is suspected of causing trouble for the electronics on EuTEF, but the issue was quickly fixed with a simple reboot, Tominetti said.

Another glitch developed because of the success of an experiment studying static electricity on the station. The device on EuTEF designed to discharge static electricity from the station did what it was supposed to, but that caused some concern when controllers on Earth saw an electric discharge around the station. Once the experiment was tracked down as the cause -- and then proven to be working correctly – the research was turned back on.

Tominetti and Grilli watched over the experiments package from the European Space Agency’s Erasmus Command and Control Center in the Netherlands.

"Having switched it on was great," Tominetti said. "We see it alive, like a little mechanical baby. So we followed this growth for one year and half, but it was sad to arrive at the end, even though it was a successful mission."

As Discovery headed into space in August to equip the station and recover EuTEF, the Earth-bound controllers switched off the experiments and set up the platform so astronauts could safely detach it from the Columbus lab and bring it back aboard the shuttle without damaging the valuable results.

The return trip called for a whole new set of procedures for the spacewalkers because the platform Discovery carried to retrieve the experiment set was different from the kind EuTEF was bolted to when it rode into space.

"It was like designing a whole new mission," Grilli explained.

The return capped seven years of work on the project by the two engineers – work they would happily repeat if called on for another EuTEF mission.

"It was very exciting, but also a little bit sad, because the mission being over, the story ends," Tominetti said.

LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft Observations of Centaur Impact

LCROSS impact crater as viewed with near-infrared (NIR) and ultra violet/visible (UV/Vis) spectrometers. Credit NASA Ames.

At approximately 4:31 a.m. PDT on Oct. 9, 2009, the LCROSS Centaur impacted the surface of the Cabeus crater. From approximately 373 miles (600 km), the LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft captured the impact flash with its instruments. The faint but distinct flash was only a few pixels wide in the LCROSS cameras and lasted only a brief moment but will yield valuable information about the composition of the material at the impact site.

The LCROSS mid-infrared (MIR) Camera detected a sodium flash at Centaur Impact. Credit NASA Ames.

Water Molecules Found on the Moon

NASA scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the Moon. Instruments aboard three separate spacecraft revealed water molecules in amounts that are greater than predicted, but still relatively small. Hydroxyl, a molecule consisting of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, also was found in the lunar soil. The findings were published in Thursday's edition of the journal Science.

The observations were made by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, or M3 ("M-cubed"), aboard the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. NASA's Cassini spacecraft and NASA's Epoxi spacecraft have confirmed the find.


Above: A very young lunar crater as viewed by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper. On the right, the distribution of water-rich minerals is shown in false-color blue.

"Water ice on the Moon has been something of a holy grail for lunar scientists for a very long time," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This surprising finding has come about through the ingenuity, perseverance and international cooperation between NASA and the India Space Research Organization."

From its perch in lunar orbit, M3's state-of-the-art spectrometer measured light reflecting off the Moon's surface at infrared wavelengths, splitting the spectral colors of the lunar surface into small enough bits to reveal a new level of detail in surface composition. When the M3 science team analyzed data from the instrument, they found the wavelengths of light being absorbed were consistent with the absorption patterns for water molecules and hydroxyl.

"When we say 'water on the Moon,' we are not talking about lakes, oceans or even puddles," explained Carle Pieters, M3's principal investigator from Brown University, Providence, R.I. "Water on the Moon means molecules of water and hydroxyl that interact with molecules of rock and dust specifically in the top millimeters of the Moon's surface.

The M3 team found water molecules and hydroxyl at diverse areas of the sunlit region of the Moon's surface, but the water signature appeared stronger at the Moon's higher latitudes. Water molecules and hydroxyl previously were suspected in data from a Cassini flyby of the Moon in 1999, but the findings were not published until now.


Above: Data from NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper. The image on the left shows albedo, or the sunlight reflected from the surface of the Moon. The image on the right shows where infrared light is absorbed by water and hydroxyl molecules. The water signature is strongest at cool, high latitudes near the poles. The blue arrow indicates Goldschmidt crater, a large feldspar-rich region with a higher water and hydroxyl signature. Image credit: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown Univ.

"The data from Cassini's VIMS instrument and M3 closely agree," said Roger Clark, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist in Denver and member of both the VIMS and M3 teams. "We see both water and hydroxyl. While the abundances are not precisely known, as much as 1,000 water molecule parts-per-million could be in the lunar soil. To put that into perspective, if you harvested one ton of the top layer of the Moon's surface, you could get as much as 32 ounces of water."

For additional confirmation, scientists turned to the Epoxi mission while it was flying past the Moon in June 2009 on its way to a November 2010 encounter with comet Hartley 2. The spacecraft not only confirmed the VIMS and M3 findings, but also expanded on them.

"With our extended spectral range and views over the north pole, we were able to explore the distribution of both water and hydroxyl as a function of temperature, latitude, composition, and time of day," said Jessica Sunshine of the University of Maryland. Sunshine is Epoxi's deputy principal investigator and a scientist on the M3 team. "Our analysis unequivocally confirms the presence of these molecules on the Moon's surface and reveals that the entire surface appears to be hydrated during at least some portion of the lunar day."

The discovery of water molecules and hydroxyl on the Moon raises new questions about the origin of "Moon water" and its effect on lunar mineralogy. Answers to these questions will be studied and debated for years to come.

Thousands of New Images Show Mars in High Resolution

PASADENA, Calif. -- Thousands of newly released images from more than 1,500 telescopic observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show a wide range of gullies, dunes, craters, geological layering and other features on the Red Planet.

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the orbiter recorded these images from the month of April through early August of this year. The camera team at the University of Arizona, Tucson, releases several featured images each week and periodically releases much larger sets of new images, such as the batch posted today.

The new images are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/releases/sept_09.php .

Each full image from HiRISE covers a strip of Martian ground 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) wide, about two to four times that long, showing details as small as 1 meter, or yard, across.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been studying Mars with an advanced set of instruments since 2006. It has returned more data about the planet than all other past and current missions to Mars combined. For more information about the mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mro .

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo.

NASA Space Telescope Discovers Largest Ring about Saturn

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has discovered an enormous ring around Saturn -- by far the largest of the giant planet's many rings.

