Aurorae from Earth, Space, and on Other Worlds

By Caleb A. Scharf?| January 25, 2012 |??

Share ?Email

---

Southern aurora (aurora australis) composited with NASA imagery

As we?re in the midst of experiencing some particularly stormy solar weather it seems appropriate to make a quick post with some nifty auroral images and time-lapse movies (see below). It?s also fun to point out that the phenomenon of aurorae (or auroras) is truly universal. Caused when high-velocity particles like electrons and protons expelled by (for example) stellar activity crash into the upper reaches of planetary atmospheres, aurorae are one of the most beautiful manifestations of fundamental physics. These speedy particles can dump energy into the electrons bound into atoms of atmosphere ? oxygen and nitrogen on Earth for example. As the electrons rid themselves of this energy in order to snuggle back up to their atomic nuclei they bleed photons ? the photons that light up the skies.

The complexity of the illuminated structures is testament to the complexity of the flows of atmospheric electrical currents and particles within a planetary magnetic field, together with the tendrils of incoming particle streams from a star.

Hubble Space Telescope of UV light emitted by aurorae in upper atmosphere of Jupiter (J. Clarke, ESA/NASA)

Earth does it, Jupiter and Saturn do it, Neptune and Uranus have been caught at it, and even Mars does it. We also presume that many exoplanets must also do it ? in fact auroral emission mechanisms (which can also produce radio frequencies) could offer a truly unique way to detect and study planets around other stars.

For now though we can simply marvel at a light show that has played out across billions of years in the skies of planet Earth.

From Earth (TESOPHOTOGRAPHY)

..and from space (the International Space Station/thesuntoday.com)

About the Author: Caleb Scharf is the director of Columbia University's multidisciplinary Astrobiology Center. He has worked in the fields of observational cosmology, X-ray astronomy, and more recently exoplanetary science. He is working on a new book entitled Gravity's Engines: How Bubble-Blowing Black Holes Rule Galaxies, Stars, and Life in the Cosmos (forthcoming from Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2012). Follow on Twitter @caleb_scharf.

More??

The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.

---

---

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=9fcfda323eccc31243a76a4ffcea0b8c

immaculate conception rule 5 draft lindsay lohan playboy cover lindsay lohan playboy cover shooting at virginia tech shooting at virginia tech blagojevich

NJ's Christie seeks shake-up in higher education (AP)

TRENTON, N.J. ? Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday proposed turning a former teacher's college into New Jersey's second major public research university in a shake-up of the state's higher education system that's intended to raise the standing of Rutgers University and other institutions from "good to great."

The first-term Republican governor has long been concerned that top high school graduates go elsewhere for college ? and often stay there ? rather than staying put in New Jersey, one of the few states where the flagship public university doesn't contain the state name.

Part of the problem is a shortage of slots for students, and part is the reputation of Rutgers, a school of 58,000 students spread across three campuses.

Under the governor's plan, fast-growing Rowan University, which 20 years ago was largely a teacher's college known as Glassboro State College, would take over the Rutgers-Camden campus, including its law school, in suburban Philadelphia.

Rutgers, whose main campuses are 30 miles from New York City, would absorb parts of the scandal-stained University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, gaining a medical school. The remaining parts of the University of Medicine and Dentistry would be renamed the New Jersey Health Sciences University.

"We cannot compete economically in this state with good but not great institutions at any level," Christie said at a news conference. "We need to make the steps happen to allow us to go from good to great."

Officials at Rowan are excited about the idea, but it's causing consternation at Rutgers-Camden. Rutgers officials at other campuses say they need more time to study the plan.

Christie said the moves would strengthen New Jersey's entire higher education system, giving southern New Jersey a major research university, improving the links between research and patient treatment, and strengthening ties to the state's pharmaceutical industry at Rutgers' main campus in New Brunswick and Piscataway.

He said they would also give a new start and more focused mission to the University of Medicine and Dentistry, which spent years mired in scandal related to no- or low-show jobs being given in exchange for steering patients or taxpayer money to the school, billing irregularities and employees accepting favors from contractors.

