tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-266669512024-03-07T12:54:15.692+08:00Song LyricsEntertainment. Music. Song Lyrics.GUrbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04720750374483512544noreply@blogger.comBlogger4002125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-13024105057645879462011-08-07T16:44:00.007+08:002011-08-07T17:06:03.906+08:00Eagle Bayan Care-avan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaO-EsI1YyRkRX9fv5rIKtGYJKVzToBed5GOYaJkfpQfRO5U5h2PWBWa4hUVN9FNRqPM4mM-PhoJUh3dd9pWXJ6-67_0A3UJOUpTX5JweHDaRMUHw2G_hPvfJc2onWjFWHPkz/s1600/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 278px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGaO-EsI1YyRkRX9fv5rIKtGYJKVzToBed5GOYaJkfpQfRO5U5h2PWBWa4hUVN9FNRqPM4mM-PhoJUh3dd9pWXJ6-67_0A3UJOUpTX5JweHDaRMUHw2G_hPvfJc2onWjFWHPkz/s320/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638032709179448002" border="0" /></a>Eagle Broadcasting Corporation, owner of Net 25, DZEC 106.2, and Pinas FM 95.5, held a community outreach program yesterday, August 6 called "Eagle Bayan Care-avan." The said event was done simultaneously in 5 different sites: Oreta Amphitheatre, Marikina Sports Complex, San Andres Gym, Amoranto Stadium, and Cuneta Astrodome. More than 10,000 recipients benefited from the said event where they enjoyed free medical, dental, and legal services. Grocery items were also given away to the recipients right after their consultation. Congratulations to all volunteers who showed their unconditional service and love to our countrymen and to Eagle Broadcasting Corporation for such a philantropic and meaningful event.<br /><br />Eagle Bayan Care-Avan would not be possible without the following Sponsors:<br />Government<br />• Dept. of Health – Sec. Enrique Ona, ASEC Elmer Punzalan<br /><br />NGOs<br />• Medical Profession<br />• Philippine Medical Association (PMA)<br />• National President – Dr. Oscar Tinio<br />• Chairman, Media – Dr. Mike Aragon<br />• Valenzuela Medical Society – Dra. Victoria Villarica, President, Dra. Flor Munsayac<br />• Philippine Dental Association (PDA)<br />• Philippine Nurses Association (PNA)<br /><br />Academe<br />• New Era University – Dr. Cora Osorio, President<br />• Fatima University & Medical Center – Dr. Vicente Santos, Medical Director<br /><br />Business<br />• Food & Beverage<br />• San Miguel Corporation<br />• Universal Robina Corporation (URC Foundation)<br />• Personal Care Products<br />• Unilever<br />• Colgate-Palmolive<br />• Splash Corp.<br />• Fastfoods & Restaurants<br />• McDonald’s<br />• Rai Rai Ken<br />• Kopiroti<br />• Baby Products<br />• Babyflo<br />• Media<br />• Business Mirror<br />• Pharmaceutical<br />• Abbott<br />• Banks<br />• Banco de Oro<br />• Bank of Commerce<br />• Food Supplements<br />• Biocomic<br /><br />NGO<br />• Pharmaceutical Association of the Philippines (PHAP)<br /><br />Other Co-Advocate sponsors<br />• BOSS<br />• Synetcom<br />• Group 5<br />• Philusa<br />• JIMM’s Coffee<br />• RCC Amazing Touch<br />• RLR Cosmetics<br />• Ainon Baby Products<br />• Walter Bread<br />• Lifestyle<br />• Home Depot<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYOAIDkMU0NJ6KQ2_KURLcnpv-inbgMCIMXL1B__RiYNNLLa9aZmzM47KT6-g50rqJiM8Q9l9IQz7959Tn2tmp0gbj1mG6rE9cl4aTINxUFhFMgfRzwkKj9tZpzZ8LdHMoiQG/s1600/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+6.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYOAIDkMU0NJ6KQ2_KURLcnpv-inbgMCIMXL1B__RiYNNLLa9aZmzM47KT6-g50rqJiM8Q9l9IQz7959Tn2tmp0gbj1mG6rE9cl4aTINxUFhFMgfRzwkKj9tZpzZ8LdHMoiQG/s320/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638037185796333522" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJmKCZKsOjy5SdFTMOab2DveCjtlZuVRLZtWRt9fcq-psAl8AxsG7r4i0YyNeSRQK0uirwK8cQ_7ez1Mp5tjub6aSlOUh6RJqM7DbYr2ebXzTHXT6pZZD9g8q4xVKYop833XR/s1600/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+5.