The new belt lies at the far reaches of the Saturnian system, with an orbit tilted 27 degrees from the main ring plane. The bulk of its material starts about six million kilometers (3.7 million miles) away from the planet and extends outward roughly another 12 million kilometers (7.4 million miles). One of Saturn's farthest moons, Phoebe, circles within the newfound ring, and is likely the source of its material.

Saturn's newest halo is thick, too -- its vertical height is about 20 times the diameter of the planet. It would take about one billion Earths stacked together to fill the ring.

"This is one supersized ring," said Anne Verbiscer, an astronomer at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. "If you could see the ring, it would span the width of two full moons' worth of sky, one on either side of Saturn." Verbiscer; Douglas Hamilton of the University of Maryland, College Park; and Michael Skrutskie, of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, are authors of a paper about the discovery to be published online tomorrow by the journal Nature.

An artist's concept of the newfound ring is online at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/multimedia/spitzer-20091007a.html .

The ring itself is tenuous, made up of a thin array of ice and dust particles. Spitzer's infrared eyes were able to spot the glow of the band's cool dust. The telescope, launched in 2003, is currently 107 million kilometers (66 million miles) from Earth in orbit around the sun.

The discovery may help solve an age-old riddle of one of Saturn's moons. Iapetus has a strange appearance -- one side is bright and the other is really dark, in a pattern that resembles the yin-yang symbol. The astronomer Giovanni Cassini first spotted the moon in 1671, and years later figured out it has a dark side, now named Cassini Regio in his honor. A stunning picture of Iapetus taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft is online at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08384 .

Saturn's newest addition could explain how Cassini Regio came to be. The ring is circling in the same direction as Phoebe, while Iapetus, the other rings and most of Saturn's moons are all going the opposite way. According to the scientists, some of the dark and dusty material from the outer ring moves inward toward Iapetus, slamming the icy moon like bugs on a windshield.

"Astronomers have long suspected that there is a connection between Saturn's outer moon Phoebe and the dark material on Iapetus," said Hamilton. "This new ring provides convincing evidence of that relationship."

Verbiscer and her colleagues used Spitzer's longer-wavelength infrared camera, called the multiband imaging photometer, to scan through a patch of sky far from Saturn and a bit inside Phoebe's orbit. The astronomers had a hunch that Phoebe might be circling around in a belt of dust kicked up from its minor collisions with comets -- a process similar to that around stars with dusty disks of planetary debris. Sure enough, when the scientists took a first look at their Spitzer data, a band of dust jumped out.

The ring would be difficult to see with visible-light telescopes. Its particles are diffuse and may even extend beyond the bulk of the ring material all the way in to Saturn and all the way out to interplanetary space. The relatively small numbers of particles in the ring wouldn't reflect much visible light, especially out at Saturn where sunlight is weak.

"The particles are so far apart that if you were to stand in the ring, you wouldn't even know it," said Verbiscer.

Spitzer was able to sense the glow of the cool dust, which is only about 80 Kelvin (minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit). Cool objects shine with infrared, or thermal radiation; for example, even a cup of ice cream is blazing with infrared light. "By focusing on the glow of the ring's cool dust, Spitzer made it easy to find," said Verbiscer.

These observations were made before Spitzer ran out of coolant in May and began its "warm" mission.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Spitzer Space Telescope mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Science operations are conducted at the Spitzer Science Center at the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. The multiband imaging photometer for Spitzer was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation, Boulder, Colo., and the University of Arizona, Tucson. Its principal investigator is George Rieke of the University of Arizona.

NASA Spacecraft Sees Ice on Mars Uncovered by Meteor Impacts

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed frozen water hiding just below the surface of mid-latitude Mars. The spacecraft's observations were obtained from orbit after meteorites excavated fresh craters on the Red Planet.

Scientists controlling instruments on the orbiter found bright ice exposed at five Martian sites with new craters that range in depth from approximately half a meter to 2.5 meters (1.5 feet to 8 feet). The craters did not exist in earlier images of the same sites. Some of the craters show a thin layer of bright ice atop darker underlying material. The bright patches darkened in the weeks following initial observations, as the freshly exposed ice vaporized into the thin Martian atmosphere. One of the new craters had a bright patch of material large enough for one of the orbiter's instruments to confirm it is water-ice.

The finds indicate water-ice occurs beneath Mars' surface halfway between the north pole and the equator, a lower latitude than expected in the Martian climate.

"This ice is a relic of a more humid climate from perhaps just several thousand years ago," said Shane Byrne of the University of Arizona, Tucson.

Byrne is a member of the team operating the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE camera, which captured the unprecedented images. Byrne and 17 co-authors report the findings in the Sept. 25 edition of the journal Science.

"We now know we can use new impact sites as probes to look for ice in the shallow subsurface," said Megan Kennedy of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, a co-author of the paper and member of the team operating the orbiter's Context Camera.

During a typical week, the Context Camera returns more than 200 images of Mars that cover a total area greater than California. The camera team examines each image, sometimes finding dark spots that fresh, small craters make in terrain covered with dust. Checking earlier photos of the same areas can confirm a feature is new. The team has found more than 100 fresh impact sites, mostly closer to the equator than the ones that revealed ice.

An image from the camera on Aug. 10, 2008, showed apparent cratering that occurred after an image of the same ground was taken 67 days earlier. The opportunity to study such a fresh impact site prompted a look by the orbiter's higher resolution camera on Sept. 12, 2008, confirming a cluster of small craters.

"Something unusual jumped out," Byrne said. "We observed bright material at the bottoms of the craters with a very distinct color. It looked a lot like ice."

The bright material at that site did not cover enough area for a spectrometer instrument on the orbiter to determine its composition. However, a Sept. 18, 2008, image of a different mid-latitude site showed a crater that had not existed eight months earlier. This crater had a larger area of bright material.

"We were excited about it, so we did a quick-turnaround observation," said co-author Kim Seelos of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. "Everyone thought it was water-ice, but it was important to get the spectrum for confirmation."

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Scientist Rich Zurek, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., said, "This mission is designed to facilitate coordination and quick response by the science teams. That makes it possible to detect and understand rapidly changing features."

The ice exposed by fresh impacts suggests that NASA's Viking Lander 2, digging into mid-latitude Mars in 1976, might have struck ice if it had dug 10 centimeters (4 inches) deeper. The Viking 2 mission, which consisted of an orbiter and a lander, launched in September 1975 and became one of the first two space probes to land successfully on the Martian surface. The Viking 1 and 2 landers characterized the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface. They also conducted on-the-spot biological tests for life on another planet.