The idea of major university reconfiguration has been around for a decade, but university officials and politicians have never mustered the will to make it happen.

The strong-willed governor cited one major difference this time around that he said will result in real change: "It's me."

Christie said that the cost has not yet been calculated but that most of it would be absorbed by the current university budgets. He said there would not need to be deep layoffs anywhere, as long as the universities as constituted now aren't overstaffed ? but he said there might be.

At Rutgers-Camden, third-year law student Wali Rushdan said many students were concerned about whether losing the Rutgers brand would make it harder to attract top faculty or make it more difficult for graduates to get jobs.

"The general mood is that people are completely against it and we wonder where the authority for it even comes from," said Rushdan, 29.

____

Follow Mulvihill at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_us/us_nj_higher_ed_shakeup

confederate flag confederate flag kim delaney kim delaney dead sea scrolls new jersey nets all my children online

Nintendo Q3 profit slumps, guidance slashed (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Nintendo Co Ltd posted a 61 percent drop in quarterly operating profit on Thursday and forecast a 45 billion yen ($580 million) operating loss for the year to March, far worse than market expectations, hit by weak sales and the strong yen.

The full-year operating loss will be the first since the company started announcing earnings in their current form in 1981. The company blamed yen strength and weaker-than-expected sales.

The creator of the Super Mario franchise dominated the video games industry for years with its DS handheld players and Wii home consoles, but is now struggling to keep up with more versatile gadgets like Apple's smartphones and tablets.

It cut its annual forecast for its ageing Wii console to 10 million devices from 12 million, and for the 3DS handheld games device to 14 million from 16 million.

"We had higher expectations for the year-end season, but failed to meet them," President Satoru Iwata told reporters in Osaka.

Poor sales forced Nintendo to slash the price of its much-anticipated 3DS handheld games device in August, only six months after its launch.

The move halted its record of making profits on games hardware as well as software, a business model that took operating income to a high of 555 billion yen in 2008/09.

Nintendo also faces harsher competition in the home console market from Sony Corp's Move and Microsoft Corp's Kinect

PROFIT FALLS

Profit slumped to 40.9 billion yen for the traditionally strong October-December period, compared with a consensus estimate of a 52 billion yen profit, based on a survey of three analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares in Nintendo have halved to below 11,000 yen since the beginning of the financial year in April, hit by the 3DS flop and market disappointment with the Wii U next-generation home console, unveiled at the E3 games show in June and set to go on sale in the second half of this year. At their peak, in late 2007, the shares traded at 73,200 yen.

Last week, its shares fell to 10,020 yen, their lowest since April 2004, before either the DS or Wii were launched.

($1 = 77.58)

(Reporting by Yoshiyuki Osada in OSAKA and Isabel Reynolds in TOKYO; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Edwina Gibbs)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/ts_nm/us_nintendo_results

playoff schedule charles addams pinewood derby cars republican debate tonight tinker tailor soldier spy rich forever rick ross project runway all stars

Man convicted in Travolta car theft ordered to pay

FILE - In this April 12, 2011 file photo, actor John Travolta participates in a news conference for the film "Gotti: Three Generations," in New York. Travolta's 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280-SL, stolen while parked on a residential Santa Monica street on Sept. 18, 2011, has been recovered by police and two men have been arrested. One of the men has already pleaded no contest to taking the car and is serving a jail sentence. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)

FILE - In this April 12, 2011 file photo, actor John Travolta participates in a news conference for the film "Gotti: Three Generations," in New York. Travolta's 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280-SL, stolen while parked on a residential Santa Monica street on Sept. 18, 2011, has been recovered by police and two men have been arrested. One of the men has already pleaded no contest to taking the car and is serving a jail sentence. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? A man who stole John Travolta's vintage 1970 Mercedes-Benz convertible is serving a jail term and been ordered to pay the actor $50,000 in restitution, court records show.

D L Rayford Jr. was sentenced to serve 16 months in jail after pleading no contest to grand theft auto on Jan. 5, nearly three weeks before authorities announced his arrest on Wednesday. Rayford and Michael T. Green were arrested last month on suspicion of taking the car and each was charged with grand theft auto.