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJmKCZKsOjy5SdFTMOab2DveCjtlZuVRLZtWRt9fcq-psAl8AxsG7r4i0YyNeSRQK0uirwK8cQ_7ez1Mp5tjub6aSlOUh6RJqM7DbYr2ebXzTHXT6pZZD9g8q4xVKYop833XR/s320/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638037096157707346" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhG6mb3Lyxwq6r3KdMZc99qeZnQ6ww1C8MW4P50D0tB8C-C89wcwQCRwJD8sMkg_Jkv917GKth7C-8BXl8MRs0B5uhTvL_Q8ljtB3F6aBETNVLzYUlS1GAjBlZvgZR7vnH0k49/s1600/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhG6mb3Lyxwq6r3KdMZc99qeZnQ6ww1C8MW4P50D0tB8C-C89wcwQCRwJD8sMkg_Jkv917GKth7C-8BXl8MRs0B5uhTvL_Q8ljtB3F6aBETNVLzYUlS1GAjBlZvgZR7vnH0k49/s320/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638037021175906050" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZiuVAoirwnPIGUU98D9F-9bhYNFbkCuT7xCs9WPC64yDOZ5ppzSKgGU3yGLE1BLWWEcvNjfCl_RFmrVT8QUJvI8xLnsrLZ9bPbAFiIqJk01nAFHKu_Fcpb-hSPEdmW9GIcVf/s1600/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZiuVAoirwnPIGUU98D9F-9bhYNFbkCuT7xCs9WPC64yDOZ5ppzSKgGU3yGLE1BLWWEcvNjfCl_RFmrVT8QUJvI8xLnsrLZ9bPbAFiIqJk01nAFHKu_Fcpb-hSPEdmW9GIcVf/s320/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638036947336097826" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyZbddWKWAa2mrnWZpfZoK61_TiZRRCsRfN0wYfu2uMOCg96n-ynPlWSx9-GHq9FwvDb55c_zUaj0fmG4u0e8_x_2MvD9JSKbrkgsKpLM33ZyJa_7JZhPJEWLZXTXroA17X7h/s1600/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijyZbddWKWAa2mrnWZpfZoK61_TiZRRCsRfN0wYfu2uMOCg96n-ynPlWSx9-GHq9FwvDb55c_zUaj0fmG4u0e8_x_2MvD9JSKbrkgsKpLM33ZyJa_7JZhPJEWLZXTXroA17X7h/s320/Eagle+Bayan+Care-avan+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5638036853345146642" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09479657851148072164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-84624670018101966772009-04-11T19:12:00.002+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.613+08:00Prom Queen lyrics by Lil' WayneI loved her fancy underwear<br />I sit behind her every year<br />Waitin' for the chance to get<br />To tell her Im the one she should be with yeah!<br />Shes popular with all the guys<br />So innocent in my eye<br />I could see her in my life<br />she would’ve had the world if she was mine<br /><br />But see she had other plans<br />I could not understand<br />Her and her stupid friends<br />Varsity’s biggest fans<br />Never forget the day<br />She laughed and walked away<br />And I couldnt stop her<br />I guess she had it all<br /><br />Chorus<br />She had it all figured out<br />But she left me with a broken heart<br />F@#ked around and turned me down<br />Cause she didn’t think I could play the part<br />But now the prom queen, the prom queen<br />is crying senseless outside of my door<br />She never know how<br />How everything could turn around<br /><br />They loved her fancy underwear<br />Every boyfriend every year<br />She tried to keep ‘em entertained<br />When they can hardly remember her name<br />She did everything she could just to<br />To make him love and treat her good<br />She found herself alone<br />askin herself where did she go wrong<br /><br />She didn’t realize<br />She chased the type of guys<br />That don’t believe in ties<br />Tryin to apologize<br />Never forget the day<br />She laughed and walked away<br />And I couldn’t stop her<br />I guess she had it all<br /><br />Chorus<br />She had it all figured out<br />But she left me with a broken heart<br />F@#ked around and turned me down<br />Cause she didn’t think I could play the part<br />But now the prom queen, the prom queen<br />is crying senseless outside of my door<br />She never know how<br />How everything could turn around<br /><br />Getup!<br /><br />Chorus<br />She had it all figured out<br />But she left me with a broken heart<br />F@#ked around and turned me down<br />Cause she didn’t think I could play the part<br />But now the prom queen, the prom queen<br />is crying senseless outside of my door<br />She never know how<br />How everything could turn around<br /><br /><object width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H_DF5BbHpsk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H_DF5BbHpsk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="295"></embed></object>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-6694772788914438962009-04-08T21:05:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.623+08:00Love Story by Taylor SwiftWe were both young, when I first saw you.<br />I close my eyes and the flashback starts-<br />I'm standing there, on a balcony in summer air.<br /><br />I see the lights; see the party, the ball gowns.<br />I see you make your way through the crowd-<br />You say hello, little did I know...<br /><br />That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles-<br />And my daddy said "stay away from Juliet"-<br />And I was crying on the staircase-<br />begging you, "Please don't go..."