Space Shuttle Mission

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians are preparing space shuttle Atlantis for its move from Orbiter Processing Facility-1 to the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, next month.

Final preparations in the shuttle's aft section are complete and crews are working on the forward sections now. The main landing gear is set to be leak tested and the hydraulic fluid level will be checked today.

Battery installation and testing for the wing leading edge sensors is ongoing. The sensors help monitor the reinforced carbon carbon heat shield panels on the shuttle’s wings for possible debris impacts. The payload bay doors will be closed Friday for rollover.

Meanwhile in the VAB, Atlantis' external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters have been stacked on the mobile launcher platform in High Bay 2.

Hubble Opens New Eyes on the space

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is back in business, ready to uncover new worlds, peer ever deeper into space, and even map the invisible backbone of the universe.

The first snapshots from the refurbished Hubble showcase the 19-year-old telescope's new vision. Topping the list of exciting new views are colorful multi-wavelength pictures of far- flung galaxies, a densely packed star cluster, an eerie "pillar of creation," and a "butterfly" nebula.

With the release of these images, astronomers have declared Hubble a fully rejuvenated observatory. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., unveiled the images at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 9, 2009.

With its new imaging camera, Hubble can view galaxies, star clusters, and other objects across a wide swath of the electromagnetic spectrum, from ultraviolet to near-infrared light. A new spectrograph slices across billions of light-years to map the filamentary structure of the universe and trace the distribution of elements that are fundamental to life.

The telescope's new instruments also are more sensitive to light and can observe in ways that are significantly more efficient and require less observing time than previous generations of Hubble instruments.

NASA astronauts installed the new instruments during the space shuttle servicing mission in May 2009. Besides adding the instruments, the astronauts also completed a dizzying list of other chores that included performing unprecedented repairs on two other science instruments.

Now that Hubble has reopened for business, it will tackle a whole range of observations. Looking closer to Earth, such observations will include taking a census of the population of Kuiper Belt objects residing at the fringe of our solar system, witnessing the birth of planets around other stars, and probing the composition and structure of the atmospheres of other worlds.

Peering much farther away, astronomers have ambitious plans to use Hubble to make the deepest-ever portrait of the universe in near-infrared light. The resulting picture may reveal never-before-seen infant galaxies that existed when the universe was less than 500 million years old. Hubble also is now significantly more well-equipped to probe and further characterize the behavior of dark energy, a mysterious and little-understood repulsive force that is pushing the universe apart at an ever-faster rate.

Longest Solar Eclipse of the 21st Century

One one-thousand, 2 one-thousand, 3 one-thousand, 4 one-thousand...Continue counting and don't stop until you reach 399 one-thousand. Did that feel like a long time? Six minutes and 39 seconds to be exact. That's the duration of this week's total solar eclipse--the longest of the 21st century.

The event begins at the crack of dawn on Wednesday, July 22nd, in the Gulf of Khambhat just east of India. Morning fishermen will experience a sunrise like nothing they've ever seen before. Rising out of the waves in place of the usual sun will be an inky-black hole surrounded by pale streamers splayed across the sky. Sea birds will stop squawking, unsure if the day is beginning or not, as a strange shadow pushes back the dawn and stirs up a breeze of unaccustomed chill.

Most solar eclipses produce this sort of surreal experience for a few minutes at most. The eclipse of July 22, 2009, however, will last as long as 6 minutes and 39 seconds in some places, not far short of the 7 and a half minute theoretical maximum. It won't be surpassed in duration until the eclipse of June 13, 2132.

From the Gulf of Khambhat, the Moon's shadow will race east across India, China, and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. Click on the image to launch an animated map:

The path of totality cuts across many large cities. The shadow will linger over Shanghai, the largest city in China, for six full minutes, giving 20 million residents a lengthy and stunning view of the sun's ghostly corona. Other large cities in the path of totality include Surat, Vadodara, Bhopal, Varanasi, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Hefei, Hangzhou. The population of each numbers in the millions, making this possibly the best-observed solar eclipse in human history.

The eclipse is extra-long because of a lucky coincidence, made possible by the elliptical shape of planetary orbits. On July 22nd, Earth happens to be near its farthest point from the sun. A small sun means the Moon can cover it longer. At the same time, the Moon will be near its closest point to Earth. A large Moon covers the sun longer, lengthening the eclipse even more.

The leisurely pace of the eclipse could have a transformative effect on witnesses. Total eclipses have been known to turn ordinary folk into life-long "eclipse-chasers" willing to spend thousands of dollars and travel tens of thousands of miles to feel the Moon's cool shadow and behold the sun's pale atmosphere just one more time. A few extra minutes of wonder will intensify this effect to an unknown degree.

Sea Ice May Be on Increase in the Antarctic: A Phenomenon Due to a Lot of 'Hot Air'?

A new NASA-funded study finds that predicted increases in precipitation due to warmer air temperatures from greenhouse gas emissions may actually increase sea ice volume in the Antarctic’s Southern Ocean. This adds new evidence of potential asymmetry between the two poles, and may be an indication that climate change processes may have different impact on different areas of the globe.

"Most people have heard of climate change and how rising air temperatures are melting glaciers and sea ice in the Arctic," said Dylan C. Powell, co-author of the paper and a doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. "However, findings from our simulations suggest a counterintuitive phenomenon. Some of the melt in the Arctic may be offset by increases in sea ice volume in the Antarctic.

The researchers used satellite observations for the first time, specifically from the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager, to assess snow depth on sea ice, and included the satellite observations in their model. As a result, they improved prediction of precipitation rates. By incorporating satellite observations into this new method, the researchers achieved more stable and realistic precipitation data than the typically variable data found in the polar regions. The paper was published in the June issue of the American Geophysical Union's Journal of Geophysical Research.

"On any given day, sea ice cover in the oceans of the polar regions is about the size of the U.S.," said Thorsten Markus, co-author of the paper and a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "Far-flung locations like the Arctic and Antarctic actually impact our temperature and climate where we live and work on a daily basis."


