'I'm marrying Jassi next Year'
By Subhash K Jha
After Aishwarya, chances are tv's own dream-girl Mona Singh, a.k.a Jassi might be the next bride- in - wedding from our rapidly relationship-friendly entertainment industry.
Though apni Jassi remains characteristically coy about expressing her love her Man-Everyday Karan Oberoi who sings for the Band Of Boys and now also co-anchors Zee's Antakshari, is gallant enough to stand by his lady-love through her career and other individual impulses.
Says Karan, "We haven't finalized a date yet. But yes, our marriage is definitely on next year. I leave it entirely to Mona. She has Bollywood aspirations. I don't.
For me music everything. And even if the Band Of Boys is reduced to a band of one (me) I'd still continue to sing. When I did a film Kiss Kiss Ko with the Band Of Boys, the others were watching. I was just listening to myself sing."
The reason Mona has been quiet about her relationship with Karan is because her parents had issues about their friendship.
Karan and Mona's parents bonded big-time in Malaysia. "We were shooting for Jassi Jaisi…Koi Nahin. That's when her parents realized I'm not a bad sort. Jassi and I are so alike. And so are our families.
We're both from army backrounds. Our dads are retired army officers. But what really bonds us is our small-town roots. We haven't forgotten where we've come from."
Karan met Mona for the first time during the shooting of Jassi … in Mauritius. "After that we kind of drifted apart, only to be brought together again for the serial. Thank God For Jassi ….But yes, celebrity relationships are endangered by excessive attention."
Which explains why Mona has kept mum about her man. Says Karan, "We in the entertainment business lead fish-bowl lives. But I guess we've to learn to cope with the attention. Patience and mutual understanding always helps."
Will Mona continue to work after marriage? " What she should or shouldn't do after marriage is not for me to decide. What she does with her life beyond her relationship with me is entirely prerogative. She can do as she pleases. And I stand by her in whatever she does."
Karan who met and fell in love with Mona while shooting for the historic Jassi Jaisi…Koi Nahin isn't doing any serials at the moment. "I decided to anchor Antakshari because I love music. And Zee allowed me to host it my way.
I love kids and interacting with them. Besides we've a very enthusiastic team which doesn't think the way the home medium has been lobotomized into thinking."
As for his tenure with the Band Of Boys, Karan says he has just done another music video with them. "We should be out with another album soon. In the meanwhile I'm doing a whole lot of shows."
Source : 'I'm marrying Jassi next Year' article on SantaBanta.com
Sunday, April 29, 2007
New name, new career for Bollywood star
New name, new career for Bollywood star
by Jeremy Page, April 27, 2007
Aishwarya Rai, the Bollywood megastar, is to carry on acting after her marriage last week, breaking the mould for Indian actresses who generally retire after tying the knot.
But in a careful nod to Indian tradition, the former Miss World has adopted the surname of her new husband, Abhishek Bachchan, and decided to live in the Bachchan family home in Bombay.
The decisions were announced by her father-in-law, the 66-year-old screen legend, Amitabh Bachchan, whose own wife, Jaya, largely gave up acting after their marriage in 1973.
They reflect the delicate balancing act Bollywood actresses must still perform to maintain their allure as screen sirens, without offending their deeply conservative fans.
“Jaya and I have insisted that Aishwarya must continue with her acting career. There is no problem or issue with us,” Mr Bachchan senior told The Times of India in his first interview since the wedding.
“They will live with us,” he said. “This decision came voluntarily from both Abhishek and Aishwarya.” He added that his 33-year-old daughter-in-law wanted to use his surname and had already signed her first autograph as Aishwarya Bachchan.
If the new Mrs Bachchan continues her career, as her father-in-law’s comments suggest, it would set a precedent for Bollywood actresses.
For decades they have concealed and delayed wedding plans in order to maintain the illusion that they are single and eligible to play young romantic leads. Once married they typically retire and have children, returning to the screen years later to take on more matronly roles.
But industry insiders say that the new Mr and Mrs Bachchan – dubbed “Abhi-Ash” by Indian media – could exploit their status as Bollywood’s hottest couple by making several films together in the next few years.
The couple are considered India’s equivalent of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and any film they appear in is almost guaranteed to be a box-office success.
Source : New name, new career for Bollywood star article on TimesOnline.co.uk
by Jeremy Page, April 27, 2007
Aishwarya Rai, the Bollywood megastar, is to carry on acting after her marriage last week, breaking the mould for Indian actresses who generally retire after tying the knot.
But in a careful nod to Indian tradition, the former Miss World has adopted the surname of her new husband, Abhishek Bachchan, and decided to live in the Bachchan family home in Bombay.
The decisions were announced by her father-in-law, the 66-year-old screen legend, Amitabh Bachchan, whose own wife, Jaya, largely gave up acting after their marriage in 1973.
They reflect the delicate balancing act Bollywood actresses must still perform to maintain their allure as screen sirens, without offending their deeply conservative fans.
“Jaya and I have insisted that Aishwarya must continue with her acting career. There is no problem or issue with us,” Mr Bachchan senior told The Times of India in his first interview since the wedding.
“They will live with us,” he said. “This decision came voluntarily from both Abhishek and Aishwarya.” He added that his 33-year-old daughter-in-law wanted to use his surname and had already signed her first autograph as Aishwarya Bachchan.
If the new Mrs Bachchan continues her career, as her father-in-law’s comments suggest, it would set a precedent for Bollywood actresses.
For decades they have concealed and delayed wedding plans in order to maintain the illusion that they are single and eligible to play young romantic leads. Once married they typically retire and have children, returning to the screen years later to take on more matronly roles.
But industry insiders say that the new Mr and Mrs Bachchan – dubbed “Abhi-Ash” by Indian media – could exploit their status as Bollywood’s hottest couple by making several films together in the next few years.
The couple are considered India’s equivalent of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and any film they appear in is almost guaranteed to be a box-office success.
Source : New name, new career for Bollywood star article on TimesOnline.co.uk
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Film Industry Champion Valenti Dies
Film Industry Champion Valenti Dies
by Natalie Finn, 26 Apr 2007
There's a reason why kids under the age of 17 can't see a rated-R movie and why Hollywood almost did away with award screeners a few years ago. Jack Valenti is that reason.
The film industry lobbyist and creator of the modern-day movie rating system died Thursday at his Washington D.C. home due to complications of a stroke he suffered last month. He was 85.
Valenti, who cut his teeth in politics serving on President Lyndon Johnson's staff in the 1960s, assumed the role of president of the Motion Picture Association of America in 1966 and didn't relinquish the position until 2004, when the seemingly tireless champion of copyright protection finally retired.
"Jack was a showman, a gentleman, an orator and a passionate champion of this country, its movies, and the enduring freedoms that made both so important to this world," MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman, who took over when Valenti left, said in a statement. "He also embodied the theatricality of our industry with his conviction, quick wit and boundless energy. In a very real sense, he was the ultimate leading man."