<br />And I said...<br /><br />Romeo take me somewhere, we can be alone.<br />I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.<br />You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess,<br />It's a love story, baby, just say yes.<br /><br />So I sneak out to the garden to see you.<br />We keep quiet, because we're dead if they knew-<br />So close your eyes... escape this town for a little while.<br />Oh, Oh.<br /><br />Cause you were Romeo - I was a scarlet letter,<br />And my daddy said "stay away from Juliet" -<br />but you were everything to me-<br />I was begging you, "Please don't go"<br />And I said...<br /><br />Romeo take me somewhere, we can be alone.<br />I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run.<br />You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess.<br />It's a love story, baby, just say yes-<br /><br />Romeo save me, they're trying to tell me how to feel.<br />This love is difficult, but it's real.<br />Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess.<br />It's a love story, baby, just say yes.<br />Oh, Oh.<br /><br />I got tired of waiting.<br />Wondering if you were ever coming around.<br />My faith in you was fading-<br />When I met you on the outskirts of town.<br />And I said...<br /><br />Romeo save me, I've been feeling so alone.<br />I keep waiting, for you but you never come.<br />Is this in my head, I don't know what to think-<br />He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said...<br /><br />Marry me Juliet, you'll never have to be alone.<br />I love you, and that's all I really know.<br />I talked to your dad -- go pick out a white dress<br />It's a love story, baby just say... yes.<br />Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh.<br /><br />'cause we were both young when I first saw you<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QM-D7fVGt-M&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QM-D7fVGt-M&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-66742954382610164982009-04-08T21:01:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.632+08:00You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home by Hannah MontanaWhoo!<br /><br />[Verse 1:]<br />You wake up. It's raining and it's Monday.<br />Looks like one of those rough days. Time's UP!<br />You're late again so get out the door. (Get out the door).<br />Sometimes you feel like runnin'.<br />Run around and you feel like jumpin'.<br />Let go, get up and hit the dance floor.<br />When the lights go down it's another empty show!<br />And you're feeling like you got no place to go.<br />Don't you know?<br /><br />[Chorus:]<br />You could change your hair,<br />You could change your clothes.<br />You could change your mind,<br />It's just the way it goes.<br />You could say goodbye and you could say hello.<br />But you'll always find your way back home.<br />You could change your style,<br />You could change your jeans.<br />You could learn to fly,<br />And you could chase your dreams.<br />You can laugh or cry,<br />Like everybody knows.<br />You'll always find your way back home.<br /><br />Huh!<br /><br />[Verse 2:]<br />Your best friends<br />Your little hometown.<br />Waiting up wherever you go now. (MMM)<br />You know that you can't always turn around. (Turn around)<br />Cause this world is big and it's crazy. (It's crazy)<br />This girl is thinking a maybe.<br />This life is what some people dream about. (Dream about)<br />Cause when I'm feeling down and i'm feelin' all alone. (One-one)<br />I always got a place where I can go.<br />Cause I know.<br /><br />[Chorus]<br /><br />Yeah they know exactly who you are. (Are)<br />Where the real you is a superstar. (Star)<br />You know that it's never too far away.<br /><br />You could change your hair,<br />You could change your clothes.<br />You could change your mind<br />It's just the way it goes.<br />You could say goodbye and you could say hello.<br />But you'll always find your way back:<br /><br />You could change your hair,<br />You could change your clothes.<br />You could change your mind<br />It's just the way it goes.<br />You could say goodbye and you could say hello.<br />But you'll always find your way back home.<br />You could change your style,<br />You could change your jeans.<br />You could learn to fly,<br />You could chase your dreams,<br />You could laugh or cry.