Travolta parked the convertible on a residential street in Santa Monica, California, for about 10 minutes in September when it was stolen. The Oscar-nominated actor had the car keys with him while he stopped in at a nearby Jaguar dealership and returned to find the car missing.

Santa Monica Police Sgt. Richard Lewis said Travolta's car had been dismantled by the time it was recovered. Among the pieces recovered by authorities were seats, the speedometer, hubcaps and other assorted parts from the vehicle.

Lewis said authorities waited to announce the arrests because their investigation into Rayford and Green had been ongoing. He said Santa Monica Police were able to clear eight stolen car cases after their arrests.

Police recovered the pieces after arresting Rayford and Green, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of grand theft auto. Robert Conley, a public defender representing him, said he could not comment on the case.

An email message sent to Travolta's publicist Samantha Mast was not immediately returned.

Rayford, 52, has a previous conviction for robbery and Green, 58, have prior convictions, court records show. Green is due back in court on Feb. 8.

___

Follow Anthony McCartney at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-25-John%20Travolta-Mercedes%20Stolen/id-eb4483e52fee447cbce4aa6831be0c72

pabst blue ribbon pabst blue ribbon mac miller omarion gabby gabby marcel the shell with shoes on

Turkish anger builds over French genocide law (Reuters)

PARIS/ANKARA (Reuters) ? France urged Turkey on Tuesday not to overreact after the French parliament adopted a bill making it illegal to deny the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago was genocide.

But Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, scheduled to address parliamentary deputies from his AK Party on Tuesday, was expected to heap scorn on NATO ally France over the law which Turks see as an insult to their nation, a travesty of history and an infringement of principles of free speech.

Speaking on Canal+ television, France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who was personally against the move, said the new law was "ill-timed," but called on Ankara to remain calm.

"We need good relations with it and we need to get through this excessive phase," Juppe said. "We have very important economic and trade ties. I hope the reality of the situation will not be usurped by emotions."

Some Turkish newspapers listed possible measures Ankara might take. These included the recall of its ambassador from Paris and telling the French ambassador to go home, reducing diplomatic ties to charge d'affaires level, and closing Turkish airspace and waters to French military aircraft and vessels.

Erdogan, speaking shortly before Monday's French vote, said the issue of future official visits to France would be thrown into uncertainty if the Senate passed the bill.

French firms stand to lose out in bids for defense contracts and other mega-projects such as nuclear power stations.

Turkey could also seek to trumpet allegations that French actions in Algeria in the 1950s and 1960s were also tantamount to a genocide.

"SATAN SARKOZY"

Morning headlines in Turkish newspapers were anything but calm. "A guillotine to free thought" said Star, while Aksam described the French move as "A guillotine to history."

"Shame on France" cried the Vatan daily. While Sozcu, a small newspaper that usually directs its scorn at Erdogan, found a new target with "Satan Sarkozy."

The mayor of Ankara has spoken of renaming the street where the French embassy is located to Algeria Street and erecting a memorial to Algerian victims of French colonial oppression in front of the embassy.

Lawmakers in the French upper house (Senate) voted in favor of the draft law outlawing genocide denial on Monday after almost six hours of debate.

The lower house had backed it in December, prompting Ankara to cancel all economic, political and military meetings with Paris and briefly recall its ambassador for consultations.

The bill now goes to President Nicolas Sarkozy to be ratified, and some analysts believe Turkey might delay announcing measures to see how Sarkozy handles the process.

Turkey's ambassador in Paris, Tahsin Burcuoglu, said the vote would lead to a "total rupture" of relations between the two countries and Ankara could seek to downgrade its diplomatic presence in the French capital.

Armenia, backed by many historians and parliaments, says about 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed in what is now eastern Turkey during World War One in a deliberate policy of genocide ordered by the Ottoman government.

The Ottoman empire was dissolved after the end of the war, but successive Turkish governments and the vast majority of Turks feel the charge of genocide is a direct insult to their nation. Ankara argues there was heavy loss of life on both sides during fighting in the area.