According to Markus, the impact of the northernmost and southernmost parts on Earth on climate in other parts of the globe can be explained by thermohaline circulation – the movement of ocean water that is caused by temperature and salinity variations in the ocean. Through this process, ocean circulation acts like a heat pump and determines our climate to a great extent. The deep and bottom water masses of the oceans make contact with the atmosphere only at high latitudes near or at the poles. In the polar regions, the water cools down and releases its salt upon freezing, a process that also makes the water heavier. The cooler, salty, water then sinks down and cycles back towards the equator. The water is then replaced by warmer water from low and moderate latitudes, and the process then begins again.

Typically, warming of the climate leads to increased melting rates of sea ice cover and increased precipitation rates. However, in the Southern Ocean, with increased precipitation rates and deeper snow, the additional load of snow becomes so heavy that it pushes the Antarctic sea ice below sea level. This results in even more and even thicker sea ice when the snow refreezes as more ice. Therefore, the paper indicates that some climate processes, like warmer air temperatures increasing the amount of sea ice, may go against what we would normally believe would occur.

"We used computer-generated simulations to get this research result. I hope that in the future we’ll be able to verify this result with real data through a long-term ice thickness measurement campaign," said Powell. "Our goal as scientists is to collect hard data to verify what the computer model is telling us. It will be critical to know for certain whether average sea ice thickness is indeed increasing in the Antarctic as our model indicates, and to determine what environmental factors are spurring this apparent phenomenon."

Achim Stossel of the Department of Oceanography at Texas A&M University, College Station, Tex., a third co-author on this paper, advises that "while numerical models have improved considerably over the last two decades, seemingly minor processes like the snow-to-ice conversion still need to be better incorporated in models as they can have a significant impact on the results and therefore on climate predictions."

Lighting Up the Night

Viewed from the Banana River Viewing Site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery arcs through a cloud-brushed sky, lighted by the trail of fire after launch on the STS-128 mission. Liftoff from Launch Pad 39A was on time at 11:59 p.m. EDT. The first launch attempt on Aug. 24 was postponed due to unfavorable weather conditions. The second attempt on Aug. 25 also was postponed due to an issue with a valve in space shuttle Discovery's main propulsion system.

The STS-128 mission is the 30th International Space Station assembly flight and the 128th space shuttle flight. The 13-day mission will deliver more than 7 tons of supplies, science racks and equipment, as well as additional environmental hardware to sustain six crew members on the International Space Station. The equipment includes a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill.

INSPIRE Student Interns Learning Flight Test First-Hand

Student interns in NASA's INSPIRE program are learning first-hand about the start-to-finish lifecycle of flight testing experimental aircraft this summer by working in teams to build, flight test and analyze data from two small-scale remote-controlled airplanes at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center.

As with all experimental flight research at NASA Dryden, the students proceeded through a series of technical reviews, safety analyses, development of mission rules and flight operations before conducting actual data-collection flights. After their arrival June 8, the students began 2 ½ weeks learning aerodynamics, systems engineering, safety, and Dryden's flight approval process. They also measured the geometry of the model aircraft selected for the project, and used their new knowledge to estimate its performance.

The students then took an additional 2 ½ weeks to make flight cards detailing each of the test points they wished to accomplish, perform static thrust testing and a combined systems test. In addition, they assessed programmatic and human risks and found mitigations as needed. They presented these results, along with plans for safely conducting flight operations, at a formal technical briefing, a requirement to receive approval for actual flight tests.

Two identical Electrostik RXR aircraft were chosen for the student project because they were large enough to hold the sensors and for their ease of assembly. The aircraft were then modified with a sensor suite from Eagle Tree Flight Systems that includes a pitot-static system, GPS, temperature probes, and accelerometers. The students installed all of the sensors and performed static thrust testing to pick the optimal propeller.

Once all the preparations and processes were completed, the student interns proceeded to conduct two rounds of actual flight tests. Thirteen flights were flown July 13 and 14 over a model aircraft flight operations area along the north edge of Rosamond Dry Lake on Edwards Air Force Base, about 10 miles from NASA Dryden. The short flights focused on aircraft performance issues, such as control-surface trim, air-data calibration, lift and drag, thrust required for level flight, turn performance and rate of climb.

As often occurs in flight testing, some technical glitches were encountered when the students were not able to get positive confirmation that the second aircraft's data collection system was working properly and had to use the other aircraft for most of the flight testing, explained NASA Dryden controls and dynamics engineer Brian Taylor, who is serving as a mentor to the students. After the students took a quick look at the data, however, they found that the second aircraft was recording flight data properly, and are now analyzing data from all of the flights to compare it with their earlier estimates. They will detail their results at a final briefing on July 30.

"The students are getting a small dose of the realities of flight research and test," commented Bradley C. Flick, Chief Engineer at NASA Dryden. "Dealing with system failures and uncertainties are commonplace and they're learning more about engineering than they would have if everything had been perfect from the start."

INSPIRE is an acronym for Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education Experience, a multi-tiered year round program designed for students in ninth-to-12th grades who are interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and careers. According to Kendra Titus, Student & Faculty Programs Coordinator at NASA Dryden's Office of Education, the INSPIRE summer internship program provides direct project experience for students who are interested in engineering careers and who will be entering their senior year in high school or their freshman year in college in the fall.

Ocean Bottom Pressure

This map shows changes in ocean bottom pressure measured by NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (Grace). Red shows where pressure varies by large amounts, blue where it changes very little. Just as knowing atmospheric pressure allows meteorologists to predict winds and weather patterns, measurements of ocean bottom pressure provide oceanographers with fundamental information about currents and global circulation. They also hold clues to questions about sea level and climate. The pressure at the bottom of the ocean is determined by the amount of mass above it.

aquarium fish: Guppy

The guppy prefers a hard water aquarium and can withstand levels of salinity up to 150% that of normal sea water, which has led to them being occasionally included in marine tropical community tanks, as well as in freshwater tropical tanks. Guppies are generally peaceful, though nipping behaviour is sometimes exhibited between male guppies or towards other top swimmers like platys and swordtails and occasionally other fish with prominent fins such as angelfish. Its most famous characteristic is its propensity for breeding, and it can breed in both fresh water and marine aquariums.

Guppy breeding by aquarists produces variations in appearance ranging from color consistency to fantails and "spike" swordtails. Selective breeding has created an avid "fancy guppy" collector group, while the "wild" guppy maintains its popularity as one of the hardiest aquarium fish.