<br />Like everybody knows.<br />You'll always find your way back home.<br />You'll always find your way back home.<br />You'll always find your way back home.<br />You'll always find your way back home.<br />You'll always find your way back home.<br /><br />Home. Always!<br />You'll always find your way.<br />You'll always find your way (back home) back home.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zqtj4RynRYQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zqtj4RynRYQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-48168729736645799712009-04-08T20:51:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.640+08:00The Best Of Both Worlds: 2009 Movie Mix by Hannah MontanaWooah!<br />Here we go everybody!<br />Oh yeah!<br /><br />[Verse 1:]<br />You get the limo out front,<br />oo, ah, oo.<br />Hottest styles, every shoe, every color (color),<br />yeah when your famous it can be kinda fun,<br />Its really you but no one ever discovers (covers)<br /><br />[Opening Chorus:]<br />In some ways your just like all your friends (like all your friends),<br />but on the stage your a star...<br /><br />[Chorus:]<br />You get the best...<br />of both worlds,<br />chill it out,<br />take it slow,<br />Then you rock out the show! (yeeah!)<br /><br />You get the best...<br />of both worlds,<br />Mix it altogether and you know that its the best of both worlds.<br />(the best of both...<br />worlds)<br />(Yeah!)<br /><br />[Verse 2:]<br />You go to movie premiers (is that Orlando Bloom?),<br />here your songs on the raidio-o (ooh woah),<br />Livin' 2 life's is a little weird (yeah),<br />but school's cool 'cause nobody know-ows (know-ows).<br /><br />[Opening Chorus 2:]<br />Yeah you get to be a small town girl (small town girl),<br />but big time when you play your gutair...<br /><br />[Chorus 2:]<br />You get the best...<br />of both worlds,<br />chill it out,<br />take it slow,<br />Then you rock out the show! (yeah!)<br /><br />You get the best...<br />of both worlds,<br />Mix it all together and you know that its the best of both-<br /><br />[Bridge:]<br />Pictures and autographs,<br />You get your face in all the magazines,<br />The best part is that,<br />you get to be whoever you wanna be...<br /><br />Best, [x2] (yeah the best of both)<br />Best, [x2] (you got the best of both)<br />Best, [x2] (come on the best of both)<br /><br />[Opening Chorus 3:]<br />Who would of thought that a girl like me?,<br />would double as a superstar...<br />(whoa!)<br /><br />[Chorus 3:]<br />You get the best... (oh best)<br />of both worlds,<br />chill it out,<br />take it slow,<br />Then you rock out the show!<br />You get the best...<br />of both worlds,<br />Mix it altogether and you know you got the best of both-<br /><br />You get the best...<br />of both worlds,<br />without/you've got the shades and the hair,<br />you can go anywhere (where),<br />You get the best...<br />of both worlds,<br />Mix it altogether<br /><br />Oh yeah,<br />its so much better 'cuz you know you've got the best of both worlds.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pEDo-3K9UxM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pEDo-3K9UxM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-8210278315045169982009-04-06T17:47:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.647+08:00Brad, Carrie, Taylor, Keith, Julianne Rack Up ACMs<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMZDfTkgRbq9rZ8LHYzb3ESbZtba7BasQCEWn_yTooYWX2Rxq1-E1XgX-L_MaMw-HuQ0__sQ7uPuGgukIpsv4U4eLSz7S7uyznBo5NT7c7DSCgNQwxFAbqO2wdtPDcAD6Lz5Q/s1600-h/293.underwood.carrie.lc.020809.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 124px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaMZDfTkgRbq9rZ8LHYzb3ESbZtba7BasQCEWn_yTooYWX2Rxq1-E1XgX-L_MaMw-HuQ0__sQ7uPuGgukIpsv4U4eLSz7S7uyznBo5NT7c7DSCgNQwxFAbqO2wdtPDcAD6Lz5Q/s200/293.underwood.carrie.lc.020809.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321513704597709042" /></a>Don't let the 10-gallon hats and odd odes to tractors fool you—the 44th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards knew how to keep it real.