Shortly after joining the MPAA, Valenti did major studios a good turn by doing away with the Hays Code—the 1930s-era set of rules that let studios know what was "morally acceptable" and affected how filmmakers approached onscreen sex and violence for years—and installed a set ratings guide, otherwise known as G, M (which later became PG), R and X.
But while Valenti was an ardent supporter of artistic freedoms, he wanted to keep a tight rein on what was done with those films after they were made, in all their Hays-free glory.
A fierce and outspoken foe of intellectual-property theft, Valenti was an early critic of VCRs, a device that he warned would bring about the end of the film industry, with its seeming capacity for rampant copying.
"I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone," he told Congress in 1982.
And although he was wrong about video cassette recorders, which actually helped to revive the industry by allowing movie lovers to take in a film at home, Valenti was no less vigilant in later years when it came to anything he perceived as a threat to creative property rights.
The Hollywood and Washington insider helped get the Digital Millennium Copyright Act signed into law in 1998, seeing it as a necessary piece of legislation to curb the encroaching threat of Internet piracy.
Several years later, Valenti was the driving force behind the MPAA's attempt to bar studios and production companies from passing out DVD screeners, an award season staple and a key way for filmmakers to ensure that industry bigwigs (aka Academy voters) will get a chance to view their movies.
A court injunction overturned the ban in 2004, a major blow against Valenti's largely unshakeable authority during his four-decade tenure.
But while his later years with the MPAA were pocked with controversy, Valenti's legacy is intact.
A former Army pilot who flew more than 50 combat missions during World War II, Valenti was known as a charismatic and personable leader who felt just as comfortable around Hollywood luminaries such as Elizabeth Taylor and Kirk Douglas as he did around D.C. politicos.
The Houston native authored five books about politics and the movie biz, including the recently completed memoir This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House, and Hollywood, which is due out in June, and maintained an active public speaking schedule. He had been scheduled to kick off a six-city book tour on June 5.
Valenti is survived by his wife of 45 years, Mary, daughters Courtenay Lynda and Alexandra Alice, son John Lyndon, and two grandchildren.
Source : Film Industry Champion Valenti Dies article on Eonline.com
by Natalie Finn, 26 Apr 2007
There's a reason why kids under the age of 17 can't see a rated-R movie and why Hollywood almost did away with award screeners a few years ago. Jack Valenti is that reason.The film industry lobbyist and creator of the modern-day movie rating system died Thursday at his Washington D.C. home due to complications of a stroke he suffered last month. He was 85.
Valenti, who cut his teeth in politics serving on President Lyndon Johnson's staff in the 1960s, assumed the role of president of the Motion Picture Association of America in 1966 and didn't relinquish the position until 2004, when the seemingly tireless champion of copyright protection finally retired.
"Jack was a showman, a gentleman, an orator and a passionate champion of this country, its movies, and the enduring freedoms that made both so important to this world," MPAA chairman and CEO Dan Glickman, who took over when Valenti left, said in a statement. "He also embodied the theatricality of our industry with his conviction, quick wit and boundless energy. In a very real sense, he was the ultimate leading man."
Shortly after joining the MPAA, Valenti did major studios a good turn by doing away with the Hays Code—the 1930s-era set of rules that let studios know what was "morally acceptable" and affected how filmmakers approached onscreen sex and violence for years—and installed a set ratings guide, otherwise known as G, M (which later became PG), R and X.
But while Valenti was an ardent supporter of artistic freedoms, he wanted to keep a tight rein on what was done with those films after they were made, in all their Hays-free glory.
A fierce and outspoken foe of intellectual-property theft, Valenti was an early critic of VCRs, a device that he warned would bring about the end of the film industry, with its seeming capacity for rampant copying.
"I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone," he told Congress in 1982.
And although he was wrong about video cassette recorders, which actually helped to revive the industry by allowing movie lovers to take in a film at home, Valenti was no less vigilant in later years when it came to anything he perceived as a threat to creative property rights.
The Hollywood and Washington insider helped get the Digital Millennium Copyright Act signed into law in 1998, seeing it as a necessary piece of legislation to curb the encroaching threat of Internet piracy.
Several years later, Valenti was the driving force behind the MPAA's attempt to bar studios and production companies from passing out DVD screeners, an award season staple and a key way for filmmakers to ensure that industry bigwigs (aka Academy voters) will get a chance to view their movies.
A court injunction overturned the ban in 2004, a major blow against Valenti's largely unshakeable authority during his four-decade tenure.
But while his later years with the MPAA were pocked with controversy, Valenti's legacy is intact.
A former Army pilot who flew more than 50 combat missions during World War II, Valenti was known as a charismatic and personable leader who felt just as comfortable around Hollywood luminaries such as Elizabeth Taylor and Kirk Douglas as he did around D.C. politicos.
The Houston native authored five books about politics and the movie biz, including the recently completed memoir This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House, and Hollywood, which is due out in June, and maintained an active public speaking schedule. He had been scheduled to kick off a six-city book tour on June 5.
Valenti is survived by his wife of 45 years, Mary, daughters Courtenay Lynda and Alexandra Alice, son John Lyndon, and two grandchildren.
Source : Film Industry Champion Valenti Dies article on Eonline.com
Sony launches PlayStation 3
Sony launches PlayStation 3
by Pritika Ghura, New Delhi, April 26, 2007
Sony India announces the launch of PlayStation 3, a computer entertainment system on Thursday in the Capital. This next generation home entertainment gaming console provides high definition quality product which allows consumers to play games, watch movies and videos, listen to music and share photos. This game console also enables one to browse the Net and is 40 times faster than Play Station 2. Priced at Rs 39,990, it aims to tap the growing gaming industry in the country.
Speaking on the occasion, Masaru Tamagawa, managing director of Sony India Pvt Ltd says, "The innovative PS3 system features power technologies and capabilities that have never been brought together in one system, including the Cell Broadband Engine, BD drive and online connectivity as standard features. The result is a breathtaking new interactive world to explore eye-popping multimedia functionality and a fully integrated online experience."
"Other features of Playstation 3 are new SIXAXIS wireless controller that allows gamers to physically turn, twist and bank their controllers to command the on-screen action and the Blue-ray Disc that provides a high definition gaming and movie experience and 50 GB of data capacity for video game developers to store content. This is five times higher than capacity of a DVD," says Tim Stokes, sales and marketing director of Sony India.
Though PS3 has been successfully launched in Europe, North America and Europe, the launch plan in India includes the 60 GB version and region-free gaming, a model slightly different from the one offered in Europe.
Strokes adds that Sony has to keep four things in mind when they launch a gaming console in India -- price, gaming content, investment and timing. "Seeing the boom in Indian economy, we have launched it at the same time when PS3 is being launched in other parts of the world."