Well fed adults often do not eat their own young, although sometimes safe zones are required for the fry. Specially designed livebearer birthing tanks, which can be suspended inside the aquarium, are available from aquatic retailers. These serve the dual purpose of shielding the pregnant female from further attention from the males, which is important because the males will sometimes attack the females while they are giving birth. It also provides a separate area for the newborn young as protection from being eaten by their mother. However, if a female is put in the breeder box too early it may cause her to have a miscarriage. Well planted tanks that offer a lot of barriers to adult guppies will shelter the young quite well. Java moss, Duckweed (Lemna Minor), and Water Wisteria are all excellent choices.

Cash Machine Fraud Warning

Criminals have attached card reading devices to at least two cash point machines in the District. Essex Police and Epping Forest District Council’s Safer Communities Department has advised people to be more vigilant when obtaining cash from a cash machine and to ensure that you shield your pin number and make sure that nobody is looking over your shoulder.

Safer Communities Manager, Caroline Wiggins said: "Please be very careful before withdrawing money from cash machines in the District and check to ensure that the machine has not been tampered with."

Criminals can obtain cards and pin numbers by using a flat card reading device placed directly over the machine slot. A very small pin-head camera is sometimes also placed to read your pin number. If you notice anything unusual about a cash machine, please report it to staff from where you are obtaining money from immediately.

Global fisheries show potential for comeback

Five out of 10 global ecosystems once threatened by overfishing are on the mend, according to a new study. A collaboration of scientists from seven countries analyzed fish populations around the world and found that the mass of fish removed from the ocean every year has decreased in some fisheries.

“This improvement might well be a reflection of the call to arms that has gone out over the last five to 10 years about the state of the ocean and its needs,” said Stephen Palumbi, professor of biology, director of Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station, and one of the 21 collaborating scientists. “It shows that fishery restrictions can actually pay off and things can get better.”

Fishing rates have dropped to at least a healthy level called maximum sustainable yield, which is the greatest amount of fish that can be harvested without depleting the population in the long term. The five ecosystems include oceans surrounding New Zealand; northwestern Australia; Iceland; the California current system stretching from Baja California to Canada; and western Canada and Alaska, up to the Bering Strait.

Well-documented decline

Scientists have presented numerous reports over the years cataloging the decline of marine ecosystems and the ominous collapse of global fisheries. A species collapse means the total mass of fish has fallen below 10 percent of original levels.

The new study, published in the July 31 edition of Science, was initiated by a disagreement between two groups of scientists. University of Washington fisheries scientist Ray Hilborn questioned methods used by a different group led by Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Canada, which predicted in 2006 that most harvested fish species would collapse by 2048. Because the debate opened areas of common ground, the two began meeting to discuss their findings and eventually launch the new study.

The group used ecosystem models to analyze records of global catches, small-scale fishery data, trawl surveys and stock assessments, which show the status of exploited fish populations. Not all of their findings were good news; out of 166 fish stocks, 63 percent had collapsed, a figure similar to the one in the 2006 paper, Palumbi said. Five of 10 well-managed ecosystems are still in decline, including oceans surrounding southeastern Australia, the Gulf of Thailand, northern Europe, northeastern United States and eastern Canada.

Hopeful for recovery

The scientists still seem hopeful for the ecosystems’ recovery if a lower rate of harvesting is enforced. They suggest catch restrictions, closing areas, and implementing economic incentives such as sustainable fishery certification.

The authors of the paper point to a successful case in Kenya where fish populations living in coral reefs recovered after local communities closed areas and restricted fishing gear such as beach seines, which catch unwanted marine animals along with the target fish. Fish size and weight improved, leading to steep increases in fishers’ incomes.

Unfortunately, a promising global average based on the 10 studied ecosystems may hide regional variation. “These 10 ecosystems really are the elite fisheries of the world – the ones with the most funding, the most research, and the most enforcement,” Palumbi said. Recovery of fish stocks in a developing country, on the other hand, is challenging when locals lack alternative sources of food, income and employment.

The scientists also suggest joining forces of fishery management and conservation through marine protection acts. “The two together – well managed fisheries and marine protected areas – are likely to be great partners in rebuilding marine ecosystems. They’re different strategies but they’re quite complementary,” Palumbi said.

Computer Animation of Mitosis

This invention is a computer animation model depicting the process of cell reproduction, better known as mitosis. This invention aims to make the process of learning about mitosis and its phases more memorable and retainable for students. Learning from a textbook is often a tedious task, and I hope to improve learning motivation. The invention is an animation without voice over components. This animation is run at a standard of 12 frames per second (fps). This standard is used commonly when media is to be posted to the Internet, although other fps rates are used. For example, most animated feature films run at 24 fps, allowing the film and animation to run smoothly and be choppy. 12 fps can a be just as smooth as 24 fps, but the difference is that the 12 fps will run twice as fast as 24 fps. To create the animation I used the programs Paint Shop Pro v6.02 and Animation Shop 2 to create the drawing and into compile them to a working and full running animation.

Cash Conversion

This article describes how cash in the MARS’ Federal Fund will be converted to eMARS. It will describe some of the things that may go wrong with this conversion if grant accountants are not diligent about maintaining the crosswalk in the MPS database until they are asked to submit it on June 30.

Every dollar of cash residing in the Federal Fund when financial activity in MARS ceases during the weekend of July 8 and 9 will be converted to eMARS. Ideally, every dollar that is converted to eMARS will be associated with an eMARS program structure in the MPS database.

Since late November 2005 agency grant accountants have been encouraged to appropriately deal with residual cash balances identified with closed/inactive grants that will not convert to eMARS. This activity may have involved any or all of the following:

• Transferring cash from a state fund to cover residual cash deficits;


• Transferring positive residual cash balances to a state fund; or


• Consolidating positive residual cash balances in a pseudo-grant to mitigate the Federal Fund cash deficit that would result from transferring it to a state fund prior to the implementation of eMARS.

Grant accountants’ diligence to this effort will be measurable by the proportion of Federal Fund cash that is identified with eMARS’ program structures (i.e., grants or pseudo-grants).

What They Earn

Did you all know there’s a place where you can find what the big shots in Alabama government make? You can see that Troy King rakes in more than $160,000, that Joe Morton hauls in more than $190,000 and that Judge Bill Thompson brings in more than $194,000. Bob Riley is getting paid peanuts at nearly $113,000 a year. And Bill Johnson was pulling in about $88,000 a year. This explains all of the Mercedes and BMWs in the state-owned parking lots!
source : goathillnews.wordpress.com

Chrysler Cash for Clunkers Program, Smart PR Or Not?