<br /><br />From erstwhile reality show winners Carrie Underwood and Julianne Hough triumphing once more—and with hardware that will no doubt put a certain mirrorball trophy to shame—to surprising, diva-like superstar dropouts (sorry, Tim McGraw fans), to an amazingly topical performance of "Shuttin' Down Detroit" from John Rich, the Reba McEntire-hosted awards show did their best to prove that the current crop of twangers are nothing if not relevant.<br /><br />Doing their part to keep things modern were Taylor Swift, Keith Urban and arm candy Nicole Kidman and—no awards show would be complete without her—Miley Cyrus.<br /><br />And while Brad Paisley ended up king of the night, taking home a leading three awards, it was double winner Underwood who proved the evening's queen, becoming the first artist in five years to unseat Kenny Chesney as the fan-voted Entertainer of the Year, the highest honor of the night, and the first female performer to take home the prize since the Dixie Chicks did it way back in 2000.<br /><br />"I've had a lot of good moments over the past four years," she said. "This one takes the cake."<br /><br />"Things are changing," presenter Jamie Foxx said later, referencing not Underwood's win, but Darius Rucker's recent foray onto the country charts. "An African-American singing country. Things are changing. Got a black man running the country. Things are changing.<br /><br />"I mean, what's next, white people going to Tyler Perry movies?"<br /><br />The night, which took place not in Nashville but Las Vegas, started off with a medley of performances from Underwood, Swift, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts and Brooks & Dunn.<br /><br />"Now that's what I call a stimulus package," McEntire said of the star-studded opening number, going on to joke about country's recent crossover success.<br /><br />"It seems like everyone wants to do a country album these days—even Michael Phelps and Willie Nelson are teaming up to do a country album. They're covering the Doobie Brothers."<br /><br />The show wasted no time in doling out the prizes.<br /><br />One of the night's big winners, as expected, was Underwood, who in addition to her Entertainer of the Year nod took home the prize for Top Female Vocalist.<br /><br />"I feel like I won American Idol all over again," she said.<br /><br />Fellow reality cutie and Dancing With the Stars pro Hough also managed to snag two awards, Top New Artist and Top New Female Artist, and got plenty emotional doing it.<br /><br />"It's a good thing my dress ripped, cause now I have something else to think about," she said. "I can't thank you guys enough—the fans. You guys are amazing. I would not be here without you."<br /><br />Country faves Sugarland snagged the Top Vocal Duo Award, while Rascal Flatts, as expected, walked away with the Top Vocal Group Award.<br /><br />"God, what an amazing ride this has been," bassist Jay DeMarcus said in accepting the nod. "Now I know how Brooks & Dunn feel."<br /><br />Paisley, who at six nominations had more than any other nominee, took home the award for Top Male Vocalist, albeit remotely. The singer was home with wife Kimberly Williams, who is expected to go into labor, well, any minute now.<br /><br />"I really want to thank you for this," he said via satellite. "I wish I could be there, but I didn't want to take the chance of missing the birth of our next child."<br /><br />Despite his absence, Paisley tripled his pleasure at the ACM Awards, taking home Video of the Year for "Waitin' On a Woman," and Vocal Event of the Year, which he shared with Urban for their duet "Start a Band."<br /><br />Meanwhile, providing the show with its requisite amount of drama was a last-minute pull-out by McGraw, who was due to perform alongside wife Faith Hill. McGraw reportedly backed out after a major disagreement over production design for his planned number. The Tennessean went so far as to claim he walked out of rehearsal Saturday night over the dispute.<br /><br />As for Cyrus, who got tongues wagging in the run-up to tonight's show that the pop star was fixin' to make her career a little more country, a little less rock 'n roll in the coming years, performed "The Climb." She was introduced by papa Billy Ray who, never missing an opportunity to hype his superstar daughter, let loose with a flurry of release dates and Hannah Montana-type hawking in his preamble to the performance.<br /><br />Fellow young'un Swift also performed at the show, and after being honored with the Top Album of the Year Award for Fearless, she was presented with a surprise piece of hardware by McEntire.