As per the NASSCOM figures, the gaming industry in India is worth $45 million, which includes mobile and PC gaming. "It is expected to reach $425 million by 2010," says Jayant Sharma, chairman and CEO of Milestone Interactive Software Limited.
Source : Sony launches PlayStation 3 article on HindustanTimes.com
by Pritika Ghura, New Delhi, April 26, 2007
Sony India announces the launch of PlayStation 3, a computer entertainment system on Thursday in the Capital. This next generation home entertainment gaming console provides high definition quality product which allows consumers to play games, watch movies and videos, listen to music and share photos. This game console also enables one to browse the Net and is 40 times faster than Play Station 2. Priced at Rs 39,990, it aims to tap the growing gaming industry in the country.Speaking on the occasion, Masaru Tamagawa, managing director of Sony India Pvt Ltd says, "The innovative PS3 system features power technologies and capabilities that have never been brought together in one system, including the Cell Broadband Engine, BD drive and online connectivity as standard features. The result is a breathtaking new interactive world to explore eye-popping multimedia functionality and a fully integrated online experience."
"Other features of Playstation 3 are new SIXAXIS wireless controller that allows gamers to physically turn, twist and bank their controllers to command the on-screen action and the Blue-ray Disc that provides a high definition gaming and movie experience and 50 GB of data capacity for video game developers to store content. This is five times higher than capacity of a DVD," says Tim Stokes, sales and marketing director of Sony India.
Though PS3 has been successfully launched in Europe, North America and Europe, the launch plan in India includes the 60 GB version and region-free gaming, a model slightly different from the one offered in Europe.
Strokes adds that Sony has to keep four things in mind when they launch a gaming console in India -- price, gaming content, investment and timing. "Seeing the boom in Indian economy, we have launched it at the same time when PS3 is being launched in other parts of the world."
As per the NASSCOM figures, the gaming industry in India is worth $45 million, which includes mobile and PC gaming. "It is expected to reach $425 million by 2010," says Jayant Sharma, chairman and CEO of Milestone Interactive Software Limited.
Source : Sony launches PlayStation 3 article on HindustanTimes.com
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HUBBLE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HUBBLE
by Alan Boyle, April 24, 2007
Today marks the 17th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope's "birth" in space, and in a reversal of the usual routine, it's traditional for the Hubble team to give a gift. This time, astronomers are offering a wide-angle panorama of the Carina Nebula - a blazing-hot cosmic cookery that may be much like the environment that gave rise to our own solar system.
"It's one of the biggest and brightest star-forming regions in the sky," Nathan Smith, an astronomer at the University of California at Berkeley, told me Monday. "But this is the first time we've taken a large-scale view with the Hubble Space Telescope."
In fact, the Carina picture is one of the largest panoramic images ever taken with Hubble's cameras - more than 423 megapixels' worth, assembled from 48 frames taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys.
The finished image shows a 50-light-year-wide inferno where ultraviolet radiation from monster stars carve into the landscape of cool gas and dust. About a dozen of the stars are thought to be at least 50 to 100 times as massive as our sun. One of those stars is Eta Carinae, a popular observational target that is in the last stages of its brief, explosive life. In this picture, Eta Carinae is just one bright blip toward the left edge of the frame. This annotated image helps you locate Eta Carinae and other major features in the panorama.
The winds of radiation from the brightest stars compress the surrounding shells of cold hydrogen gas, sparking a second wave of starbirth. How does this chain reaction work? To figure that out, astronomers color-coded the image, using additional data from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. Red represents sulfur, green stands for hydrogen, and blue corresponds to oxygen emissions.
Smith, a leader of the research team behind the image, said the new image gave him a clearer picture of what's going on within the nebula. "With a 10 times sharper view, we have a much higher degree of certainty than before," Smith said.
For example, earlier pictures revealed bright linear features coming out of the darker regions of the nebula - and Hubble's sharper image confirmed exactly what those features were.
"We see them very clearly to be jets of ionized gas, coming out of globules of molecular gas and dust," Smith said. "What that signifies is that there's a star being born inside that dark cloud that's ejecting this material. ... It's proof that star formation is occurring there."
Studying the nebula, with Hubble as well as other telescopes, could tell astronomers whether planets are capable of forming amid the harsh conditions seen in places like the Carina Nebula. And the effort also could tell us something about the origins of our own solar system, 4.6 billion years ago.
"There's evidence that our own solar system was exposed to the death of a very massive star when it was young. ... Here we have a laboratory where we see young stars forming right now, right next to massive stars that are going to explode," Smith said. "That gives us a window to the environment where we think our own solar system might have formed."
Today's birthday portrait is just one of the nearly 500,000 pictures taken by Hubble since its launch aboard the shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. The Hubble team calculates that the space telescope has made nearly 100,000 trips around Earth, racking up 2.4 billion frequent-flier miles in the process - the equivalent of a trip to Saturn and back.
More than 30 trillion bytes of data have been sent back to Earth over those 17 years. Each day, another 10 billion bytes come back to Earth, and 66 billion bytes of data are transmitted from Hubble's archives to astronomers throughout the world. Hubble's team says all those bytes have spawned nearly 7,000 scientific papers, making the telescope "one of the most productive scientific instruments ever built." This 6.5-megabyte PDF file hits Hubble's high points.
How long will Hubble last? NASA wants to upgrade the telescope one last time, and that final servicing mission is now scheduled to lift off in August or September of 2008. Mission planners figure that should keep Hubble in good shape until 2013. By that time, NASA hopes the James Webb Space Telescope will be ready for launch, with Hubble eased into retirement at the ripe old age of 23.
Who knows? Maybe even then, there'll be some life left in the old telescope. So here's wishing Hubble and its handlers a happy 17th birthday ... and many more to come. For more stunners from space, check out our Space Gallery, as well as the Hubble Web sites maintained by the Space Telescope Science Institute and the European Space Agency.
Source : HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HUBBLE article on MS NBC
Scientists break worldwide Internet speed record
Scientists break worldwide Internet speed record
By Mark Raby, April 25, 2007
Tokyo (Japan) - A group of researchers in the Internet2 consortium has set a new record for sending data through the Internet at more than nine gigabits per second.
The team broke the old record of 7.67 Gbps, which was set last December. Using modified protocols, they were able to send data across a 20,000 mile path at a constant rate of 9.08 Gbps.
At this speed, a high definition version of a movie could be downloaded in just a few seconds, instead of over 40 hours on a typical broadband connection.
Source : Scientists break worldwide Internet speed record article on TGDaily.com
By Mark Raby, April 25, 2007
Tokyo (Japan) - A group of researchers in the Internet2 consortium has set a new record for sending data through the Internet at more than nine gigabits per second.
The team broke the old record of 7.67 Gbps, which was set last December. Using modified protocols, they were able to send data across a 20,000 mile path at a constant rate of 9.08 Gbps.