Chrysler Corporation just announced a beefed up incentive, Cash for Clunkers, to entice buyers to purchase their fuel efficient cars. Combined with a government program of the same name, auto buyers who trade in their old gas guzzlers stand to receive incentives of between $4500 and $9000. The programs are designed to get older, less fuel efficient vehicles off the road, and to boost the sale of Chrysler products obviously. It’s too bad the program is not in effect here in Germany, or else we could trade the “clunker” Mercedes A190 we hare having so much trouble with. For US auto buyers and Chrysler, this seems to be a win-win proposition, as consumer trust in the Chrysler brand sank when news of their imminent bankruptcy hit the presses.

New car sales for Chrysler plummeted by 47% between the first half of 2008 and the same period this year., but the auto maker has had sales woes for years. For this writer, the question arises; “How is giving away thousands going to increase revenue?” The 33 Chrysler models eligible for these incentives will obviously be sub-compact, compact, or super fuel efficient sedans. The point here being, the price markup for lower priced vehicles net’s less cash when these vehicles are sold in the first place, or at least one would think so.

The government’s contribution not withstanding, just how is giving away profit going to help a car manufacturer in bankruptcy? Maybe I am stupid or something, but this feels like one of those “bait and switch” deals to me. Given a statement by Steven Beahm, VP-sales operations Chrysler, it looks like getting people inside the dealership may be the reason the auto maker is “piggybacking” on the government shell out:

It is also interesting to note that Ford plans no such “matching” program for their buyers, and why should they? According to Mark Fields, Ford President of the Americas; “We feel we have an appropriate level (of incentives) right now.”
source : pamil-visions.net/chrysler-cash-for-clunkers/23139/

British Airways To Raise GBP600M Of Cash Funding

LONDON (Dow Jones)--British Airways (BAY.LN), a U.K. airline, said Friday it plans to raise GBP600 million of cash funding to ensure it has strong liquidity consistent with the current difficult trading conditions.

MAIN FACTS:

-Launches GBP300 million convertible debt issue, which will be conditional on approval from shareholders.

-Funding expected to add GBP600 million of further liquidity bringing it to total of GBP2 billion.

-Revenue of GBP1.98 billion expected in first quarter ending June 30.

-Operating loss of around GBP100 million, which is slightly better than market expectation.

-GBP1.25 billion of cash and general facilities of around GBP130 million as at June 30.

-Securities will be senior unsecured convertible bonds due in 2014 which will be convertible into 15-20% of issued ordinary share capital of British Airways.

-Final size of offering will be determined at the time of pricing, which expected to be later Friday.

-Eligible existing institutional shareholders will be given opportunity to take up a pro rata allocation if they wish.

-Agreed terms with trustees of defined benefit pension schemes in U.K. to release some bank guarantees back to airline.

-Guarantees were provided in 2006 and were accessible by trustees only in event of airline's insolvency.

-Consequently up to $540 million (approximately GBP330 million) of bank facilities will become available for airline to draw in cash at any time until June 21, 2012.

-Already obtained facilities of more than $3 billion (GBP1.9 billion) specifically against future aircraft deliveries.

-Bookbuilding process will close prior to announcement of the final terms of convertible bonds which is expected to be made Friday and closing is expected on or about Aug. 13.
Source : http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090717-701369.html

Cash for clunker cars may hit some roadblocks

Victor Mansur, a recent UI graduate, drives a 1993 Jeep Cherokee. Under a government program to take effect at the end of the month, his vehicle could be eligible for a $4,500 rebate if he trades it in for a more fuel-efficient car.

But he — and local car dealers — have doubts whether people will trade in their clunkers in droves.
The Car Allowance Rebate System, or “Cash for Clunkers” program, will offer customers rebates of either $3,500 or $4,500 to trade in their older, less fuel-efficient cars to purchase or lease a new vehicle that gets more than 22 miles per gallon.

The goal of the program is to put more environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient vehicles on the road while increasing car sales and saving consumers gas money.

“It’s a win-win for everybody, not to mention the environment,” said Eric Bolton, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is working closely with manufacturers, dealers, and disposal facilities to get the program up and running.

But there’s a catch: The purchased cars must be brand-new.

“I wouldn’t do it because I would probably get more money for just trading in my car,” Mansur said.
UI junior Tor Smith, who drives a Mitsubishi truck, agreed.

“I don’t have the money to buy a new car right now,” she said.

Furthermore, there are specific requirements that eligible cars have to meet to be traded in. The vehicle must have been manufactured within 25 years of the buying/leasing date, have a combined city/highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less, and have been insured by the owner for at least one year.

Even local car dealers are uncertain about how popular the program will be. The recently signed law requires dealerships to recycle or destroy the old cars, so additional money for the trade isn’t an option.

If people can get more than the rebate amount for their car, there is little incentive to participate in the program, said Bruce Anderson, the general counsel for the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association.

More information : http://www.dailyiowan.com/2009/07/08/Metro/11979.html

Scrappage scheme, Darling?

Chancellor Alistair Darling has confirmed the long-expected news that the government will introduce a ‘cash for crapbox' (OK, that's not the official title, but it helps us remember it) car scrappage scheme, starting next month.

New car buyers will receive a £2,000 discount when they scrap their old car, which must be over 10 years old.

The government will stump up £1,000 of the discount, with the car industry paying the other half. The scheme will run from mid-May, and is scheduled to finish at the end of March next year.

Here's the technical stuff: the car you're scrapping must have been registered in the UK on or before July 31, 1999, and must have been continuously registered to a UK resident for 12 months before being scrapped. It must also have a current MOT certificate. So if you're thinking about hauling out the old Austin Allegro that's been rusting into a heap at the end of your garden for the past 20 years, don't. It won't work.

The £2,000 discount will apply to all new cars, not just low-CO2 or ‘green' vehicles - good news for Jaguar and Land Rover.

Darling also used the Budget to announce that fuel duty would increase by 2p per litre this September, and will rise by 1p per litre over the rate of inflation each April for the next four years. Oh, and some stuff about income tax and stamp duty, though we didn't really pay much attention to that.