<br /><br />After her performance of "You're Not Sorry," crossover queen Swift was presented with a special ACM Crystal Mileston Award for bringing so many young people to country music.<br /><br />"Are you serious?" the clearly surprised Swift asked. "To you guys who come to my show, I have absolutely fallen in love with you and will never forget you, ever."<br /><br />Here's the complete list of winners for the 44th Annual ACM Awards:<br /><br />•Entertainer of the Year: Carrie Underwood<br />•Top Male Vocalist: Brad Paisley<br />•Top Female Vocalist: Carrie Underwood<br />•Top Vocal Group: Rascal Flatts<br />•Top Vocal Duo: Sugarland<br />•Top New Artist: Julianne Hough<br />•Top New Male Artist: Jake Owen<br />•Top New Female Artist: Julianne Hough<br />•Top New Vocal Duo or Group: Zac Brown Band<br />•Single Record of the Year: Trace Adkins, "You're Gonna Miss This"<br />•Top Album of the Year: Taylor Swift, Fearless<br />•Song of the Year: Jamey Johnson, "In Color"<br />•Video of the Year: Brad Paisley, "Waitin' On a Woman"<br />•Vocal Event of the Year: Brad Paisley and Keith Urban, "Start a Band"<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:E! online</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-79485106880238370842009-04-06T17:45:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.654+08:00Hidden Exoplanet Found In Archival Data<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisA8AVDMEuNXhQhki85gh4D0TIWurftvaGOZ8_OheX8-uzedWN_Ud8Ugouo-9FOaAj5fdLmZAN3Iirq81fP35iDkEMrgZMPfms9Sh5ZhDmrj1m0JdU7rUVdd-63GvOl4Aq39sw/s1600-h/090401183529-large.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 167px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisA8AVDMEuNXhQhki85gh4D0TIWurftvaGOZ8_OheX8-uzedWN_Ud8Ugouo-9FOaAj5fdLmZAN3Iirq81fP35iDkEMrgZMPfms9Sh5ZhDmrj1m0JdU7rUVdd-63GvOl4Aq39sw/s200/090401183529-large.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321512693355294162" /></a>David Lafreniere of the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has successfully demonstrated this new strategy for planet hunting by identifying an exoplanet that went undetected in Hubble images taken in 1998 with its Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). In addition to illustrating the power of new data-processing techniques, this finding underscores the value of the Hubble data archive, on which those new techniques can be used.<br /><br />The planet, estimated to be at least seven times Jupiter's mass, was originally discovered in images taken with the Keck and Gemini North telescopes in 2007 and 2008. It is the outermost of three massive planets known to orbit the dusty young star HR 8799, which is 130 light-years away. NICMOS could not see the other two planets because its coronagraphic spot — a device which blots out the glare of the star — also interferes with observing the two inner planets.<br /><br />"We've shown that NICMOS is more powerful than previously thought for imaging planets," says Lafreniere. "Our new image-processing technique efficiently subtracts the glare from a star that spills over the coronagraph's edge, allowing us to see planets that are one-tenth the brightness of what could be detected before with Hubble." Lafreniere adapted an image reconstruction technique that was first developed for ground-based observatories.<br /><br />Using the new technique, he recovered the planet in NICMOS observations taken 10 years before the Keck/Gemini discovery. The Hubble picture not only provides important confirmation of the planet's existence, it provides a longer baseline for demonstrating that the object is in an orbit about the star. "To get a good determination of the orbit we have to wait a very long time because the planet is moving so slowly (it has a 400-year period)," says Lafreniere. "The 10-year-old Hubble data take us that much closer to having a precise measure of the orbit."<br /><br />NICMOS's view provided new insights into the physical characteristics of the planet, too. This was possible because NICMOS works at near-infrared wavelengths that are severely blocked by Earth's atmosphere due to absorption by water vapor.