At this speed, a high definition version of a movie could be downloaded in just a few seconds, instead of over 40 hours on a typical broadband connection.
Source : Scientists break worldwide Internet speed record article on TGDaily.com
Mac hacked through QuickTime flaw
Mac hacked through QuickTime flaw
Hack-a-Mac contest winner exploited a zero-day bug in QuickTime that could also expose Windows users.
By Joris Evers, April 24, 2007.
The security hole used to breach a MacBook in a hack-a-Mac competition last week lies in Apple's QuickTime media player, the flaw finder said Tuesday.
The vulnerability is related to how QuickTime handles Java, said security researcher Dino Dai Zovi. An attacker can exploit the bug through Safari or Firefox, he said. Initial reports were that the flaw was in Safari, Apple's Web browser.
"It is a vulnerability within QuickTime. Safari and Firefox on Mac OS X are vulnerable," Dai Zovi said. QuickTime is also widely used on Windows machines, so Windows users may also be at risk, he said. "At this time, Firefox on Windows is considered at risk," Dai Zovi said.
Security monitoring company Secunia deems the flaw "highly critical," one notch below its most serious rating. "This can be exploited to execute arbitrary code when a user visits a malicious Web site," Secunia said. Apple's most recent QuickTime security update was in March.
Shane Macaulay, a software engineer and a friend of Dai Zovi's, hacked into a MacBook using the QuickTime security hole on Friday. The computer was one of two offered as a prize in the "PWN to Own" hack-a-Mac contest at the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The successful attack on the second and final day of the contest required a conference organizer to surf to a malicious Web site using Safari on the MacBook--a type of attack more familiar to Windows users.
Apple has declined to comment on the MacBook hack specifically, but spokeswoman Lynn Fox last week provided Apple's standard security comment: "Apple takes security very seriously and has a great track record of addressing potential vulnerabilities before they can affect users," she said.
Further details on the flaw are being kept confidential until Apple patches it. Dai Zovi has submitted the vulnerability to TippingPoint's Zero Day Initiative bug bounty program. TippingPoint, which sells intrusion prevention systems, had offered a $10,000 prize for a Mac zero-day vulnerability to make the CanSecWest contest more appealing to hackers.
"TippingPoint has offered to purchase the vulnerability and I have agreed, payment is pending," Dai Zovi said.
Disabling Java in a browser shields a computer against attacks that exploit the flaw, Dai Zovi said. Macs are vulnerable by default because Apple ships QuickTime with the operating system. Windows users are only vulnerable if QuickTime is installed.
Source : Mac hacked through QuickTime flaw article on CNet News
Hack-a-Mac contest winner exploited a zero-day bug in QuickTime that could also expose Windows users.
By Joris Evers, April 24, 2007.
The security hole used to breach a MacBook in a hack-a-Mac competition last week lies in Apple's QuickTime media player, the flaw finder said Tuesday.
The vulnerability is related to how QuickTime handles Java, said security researcher Dino Dai Zovi. An attacker can exploit the bug through Safari or Firefox, he said. Initial reports were that the flaw was in Safari, Apple's Web browser.
"It is a vulnerability within QuickTime. Safari and Firefox on Mac OS X are vulnerable," Dai Zovi said. QuickTime is also widely used on Windows machines, so Windows users may also be at risk, he said. "At this time, Firefox on Windows is considered at risk," Dai Zovi said.
Security monitoring company Secunia deems the flaw "highly critical," one notch below its most serious rating. "This can be exploited to execute arbitrary code when a user visits a malicious Web site," Secunia said. Apple's most recent QuickTime security update was in March.
Shane Macaulay, a software engineer and a friend of Dai Zovi's, hacked into a MacBook using the QuickTime security hole on Friday. The computer was one of two offered as a prize in the "PWN to Own" hack-a-Mac contest at the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The successful attack on the second and final day of the contest required a conference organizer to surf to a malicious Web site using Safari on the MacBook--a type of attack more familiar to Windows users.
Apple has declined to comment on the MacBook hack specifically, but spokeswoman Lynn Fox last week provided Apple's standard security comment: "Apple takes security very seriously and has a great track record of addressing potential vulnerabilities before they can affect users," she said.
Further details on the flaw are being kept confidential until Apple patches it. Dai Zovi has submitted the vulnerability to TippingPoint's Zero Day Initiative bug bounty program. TippingPoint, which sells intrusion prevention systems, had offered a $10,000 prize for a Mac zero-day vulnerability to make the CanSecWest contest more appealing to hackers.
"TippingPoint has offered to purchase the vulnerability and I have agreed, payment is pending," Dai Zovi said.
Disabling Java in a browser shields a computer against attacks that exploit the flaw, Dai Zovi said. Macs are vulnerable by default because Apple ships QuickTime with the operating system. Windows users are only vulnerable if QuickTime is installed.
Source : Mac hacked through QuickTime flaw article on CNet News
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
NASA obtains first 3-D Sun pictures from STEREO
NASA obtains first 3-D Sun pictures from STEREO
by Bithika Khargarhia, April 24, 2007
NASA on Monday released the first three-dimensional (3-D) images of the sun developed from data transmitted by the twin Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatories, known as STEREO, enabling scientists, for the first time, to see structures in the sun's atmosphere in three dimensions thus helping them to track solar storms more accurately.
STEREO, a pair of solar probes, was launched on a Boeing-built Delta rocket, which lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on October 25, 2006 to better understand and predict solar eruptions by exploring the sun for the first time in three dimensions. Nearly 90 minutes after the take off, the two spacecraft split off from their launch vehicle and began their respective paths into orbit, one ahead of Earth in its orbit and the other trailing behind.
The STEREO mission is the first to view the sun from two separate vantage points outside Earth's orbit. The pictures, generated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, will significantly aid scientists' ability to understand solar physics and thereby improve space weather forecasting.
The team of experts created the images from data obtained by the two near-identical observatories that are now orbiting the sun to monitor its Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). From the perspective of the Sun, the spacecrafts are orbiting 45 degrees apart, providing enough distance to work like a pair of human eyes that can view in three dimensions.
The eruptions, called coronal mass ejections, are a key source of the magnetic disruptions on Earth and are a major component of space weather. These can greatly effect satellite operations, can shut down communications and navigational satellites, affect aircraft and disrupt electricity supplies as billions of tonnes of charged particles are sent streaming into space.
Now, with the breakthrough images obtained from STEREO mission that provide 3-D measurements of the sun and its flow of energy, the science experts would be able to study the nature of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), outbursts that can affect Earth, astronauts and satellites, and why they happen.
"The improvement with Stereo's 3D view is like going from a regular X-ray to a 3D CAT scan in the medical field," said Dr Mike Kaiser, the Stereo project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "The main purpose of STEREO is to study solar storms. The sun has been doing solar storms for billions of years, with nobody really caring about until recently.''
Designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the $520 million project, STEREO mission uses two nearly identical observatories that act like a pair of human eyes, each picking up data that is correlated with information from observatories on the ground and in low-Earth orbit.
Loaded with scientific instruments, the twin spacecraft, each about the size of a golf cart and weighing some 620km, are measuring solar eruptions from their source, through space and all the way to the point at which they affect Earth's atmosphere.
Scientists of four European countries are participating in the two-year mission: Belgium, Britain, France and Germany. They hope the STEREO mission will glean insight into solar activities such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the most violent explosions in the solar system.
The mission is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. APL will maintain command and control of the observatories throughout the mission, while NASA tracks and receives the data, determines the orbit of the satellites, and coordinates the science results.
Source : NASA obtains first 3-D Sun pictures from STEREO in TheMoneyTimes.com
by Bithika Khargarhia, April 24, 2007
NASA on Monday released the first three-dimensional (3-D) images of the sun developed from data transmitted by the twin Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatories, known as STEREO, enabling scientists, for the first time, to see structures in the sun's atmosphere in three dimensions thus helping them to track solar storms more accurately.STEREO, a pair of solar probes, was launched on a Boeing-built Delta rocket, which lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on October 25, 2006 to better understand and predict solar eruptions by exploring the sun for the first time in three dimensions. Nearly 90 minutes after the take off, the two spacecraft split off from their launch vehicle and began their respective paths into orbit, one ahead of Earth in its orbit and the other trailing behind.
The STEREO mission is the first to view the sun from two separate vantage points outside Earth's orbit. The pictures, generated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, will significantly aid scientists' ability to understand solar physics and thereby improve space weather forecasting.
The team of experts created the images from data obtained by the two near-identical observatories that are now orbiting the sun to monitor its Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). From the perspective of the Sun, the spacecrafts are orbiting 45 degrees apart, providing enough distance to work like a pair of human eyes that can view in three dimensions.
The eruptions, called coronal mass ejections, are a key source of the magnetic disruptions on Earth and are a major component of space weather. These can greatly effect satellite operations, can shut down communications and navigational satellites, affect aircraft and disrupt electricity supplies as billions of tonnes of charged particles are sent streaming into space.
Now, with the breakthrough images obtained from STEREO mission that provide 3-D measurements of the sun and its flow of energy, the science experts would be able to study the nature of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), outbursts that can affect Earth, astronauts and satellites, and why they happen.
"The improvement with Stereo's 3D view is like going from a regular X-ray to a 3D CAT scan in the medical field," said Dr Mike Kaiser, the Stereo project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "The main purpose of STEREO is to study solar storms. The sun has been doing solar storms for billions of years, with nobody really caring about until recently.''
Designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the $520 million project, STEREO mission uses two nearly identical observatories that act like a pair of human eyes, each picking up data that is correlated with information from observatories on the ground and in low-Earth orbit.
Loaded with scientific instruments, the twin spacecraft, each about the size of a golf cart and weighing some 620km, are measuring solar eruptions from their source, through space and all the way to the point at which they affect Earth's atmosphere.
Scientists of four European countries are participating in the two-year mission: Belgium, Britain, France and Germany. They hope the STEREO mission will glean insight into solar activities such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), the most violent explosions in the solar system.
The mission is being managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. APL will maintain command and control of the observatories throughout the mission, while NASA tracks and receives the data, determines the orbit of the satellites, and coordinates the science results.
Source : NASA obtains first 3-D Sun pictures from STEREO in TheMoneyTimes.com
The HP Mobile Innovations Tour
The HP Mobile Innovations Tour
by Bharti Adhikari, April 24, 2007
Hewlett-Packard (HP) today showcased a number of innovations revolving around the future of mobile communication in the country.
"HP Mobile Innovations Tour" was focused on the conceptual creations that represent a vision for the 2012 timeframe, where devices will be function-specific and will provide an 'always connected' experience.
With the new innovations, the company is creating and enabling experiences that allow users easy access to information and content when and where they want it, on simple devices.
According to Phil Devlin, Manager of Product Marketing, Mobile Business Unit, Personal Systems Group, HP Asia-Pacific and Japan, "HP's vision of the future of mobility is a world where simple devices inter-operate to deliver a cohesive, 'always connected' lifestyle. Anyone can make the simple complicated - true creativity lies in making the complicated simple."
The gadgets showcased at the "HP Mobile Innovations Tour" include a personal wireless gateway device - in a wearable watch-like form factor; a flexible, portable, personal size display mat; and a thin-client device in a tablet form factor.
The watch wireless gateway acts as the central hub containing the access technologies/radios to enable an 'always connected' experience. It can connect to various devices, including phones, PCs, laptops, etc.
The flexible, portable, personal size display mat is 'always on' and ready to connect to the wireless hub/watch. A larger mat can be used to access services such as games or content better suited for a larger display.
The thin-client device in a tablet form factor is capable of taking on the personality of the user, based on 'personal wireless gateway' information. It's a trend towards Web-based solutions to move content or applications to Internet, shifting devices away from traditional memory-based architecture. The devices resulting from this will be thinner and lighter with longer battery life.
Apart from these, the other innovations showcased include: a digital wallet that displays up-to-the-moment transactions for a wide variety of personal services such as checking credit cards, etc; a pen with multiple options for input; a smart shelf that allows display of information, and serves as a charger for the wireless gateway/watch etc; and a coffee table which when loaded with thin clients turns into a larger display that can be used for collaboration, and also acts as charger base for the device.
With laptops, mobile phones, PDAs, and digital cameras continuing to add more features, options, and wireless technologies, the current mobile environment is getting increasingly complex, and is a key strategic growth segment globally, and in Asia Pacific.
IDC forecasts that the APEJ mobile worker population will increase to 582.5 million or 31.1 percent of the workforce by 2009.
Source : The HP Mobile Innovations Tour article in TechTree.com
by Bharti Adhikari, April 24, 2007
Hewlett-Packard (HP) today showcased a number of innovations revolving around the future of mobile communication in the country."HP Mobile Innovations Tour" was focused on the conceptual creations that represent a vision for the 2012 timeframe, where devices will be function-specific and will provide an 'always connected' experience.
With the new innovations, the company is creating and enabling experiences that allow users easy access to information and content when and where they want it, on simple devices.
According to Phil Devlin, Manager of Product Marketing, Mobile Business Unit, Personal Systems Group, HP Asia-Pacific and Japan, "HP's vision of the future of mobility is a world where simple devices inter-operate to deliver a cohesive, 'always connected' lifestyle. Anyone can make the simple complicated - true creativity lies in making the complicated simple."
The gadgets showcased at the "HP Mobile Innovations Tour" include a personal wireless gateway device - in a wearable watch-like form factor; a flexible, portable, personal size display mat; and a thin-client device in a tablet form factor.