Source : http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/scrappage-budget-2009-04-22

Rupee steady at 48.57 a dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee on Thursday remained steady at 48.57/58 against the US currency in early trade on weakening of dollar in the overseas
market.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange
(forex) market, the domestic currency resumed at 48.57/58 a dollar against its previous close of 48.55/56.

Forex dealers said the Indian benchmark Sensex is expected to open in a strong note in tandem with other Asian markets, which are higher by up to 2% in the morning trade, influencing rupee sentiment.

The Indian benchmark Sensex on Wednesday ended up 99 points or 0.69% on late buying support.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/Rupee-steady-at-4857-a-dollar/articleshow/4700151.cms

US banks pay back bail-out cash

US banks have started to pay back money borrowed through the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (Tarp). Ten banks have collectively repaid $68bn(£41.5bn) out of the $700bn provided through taxpayer money.

Of these, JP Morgan repaid $25bn, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley each paid $10bn, US Bancorp paid $6.6bn and American Express returned $3.4bn. Before being allowed to pay back money, the banks had to be able to show that they were able to raise cash privately.

Other banks to repay funds on Wednesday included Capital One Financial, which paid $3.6bn, BB&T Corp paid $3.1bn, Bank of Mellon New York paid back $3bn, State Street returned $2bn while Northern Trust returned $1.57bn. The 10 banks were given the permission last week to return the funds after undergoing government financial stress tests but Wednesday was the first day they could return the money.

"Real stability can return return only if our industry accepts that certain practices were unhealthy and not in the long-term interests of individual institutions and the financial system, as a whole," said Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's chief executive, in a letter given to congressmen and senators. By repaying the funds, the banks will no longer have to pay dividends to the government or limit pay and bonuses.

Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8105461.stm

Sidelined cash is huge, but is it antsy to go somewhere?

Besides the apparently moderating recession, what gets Wall Street bulls excited these days is talking about the mountain of cash sitting on the sidelines -- particularly in money market mutual funds.

Money fund assets have risen dramatically in the last three years, to the current $3.7 trillion from $2 trillion in mid-2006.

Sooner or later, bulls surmise, investors will grow weary of tiny yields on money funds -- now averaging a record low 0.15% on taxable funds -- and will funnel a chunk of that cash into the stock market, providing more fuel for an extended bull run.

In a research report on Monday, Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago, said that whenever money market assets have exceeded 25% of the capitalization of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, stocks have rallied over the following two years. That number currently is 43% after having peaked at 58% in mid-December.

There’s no doubt that some fickle money-fund cash will flow into stocks; indeed, after peaking in early January, money fund assets have edged lower as the stock market has surged.

But money funds might not provide as much juice as the bulls expect.

For one thing, much of the cash flow into money funds over the past two years had little to do with the collapsing stock market, said Peter Crane, chief executive of research firm Crane Data.

Corporations, which account for two-thirds of money-fund assets, have built up funds for purposes ranging from emergency reserves to bankrolling mergers, and are unlikely to put that cash into stocks, Crane said.

Source : http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2009/06/besides-the-moderating-recession-what-gets-wall-street-bulls-excited-these-days-is-talking-about-the-mountain-of-cash-sittin.html

£885m of tenants' cash safeguarded

The Government has acted to protect the public from potential service cuts or council tax increases that could result from local authority investments in Icelandic banks while efforts continue to recover the money.

Local Government Minister John Healey has laid regulations before Parliament that enable authorities to postpone any possible budgetary impact of this until 2010-11.

Without this help, they would have to make immediate provision for possible losses in their revenue budgets - with potentially serious impacts on council tax or services.

New statistics published today show that as at the end of last year, 125 local authorities in England had outstanding investments of around £923.2million in Icelandic banks.

John Healey said:

"Following the failure of Icelandic banks last year the Government - with the Local Government Association - acted immediately to ensure no local authority faced serious short term difficulty as a result. We continue to work closely with the banks and Icelandic authorities to help local authorities and other creditors recover their money.

"This money isn't lost but it is at risk so under normal financial rules this risk would need to be taken into account in their budgets. I was concerned about the possible, and potentially unnecessary, effect this could have on services and council tax. That's why I am taking this exceptional step that gives authorities some breathing space that should allow them to be clearer what sums, if any, are still at risk. Meanwhile the Government will continue its efforts to ensure that investors recover as much as possible from the banks."

The regulations come into force on 31 March 2009 and apply immediately.

Toy Till

Cash registers were invented in the1880s to prevent shop assistants making mistakes with customers' change. This toy till is mechanically operated, not electronically and it uses pounds, shillings and pence. It was made before the introduction of decimal currency in 1971.

Children often play with toys that replicate adult work and life.

Toy tills like these were designed to be educational, helping children to develop their numeracy skills.

$950 One-off Cash Bonus to Support Jobs

The Rudd Government today announced five key $950 one-off payments for low and middle income households and individuals.

The Government is providing these cash payments to immediately support jobs and strengthen the Australian economy during a severe global recession.

These targeted cash bonuses are a key element of the Government’s $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan to support up to 90,000 Australian jobs.

To immediately stimulate the economy in the shortest possible time, five groups of one-off cash bonuses will be paid in March and April 2009.

These five key bonuses include a:

• Tax Bonus for Working Australians of up to $950 paid to every eligible Australian worker earning $100,000 or less. This will support up to 8.7 million individuals.


• $950 Single Income Family Bonus to support 1.5 million families with one main income earner.


• $950 Farmers' Hardship Bonus paid to around 21,500 drought affected farmers and farm dependent small business owners receiving exceptional circumstances related income support.


• $950 per child Back to School Bonus to support 2.8 million children from low- and middle-income families.


• $950 Training and Learning Bonus paid to students and people outside of the workforce returning to study to help with the costs of education and training.

To support jobs in the middle of a severe global recession the Government must stimulate the economy in the most immediate manner possible.

That is why one off cash bonuses to people and families who are doing it toughest are a key part of our Nation Building and Jobs Plan.

These one off cash bonuses reflect the weight of economic authority – including the advice of the International Monetary Fund – that targeted one off payments rather than generalised tax cuts spread over a lengthy period are more likely to be consumed, and thus provide a more effective economic stimulus and provide more support for Australian jobs.

There will be no quick fixes, but the Government is determined to act swiftly and decisively to support Australian households, growth and jobs.

These cash bonuses will stimulate consumption quickly, supporting economic activity and jobs until our nation building initiatives have an impact.