<br /><br />"The planet seems to be only partially cloud covered and we could be detecting the absorption of water vapor in the atmosphere," says Travis Barman of Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Ariz. "The infrared light measured from the Hubble data is consistent with a spectrum showing a broad water absorption feature (at 1.4-1.49 microns), but the level of absorption seen is lower than it would be if the photosphere were completely devoid of dust. Dust clouds can smooth out many of the spectral features that would otherwise be there—including water absorption bands," Barman says. "Measuring the water absorption properties will tell us a great deal about the temperatures and pressures in the atmospheres, in addition to the cloud coverage. If we can accurately measure the water absorption features for the outermost planet around HR 8799, we will learn a great deal about their atmospheric properties. Hubble, situated well above the Earth's atmosphere, is excellently located for such a study."<br /><br />"During the past 10 years Hubble has been used to look at over 200 stars with coronagraphy, looking for planets and disks. We plan to go back and look at all of those archived images and see if anything can be detected that has gone undetected until now," says Christian Marois of the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Victoria, Canada. "We'll need a baseline of a few years for most objects to detect Keplerian motion and hence confirm their status as planets. The hardest part is to find them in the first place."<br /><br />If his team sees a companion object to a star in more than one NICMOS picture, and it appears to have moved along an orbit, follow-up observations will be made with ground-based telescopes. If they see something once but its brightness and separation from the star would be reasonable for a planet, they will also do follow-up observations with ground-based telescopes.<br /><br />Taking the image of an exoplanet is not an easy task. Planets can be billions of times fainter than the star around which they orbit and are typically located at separations smaller than 1/2000th the angular size of the full moon from their star. The planet recovered in the NICMOS data is about 100,000 times fainter than the star when viewed in the near-infrared.<br /><br />"Even when using the best telescopes available, with the best resolution, the light from the bright star spills out in the area where the much fainter planets are located, making them impossible to see. It is essential to subtract out this bright glare of stellar light from the image to see faint dots, i.e., planets, that could be hidden underneath," says Rene Doyon of the University of Montreal.<br /><br />The stability of how light is scattered in the NICMOS camera, called the point spread function (PSF), is key for using Hubble images to recover planets. This technique works by taking images of different stars and combining them to create a PSF of a star that closely resembles the star that is being studied for planets. This requires a reasonably steady PSF because images of different stars are taken on different days. Atmospheric conditions would vary from day-to-day for ground-based telescopes, but not for a space telescope that enjoys unprecedented image stability over repeated visits to a target.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:science daily</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-55760662542811099962009-04-06T17:38:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.662+08:00How Low Can It Go? Sun Plunges Into The Quietest Solar Minimum In A Century<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hDh7VIyH1O4yfhLR_BpgAdI50Q-yoMMGsFOB6wD1qUqhEHJXlfBL0zGbrBRuqAwpsA19-5ejehETb8wu8t3sOaFHxGdHqT4OsXKVlXk-rJPWuARBFgx0bJzV058h1_rZBfI1/s1600-h/090402200749-large.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hDh7VIyH1O4yfhLR_BpgAdI50Q-yoMMGsFOB6wD1qUqhEHJXlfBL0zGbrBRuqAwpsA19-5ejehETb8wu8t3sOaFHxGdHqT4OsXKVlXk-rJPWuARBFgx0bJzV058h1_rZBfI1/s200/090402200749-large.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321512194312742738" /></a>The year 2008 was a bear. There were no sunspots observed on 266 of the year's 366 days (73 percent). To find a year with more blank suns, you have to go all the way back to 1913, which had 311 spotless days. Prompted by these numbers, some observers suggested that the solar cycle had hit bottom in 2008.<br /><br />Maybe not. Sunspot counts for 2009 have dropped even lower. As of March 31st, there were no sunspots on 78 of the year's 90 days (87 percent).