The watch wireless gateway acts as the central hub containing the access technologies/radios to enable an 'always connected' experience. It can connect to various devices, including phones, PCs, laptops, etc.
The flexible, portable, personal size display mat is 'always on' and ready to connect to the wireless hub/watch. A larger mat can be used to access services such as games or content better suited for a larger display.
The thin-client device in a tablet form factor is capable of taking on the personality of the user, based on 'personal wireless gateway' information. It's a trend towards Web-based solutions to move content or applications to Internet, shifting devices away from traditional memory-based architecture. The devices resulting from this will be thinner and lighter with longer battery life.
Apart from these, the other innovations showcased include: a digital wallet that displays up-to-the-moment transactions for a wide variety of personal services such as checking credit cards, etc; a pen with multiple options for input; a smart shelf that allows display of information, and serves as a charger for the wireless gateway/watch etc; and a coffee table which when loaded with thin clients turns into a larger display that can be used for collaboration, and also acts as charger base for the device.
With laptops, mobile phones, PDAs, and digital cameras continuing to add more features, options, and wireless technologies, the current mobile environment is getting increasingly complex, and is a key strategic growth segment globally, and in Asia Pacific.
IDC forecasts that the APEJ mobile worker population will increase to 582.5 million or 31.1 percent of the workforce by 2009.
Source : The HP Mobile Innovations Tour article in TechTree.com
Wedding guest, not the best
Wedding guest, not the best
by Pankaj Vohra, April 22, 2007
The tamasha surrounding the marriage of Abhishek with Aishwarya Rai over the weekend appears to lend credence to the speculation that the Bachchans are dying to become the first family of India. The hype about the “most public private wedding” became overkill and showed the bankruptcy of the media as well as the control that marketing gurus have apparently managed to have over every single dimension of the media. The show put out for fans underlined the fact that Bachchans behaved as if they were shooting yet another film. The sanctity one would have normally attached with the actual wedding ceremony was put in the background.
It is a known fact that the Bachchans, who always lived in the shadow of the Nehru-Gandhis, are keen to break away and establish themselves as the new icons of India. There is nothing wrong in aspiring to be Family No. 1, except that the road to the top has to be through the service of the nation and not by lending one’s name to each and every brand that comes in the way. Amitabh’s name has figured prominently in the speculation over who could be the country’s next President, something that has been firmly denied by him and his close associates. Perhaps, he realises that to get anywhere near the august office, he will have to get support from many major parties other than the Samajwadi Party.
Bachchan has come a long way since he carried two letters written by Indira Gandhi, on persistent requests from family friend Teji Bachchan, to Nargis Dutt and Khawaja Ahmed Abbas urging them to give him a break in films. Abbas cast him in Saat Hindustani and Nargis asked her husband Sunil Dutt to help him out. Recalling his first meeting, Dutt told me some years ago that when Amitabh met him, he asked what his greatest asset was. “My voice,” the young man had answered, at which point Dutt told him that he would cast him in the role of a ‘goonga’ in his film, Reshma Aur Shera. Bachchan was, however, first noticed in Anand and subsequently starred in many films which turned out to be flops. Blitz columnist Krishna used to repeatedly refer to Amitabh as the “Sarkari-made hero”. But with Prakash Mehra’s Zanjeer, there was no looking back for the ‘Angry Young Man’.
But there is another sphere in which Bachchan does not exactly shine: politics. Old timers in the Congress recall that before her death, Indira Gandhi had advised Rajiv that he should never allow “Teji’s son to enter politics”. Indira Gandhi’s advice was probably based on her experience. But Rajiv, who grew up playing with Amitabh, gave him the Congress nomination from Allahabad against H.N. Bahuguna after his mother’s assassination.
Amitabh won the seat convincingly and soon became a power centre within the Congress. But he appeared to have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. V.P. Singh, for instance, constantly complained against him to Rajiv. Matters came to a head and a reluctant Bachchan resigned after a long meeting with Rajiv. Subsequently, his name (and that of his brother) was also dragged in the Bofors controversy. But nothing could be proved against him or Rajiv. Amitabh swore he would never be in politics again.
But the promise appears to have been shortlived now that he has got drawn into the glamour of politics once again through his close association with Mulayam Singh Yadav, an opponent of the Gandhi family. At one stage, wife Jaya made uncharitable remarks against Sonia Gandhi that a worried Amitabh tried to play down. After legendary poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan died, Rahul Gandhi represented his family at the funeral. But now the break seems to be complete with the Gandhis excluded from the wedding guest list.
Big B has become the Bad B for the Congress, campaigning as he is on TV for his friend Mulayam. Jaya is already an MP on the Samajwadi ticket. It is a matter of time till even Amitabh could be on the political centre stage in some form or the other. It is evident that he may come on the Congress radar very soon and the political rivalry may commence from where political friendship ended many years ago.
Coming back to the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding, not one known literary figure was invited to the marriage of Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s grandson. The disaffection was pronounced as the Bachchans owe their identity to the Hindi language and the recognition the literary world accorded to the family. It is being pointed out that the wedding had a guest list that, among others, included fixers and the like, while it ignored members of the literary circle. There is also criticism that the Bachchans, synonymous with class at one stage, have allowed their thirst for undue publicity to get the better of them. “The wedding should have been a sombre affair. Look at the dignified way with which Mukesh Ambani celebrated his birthday,” a once close friend remarked.
The show must go on and even an offering to Tirupati was made a public event. But despite the media, the Bachchans will have to do a lot more if they want to become the first family of India.
Source : Wedding guest, not the best article in HindustanTimes.com
by Pankaj Vohra, April 22, 2007
The tamasha surrounding the marriage of Abhishek with Aishwarya Rai over the weekend appears to lend credence to the speculation that the Bachchans are dying to become the first family of India. The hype about the “most public private wedding” became overkill and showed the bankruptcy of the media as well as the control that marketing gurus have apparently managed to have over every single dimension of the media. The show put out for fans underlined the fact that Bachchans behaved as if they were shooting yet another film. The sanctity one would have normally attached with the actual wedding ceremony was put in the background.
It is a known fact that the Bachchans, who always lived in the shadow of the Nehru-Gandhis, are keen to break away and establish themselves as the new icons of India. There is nothing wrong in aspiring to be Family No. 1, except that the road to the top has to be through the service of the nation and not by lending one’s name to each and every brand that comes in the way. Amitabh’s name has figured prominently in the speculation over who could be the country’s next President, something that has been firmly denied by him and his close associates. Perhaps, he realises that to get anywhere near the august office, he will have to get support from many major parties other than the Samajwadi Party.