This $12.7 billion package is a major economic initiative to deal with these extraordinary economic times and is in addition to the Economic Security Strategy that the Rudd Government delivered in December 2008.

Payday Loans Equal Very Costly Cash

The ads are on the radio, television, the Internet, even in the mail. They refer to payday loans, cash advance loans, check advance loans, post-dated check loans, or deferred deposit loans. The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, says that regardless of their name, these small, short-term, high-rate loans by check cashers, finance companies and others all come at a very high price.

Here’s how they work: A borrower writes a personal check payable to the lender for the amount the person wants to borrow, plus the fee they must pay for borrowing. The company gives the borrower the amount of the check less the fee, and agrees to hold the check until the loan is due, usually the borrower’s next payday. Or, with the borrower’s permission, the company deposits the amount borrowed — less the fee — into the borrower’s checking account electronically. The loan amount is due to be debited the next payday. The fees on these loans can be a percentage of the face value of the check — or they can be based on increments of money borrowed: say, a fee for every $50 or $100 borrowed. The borrower is charged new fees each time the same loan is extended or “rolled over.”

The federal Truth in Lending Act treats payday loans like other types of credit: the lenders must disclose the cost of the loan. Payday lenders must give you the finance charge (a dollar amount) and the annual percentage rate (APR — the cost of credit on a yearly basis) in writing before you sign for the loan. The APR is based on several things, including the amount you borrow, the interest rate and credit costs you’re being charged, and the length of your loan.

A payday loan — that is, a cash advance secured by a personal check or paid by electronic transfer is very expensive credit. How expensive? Say you need to borrow $100 for two weeks. You write a personal check for $115, with $15 the fee to borrow the money. The check casher or payday lender agrees to hold your check until your next payday. When that day comes around, either the lender deposits the check and you redeem it by paying the $115 in cash, or you roll-over the loan and are charged $15 more to extend the financing for 14 more days. If you agree to electronic payments instead of a check, here’s what would happen on your next payday: the company would debit the full amount of the loan from your checking account electronically, or extend the loan for an additional $15. The cost of the initial $100 loan is a $15 finance charge and an annual percentage rate of 391 percent. If you roll-over the loan three times, the finance charge would climb to $60 to borrow the $100.

More cash for council homes

The Scottish Government today announced an additional £25 million to support the construction of local authority homes.

The money, which is expected to support 3,000 jobs, takes the total government investment in council house building to £50 million, the most spent in 30 years.

Just last week the Scottish Government announced the first 14 councils to benefit from the fund when almost £17 million was allocated. Work is currently underway to allocate the remainder of the cash as quickly as possible.

Announcing the additional investment today, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon said:

"The Scottish Government is investing record amounts in affordable housing, more than 1.5 billion pounds over three years, despite the tightest settlement from Westminster since devolution.

"These are hard times for businesses and families across Scotland and this government is working hard to meet this challenge, safeguard jobs, support the construction industry and keep the economy moving.

"In the Scottish Government's first year in office, more public sector homes were started than at any time since the early 1990s.

"The announcement of additional funding today will help local authorities to continue to reverse the decades of decline in council house building, providing people and their families with access to good quality homes that they can afford."

The council house building fund is just one part of a wider package supporting affordable housing in the economic downturn. Already the Scottish Government has:

• announced a record £644 million for the affordable housing investment programme this year

• extended the open market shared equity pilot to cover the whole of Scotland, backed by £60 million

• announced its intention to legislate to end the right to buy on all new build social housing

• launched the £35 million Homeowners Support Fund which helps households in financial difficulty

Christmas in Korogocho: How DFID cash helps children in Kenya's slums

Christmas 2008 has now come and gone. In the UK, most children got excited about Christmas, whether they had lots of wishes and expectations, or only one.

Kenyan children have wishes too. Meet Margaret Wamboi, who is 13 years old. Orphaned by AIDS, she lives in the slum of Korogocho in Nairobi. It's not a pretty place. In fact, 'Korogocho' means 'dumping-ground' in Kiswahili. So, what was Margaret's Christmas wish?

"My dream is to find a sponsor who will help me go to secondary school" she says. The evening we spoke to her she'd just finished her last day of primary school. Primary education is free in Kenya but Margaret knows her family doesn't have enough money for secondary school fees. Margaret's big sister Wahu, 16, looks after her and five other children also orphaned by AIDS. Wahu's dream, too, is that her sister Margaret is able to continue her education. "The biggest Christmas present for me that I would love, would be for the children all to go to school." Click on the video (right) to hear Margaret and Wahu's story.

The fact is that most children in Korogocho - a dangerous and unforgiving place inhabited by some 300,000 of the poorest, most desperate people in East Africa - will not get a present this Christmas. But, as journalist Alex Renton reports, DFID, Unicef and the Kenyan government are working together to give these and other orphaned and vulnerable children small amounts of cash that will help realise their wishes for the future.

Steam engine

In simple terms, it is the vapor released when water is heated to the boiling point. Both colorless and odorless, this vapor can provide a powerful source of energy and pressure. During classical times, man began to experiment with harnessing the power of steam. Greek engineer Heron (or Hero) of Alexandria developed a simplified steam device called an aeolipile or "wind ball" in which steam power caused a ball to revolve. Although Heron thought of this rotating device as a novelty or toy, the design principle he used is similar to that of today's jet propulsion. In 1679, French mathematician and physicist Denis Pepin invented a type of pressure cooker called the steam digester - an early forerunner of the autoclave. Serious efforts to harness steam power were made in 17th century Britain when it became necessary to pump floodwaters out of coalmines. In 1698, Thomas Savoy patented a crude steam engine that accomplished this task. In 1712, Thomas Newcomen improved upon his partner's idea with the development of an atmospheric steam engine. Enter James Watt, Glasgow scientist, depicted in the image below in his shop. A Newcomen engine was brought to him for repair, and his experiments and improvements resulted in his 1769 patent that ultimately became the dominant steam engine design of the times. The first effective high pressure steam engine in the United States was designed and built by a little known Delaware inventor, Oliver Evans. His 1801 invention, detailed in the 1893 lithograph above, is largely responsible for America's industrialization in the 19th century. Steam engines were adapted to power early locomotives, steamboats, fire fighting equipment and factory machines; even though more sophisticated power methods have evolved, steam engines are still used for power generation today.