(Reporting By John Irish in Paris and Tulay Karadeniz and Jonathon Burch in Ankara; editing by David Stamp)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/wl_nm/us_france_turkey

bill moyers fab melo craigslist killer brandon jennings pope joan pope joan extremely loud and incredibly close

HBT: Eckstein retires from baseball at 37

It?s a sad day for scrappiness.

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, veteran infielder David Eckstein has decided to retire from baseball ?even though there were teams willing to bring him to camp? on a minor league contract.

Eckstein, 37, will finish up with a .280/.345/.355 career batting line. The 5-foot-6 shortstop and second baseman was named an All-Star twice and won the World Series MVP in 2006 after going 8-for-22 (.364) with three doubles, a walk and four RBI in the Cardinals? five-game victory over the Tigers.

Eckstein played for St. Louis, Anaheim, San Diego, Arizona and Toronto during his 10-year MLB career.

UPDATE: Eckstein?s agent denied Cafardo?s report, telling Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com that his client is willing to comtinue his playing career ?if the right opportunity arises.?

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/22/david-eckstein-37-has-retired-from-baseball/related/

appetizer recipes lesnar vs overeem insight bowl deep impact julia child bowl game schedule russell brand files for divorce

Insurance Think you're Obtaining the great offer? | USA Agency ...

Monday, January 23rd, 2012 at 3:12 am ?

Receiving car insurance is definitely a struggle. You can find so many insurance companies to choose from that are desperate to get those organization that deciding upon relating to the discounted prices plus the dubious specials could be time consuming. Speculate obtaining insurance is such a important and significant action to take, you really can?t tell if buying the least expensive insurance cover could suit your budget include the very best notion.

Because of the intense opposition inside the insurance cover marketplace, premiums happen to be dropping, and that is great news for the people looking for the best auto insurance. It is prudent to be aware of however that value isn?t the key to your car insurance plan package!

Prior to buying turn to gain is leaner high quality payments in order to reduce the responsibility to pay insurance cover. This can get lots of time especially in terms of comparing the different insurance agencies and what they have to may well supply. Even so there are a number of activities to do to increase your odds of achievement.

Check around. Each one insurance company provides unique setups ? occasionally different type of so significantly that care about depth is critical. You?ll be able to want prices from all of these corporations so as to assess them dependant upon the price ranges and programs they give you. A less complicated stage would be to go to web sites that collection insurers providing inexpensive insurance policies offers.

Maintain an effective cleanse driving history. If you can demonstrate that you?re a beneficial car owner then insurance providers will consider that you lower-danger candidate, therefore has lower associated with quality costs

One great way to reduce car insurance premiums is by the installation of several extra wellbeing products or functions with your car or truck. Some insurers will on auto-pilot reduced payments once they see anti?robbery equipment, computerized seatbelts and airbags.

Imaginative mathematics could also bring your vehicle prices straight down. Ask for higher insurance deductibles in your car insurance. By increasing your insurance deductibles you may decrease your monthly premiums from in between 15 to 20 per cent. Just ensure that you can neck the difference!

In case you private pre-owned vehicle or a well used design automobile, request to cut back its insurance coverage. An auto whose fee is the same as lower than much the premium that you simply spend on a thorough insurance is a bad option.

You can actually require a lot more discounts from insurance providers. Quite a few discount rates can be wanted like cheaper rates in case the motor vehicle incorporates a small annual distance. There?s also firms that grant deals in the event you present facts which you have taken a protecting driving a vehicle training. Transferring a semi-pro test of driving ability they can double to ask about for a rebate.

Your job may actually provide much better package than you imagine. Check with when your special career could be being a reduced-probability group. Insurers have a directory of vocations which are arranged involving low risk and dangerous. Small insurance policies probability careers are given lower premiums.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!

Source: http://usaagencyquotes.com/insurance-think-youre-obtaining-the-great-offer.html

teleprompter ashley greene mukesh ambani mukesh ambani bob harper x factor judges x factor judges