Bachchan has come a long way since he carried two letters written by Indira Gandhi, on persistent requests from family friend Teji Bachchan, to Nargis Dutt and Khawaja Ahmed Abbas urging them to give him a break in films. Abbas cast him in Saat Hindustani and Nargis asked her husband Sunil Dutt to help him out. Recalling his first meeting, Dutt told me some years ago that when Amitabh met him, he asked what his greatest asset was. “My voice,” the young man had answered, at which point Dutt told him that he would cast him in the role of a ‘goonga’ in his film, Reshma Aur Shera. Bachchan was, however, first noticed in Anand and subsequently starred in many films which turned out to be flops. Blitz columnist Krishna used to repeatedly refer to Amitabh as the “Sarkari-made hero”. But with Prakash Mehra’s Zanjeer, there was no looking back for the ‘Angry Young Man’.
But there is another sphere in which Bachchan does not exactly shine: politics. Old timers in the Congress recall that before her death, Indira Gandhi had advised Rajiv that he should never allow “Teji’s son to enter politics”. Indira Gandhi’s advice was probably based on her experience. But Rajiv, who grew up playing with Amitabh, gave him the Congress nomination from Allahabad against H.N. Bahuguna after his mother’s assassination.
Amitabh won the seat convincingly and soon became a power centre within the Congress. But he appeared to have rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. V.P. Singh, for instance, constantly complained against him to Rajiv. Matters came to a head and a reluctant Bachchan resigned after a long meeting with Rajiv. Subsequently, his name (and that of his brother) was also dragged in the Bofors controversy. But nothing could be proved against him or Rajiv. Amitabh swore he would never be in politics again.
But the promise appears to have been shortlived now that he has got drawn into the glamour of politics once again through his close association with Mulayam Singh Yadav, an opponent of the Gandhi family. At one stage, wife Jaya made uncharitable remarks against Sonia Gandhi that a worried Amitabh tried to play down. After legendary poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan died, Rahul Gandhi represented his family at the funeral. But now the break seems to be complete with the Gandhis excluded from the wedding guest list.
Big B has become the Bad B for the Congress, campaigning as he is on TV for his friend Mulayam. Jaya is already an MP on the Samajwadi ticket. It is a matter of time till even Amitabh could be on the political centre stage in some form or the other. It is evident that he may come on the Congress radar very soon and the political rivalry may commence from where political friendship ended many years ago.
Coming back to the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding, not one known literary figure was invited to the marriage of Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s grandson. The disaffection was pronounced as the Bachchans owe their identity to the Hindi language and the recognition the literary world accorded to the family. It is being pointed out that the wedding had a guest list that, among others, included fixers and the like, while it ignored members of the literary circle. There is also criticism that the Bachchans, synonymous with class at one stage, have allowed their thirst for undue publicity to get the better of them. “The wedding should have been a sombre affair. Look at the dignified way with which Mukesh Ambani celebrated his birthday,” a once close friend remarked.
The show must go on and even an offering to Tirupati was made a public event. But despite the media, the Bachchans will have to do a lot more if they want to become the first family of India.
Source : Wedding guest, not the best article in HindustanTimes.com
Astronomers may have found the first Earth 2
Astronomers may have found the first Earth 2
By Margaret Munro, CanWest News Service, Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Astronomers have spotted “the first habitable Earth-like planet” outside the solar system, a find so enticing that Canada’s space telescope is being redirected to take a closer look.
The “super-Earth” appears to be 50 per cent larger than Earth and orbiting around a star in a “habitable zone” where temperatures are so balmy that water — the elixir of life — would be liquid.
“We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-Earth lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid,” says Stephane Udry, of the Geneva Observatory, who leads the European team that reported the discovery Tuesday in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
The planet, believed to be either rocky like Earth or covered with oceans, is seen as a promising target in the search for extraterrestrial life.
“On the treasure map of the universe, one would be tempted to mark this planet with an X,” says team member Xavier Delfosse of Grenoble University.
Since the discovery in 1995 of the first “exoplanet” orbiting a star other than the sun, more than 200 planets have been found. Most are gas giants on extreme orbits around stars that make them either scorching hot or far too cold to maintain life as we know it.
The Europeans say the new planet is the smallest exoplanet and “most Earth-like” so far. They have deduced that it orbits its star in 13 days and is 14 times closer to its star than the Earth is to the sun.
The scientists found the planet using a super-sensitive planet-hunting machine fitted onto a European telescope in Chile. It detects the tiny changes — or wobbles — produced as planets orbit around stars. The planet’s host star, a red dwarf called Gliese 581, is much smaller and colder than the sun, which means the planet can be close to its star but still be in the so-called “habitable zone,” the region around a star where water would be liquid.
Gliese 581 is among the 100 closest stars to Earth, located 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra. This means light takes 20.5 years to travel from Gliese 581 to Earth.
Canadian astronomer Jaymie Matthews of the University of British Columbia cautions there is no evidence so far showing the planet actually harbours water, let alone “extras from Star Trek.” All scientists can say for certain is that the planet appears to exist, and could have a solid surface and habitable temperatures.
But the European evidence is so exciting, Mr. Matthews says, that he and his colleagues have agreed to focus Canada’s suitcase-sized space telescope, known as MOST, on the alien solar system.
“We’re putting it on a stakeout,” says Mr. Matthews, who leads the MOST team and is currently in Vienna. (MOST stands for microvariabilty and oscillations of stars.)
He expects to have the planetary system in the microsatellite telescope’s sights by late next week. “We’ve been working on this for a few weeks,” he said in a phone interview.
Mr. Matthews says it will be possible to look for the “super-Earth” without too big an impact on other MOST projects.
“We’ll be squeezing it into to our regularly scheduled programming. That’s the beauty of having something like MOST. It’s almost like having your own private space telescope in the sense that it’s possible for us to take advantage of these targets of opportunity and adapt very, very quickly.”
With luck, Mr. Matthews says MOST, which has a much clearer view from its orbit above Earth, will be able to actually see the planet orbiting across the face of the star and confirm its existence.
The odds that MOST will be in the right vantage point to observe such a “transit” is about one in 20.
“It’s a long shot,” he says, but well worth taking because the results could be huge.
Source : Astronomers may have found the first Earth 2 article in Canada.com
By Margaret Munro, CanWest News Service, Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Astronomers have spotted “the first habitable Earth-like planet” outside the solar system, a find so enticing that Canada’s space telescope is being redirected to take a closer look.
The “super-Earth” appears to be 50 per cent larger than Earth and orbiting around a star in a “habitable zone” where temperatures are so balmy that water — the elixir of life — would be liquid.
“We have estimated that the mean temperature of this super-Earth lies between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and water would thus be liquid,” says Stephane Udry, of the Geneva Observatory, who leads the European team that reported the discovery Tuesday in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.
The planet, believed to be either rocky like Earth or covered with oceans, is seen as a promising target in the search for extraterrestrial life.
“On the treasure map of the universe, one would be tempted to mark this planet with an X,” says team member Xavier Delfosse of Grenoble University.
Since the discovery in 1995 of the first “exoplanet” orbiting a star other than the sun, more than 200 planets have been found. Most are gas giants on extreme orbits around stars that make them either scorching hot or far too cold to maintain life as we know it.
The Europeans say the new planet is the smallest exoplanet and “most Earth-like” so far. They have deduced that it orbits its star in 13 days and is 14 times closer to its star than the Earth is to the sun.
The scientists found the planet using a super-sensitive planet-hunting machine fitted onto a European telescope in Chile. It detects the tiny changes — or wobbles — produced as planets orbit around stars. The planet’s host star, a red dwarf called Gliese 581, is much smaller and colder than the sun, which means the planet can be close to its star but still be in the so-called “habitable zone,” the region around a star where water would be liquid.
Gliese 581 is among the 100 closest stars to Earth, located 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra. This means light takes 20.5 years to travel from Gliese 581 to Earth.
Canadian astronomer Jaymie Matthews of the University of British Columbia cautions there is no evidence so far showing the planet actually harbours water, let alone “extras from Star Trek.” All scientists can say for certain is that the planet appears to exist, and could have a solid surface and habitable temperatures.
But the European evidence is so exciting, Mr. Matthews says, that he and his colleagues have agreed to focus Canada’s suitcase-sized space telescope, known as MOST, on the alien solar system.
“We’re putting it on a stakeout,” says Mr. Matthews, who leads the MOST team and is currently in Vienna. (MOST stands for microvariabilty and oscillations of stars.)
He expects to have the planetary system in the microsatellite telescope’s sights by late next week. “We’ve been working on this for a few weeks,” he said in a phone interview.
Mr. Matthews says it will be possible to look for the “super-Earth” without too big an impact on other MOST projects.
“We’ll be squeezing it into to our regularly scheduled programming. That’s the beauty of having something like MOST. It’s almost like having your own private space telescope in the sense that it’s possible for us to take advantage of these targets of opportunity and adapt very, very quickly.”
With luck, Mr. Matthews says MOST, which has a much clearer view from its orbit above Earth, will be able to actually see the planet orbiting across the face of the star and confirm its existence.
The odds that MOST will be in the right vantage point to observe such a “transit” is about one in 20.
“It’s a long shot,” he says, but well worth taking because the results could be huge.
Source : Astronomers may have found the first Earth 2 article in Canada.com
'Kryptonite' discovered in mine
Kryptonite is no longer just the stuff of fiction feared by caped superheroes.
A new mineral matching its unique chemistry - as described in the film Superman Returns - has been identified in a mine in Serbia.
According to movie and comic-book storylines, kryptonite is supposed to sap Superman's powers whenever he is exposed to its large green crystals.
The real mineral is white and harmless, says Dr Chris Stanley, a mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum.
"I'm afraid it's not green and it doesn't glow either - although it will react to ultraviolet light by fluorescing a pinkish-orange," he told BBC News.
Rock heist
Researchers from mining group Rio Tinto discovered the unusual mineral and enlisted the help of Dr Stanley when they could not match it with anything known previously to science.
Once the London expert had unravelled the mineral's chemical make-up, he was shocked to discover this formula was already referenced in literature - albeit fictional literature.
"Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film Superman Returns.
"The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the film) and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite."
The mineral is relatively hard but is very small grained. Each individual crystal is less than five microns (millionths of a metre) across.
Elementary clash
Identifying its atomic structure required sophisticated analytical facilities at Canada's National Research Council and the assistance and expertise of its researchers, Dr Pamela Whitfield and Dr Yvon Le Page.
"'Knowing a material's crystal structure means scientists can calculate other physical properties of the material, such as its elasticity or thermochemical properties," explained Dr Le Page.
"Being able to analyse all the properties of a mineral, both chemical and physical, brings us closer to confirming that it is indeed unique."
Finding out that the chemical composition of a material was an exact match to an invented formula for the fictitious kryptonite "was the coincidence of a lifetime," he added.
The mineral cannot be called kryptonite under international nomenclature rules because it has nothing to do with krypton - a real element in the Periodic Table that takes the form of a gas.
Power possibilities
Instead, it will be formally named Jadarite when it is described in the European Journal of Mineralogy later this year.
Jadar is the name of the place where the Serbian mine is located.
Dr Stanley said that if deposits occurred in sufficient quantity it could have some commercial value.
It contains boron and lithium - two valuable elements with many applications, he explained.
"Borosilicate glasses are used to encapsulate processed radioactive waste, and lithium is used in batteries and in the pharmaceutical industries."
Source : 'Kryptonite' discovered in mine article in bbc.co.uk
A new mineral matching its unique chemistry - as described in the film Superman Returns - has been identified in a mine in Serbia.
According to movie and comic-book storylines, kryptonite is supposed to sap Superman's powers whenever he is exposed to its large green crystals.
The real mineral is white and harmless, says Dr Chris Stanley, a mineralogist at London's Natural History Museum.
"I'm afraid it's not green and it doesn't glow either - although it will react to ultraviolet light by fluorescing a pinkish-orange," he told BBC News.
Rock heist
Researchers from mining group Rio Tinto discovered the unusual mineral and enlisted the help of Dr Stanley when they could not match it with anything known previously to science.
Once the London expert had unravelled the mineral's chemical make-up, he was shocked to discover this formula was already referenced in literature - albeit fictional literature.
"Towards the end of my research I searched the web using the mineral's chemical formula - sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide - and was amazed to discover that same scientific name, written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther from a museum in the film Superman Returns.
"The new mineral does not contain fluorine (which it does in the film) and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite."
The mineral is relatively hard but is very small grained. Each individual crystal is less than five microns (millionths of a metre) across.
Elementary clash
Identifying its atomic structure required sophisticated analytical facilities at Canada's National Research Council and the assistance and expertise of its researchers, Dr Pamela Whitfield and Dr Yvon Le Page.
"'Knowing a material's crystal structure means scientists can calculate other physical properties of the material, such as its elasticity or thermochemical properties," explained Dr Le Page.
"Being able to analyse all the properties of a mineral, both chemical and physical, brings us closer to confirming that it is indeed unique."
Finding out that the chemical composition of a material was an exact match to an invented formula for the fictitious kryptonite "was the coincidence of a lifetime," he added.
The mineral cannot be called kryptonite under international nomenclature rules because it has nothing to do with krypton - a real element in the Periodic Table that takes the form of a gas.
Power possibilities
Instead, it will be formally named Jadarite when it is described in the European Journal of Mineralogy later this year.
Jadar is the name of the place where the Serbian mine is located.
Dr Stanley said that if deposits occurred in sufficient quantity it could have some commercial value.
It contains boron and lithium - two valuable elements with many applications, he explained.
"Borosilicate glasses are used to encapsulate processed radioactive waste, and lithium is used in batteries and in the pharmaceutical industries."
Source : 'Kryptonite' discovered in mine article in bbc.co.uk
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