<br /><br />It adds up to one inescapable conclusion: "We're experiencing a very deep solar minimum," says solar physicist Dean Pesnell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.<br /><br />"This is the quietest sun we've seen in almost a century," agrees forecaster David Hathaway of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.<br /><br />Quiet suns come along every 11 years or so. It's a natural part of the sunspot cycle, discovered by German astronomer Heinrich Schwabe in the mid-1800s. Sunspots are planet-sized islands of magnetism on the surface of the sun, and they are sources of solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and intense UV radiation. Plotting sunspot counts, Schwabe saw that peaks of solar activity were always followed by valleys of relative calm—a clockwork pattern that has held true for more than 200 years.<br /><br />The current solar minimum is part of that pattern. In fact, it's right on time. But is it supposed to be this quiet?<br /><br />Measurements by the Ulysses spacecraft reveal a 20 percent drop in solar wind pressure since the mid-1990s—the lowest point since such measurements began in the 1960s. The solar wind helps keep galactic cosmic rays out of the inner solar system. With the solar wind flagging, more cosmic rays penetrate the solar system, resulting in increased health hazards for astronauts. Weaker solar wind also means fewer geomagnetic storms and auroras on Earth.<br /><br />Careful measurements by several NASA spacecraft have also shown that the sun's brightness has dimmed by 0.02 percent at visible wavelengths and a whopping 6 percent at extreme UV wavelengths since the solar minimum of 1996. These changes are not enough to reverse global warming, but there are some other, noticeable side-effects.<br /><br />Earth's upper atmosphere is heated less by the sun and it is therefore less "puffed up." Satellites in Earth orbit experience less atmospheric drag, extending their operational lifetimes. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, space junk also remains in orbit longer, posing an increased threat to useful satellites.<br /><br />Finally, radio telescopes are recording the dimmest "radio sun" since 1955. After World War II, astronomers began keeping records of the sun's brightness at radio wavelengths, particularly 10.7 cm. Some researchers believe that the lessening of radio emissions during this solar minimum is an indication of weakness in the sun's global magnetic field. No one is certain, however, because the source of these long-monitored radio emissions is not fully understood.<br /><br />All these lows have sparked a debate about whether the ongoing minimum is extreme or just an overdue market correction following a string of unusually intense solar maxima.<br /><br />"Since the Space Age began in the 1950s, solar activity has been generally high," notes Hathaway. "Five of the ten most intense solar cycles on record have occurred in the last 50 years. We're just not used to this kind of deep calm."<br /><br />Deep calm was fairly common a hundred years ago. The solar minima of 1901 and 1913, for instance, were even longer than what we're experiencing now. To match those minima in depth and longevity, the current minimum will have to last at least another year.<br /><br />In a way, the calm is exciting, says Pesnell. "For the first time in history, we're getting to observe a deep solar minimum." A fleet of spacecraft — including the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), the twin probes of the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), and several other satellites — are all studying the sun and its effects on Earth. Using technology that didn't exist 100 years ago, scientists are measuring solar winds, cosmic rays, irradiance and magnetic fields and finding that solar minimum is much more interesting than anyone expected.<br /><br />Modern technology cannot, however, predict what comes next. Competing models by dozens of solar physicists disagree, sometimes sharply, on when this solar minimum will end and how big the next solar maximum will be. The great uncertainty stems from one simple fact: No one fully understands the underlying physics of the sunspot cycle.<br /><br />Pesnell believes sunspot counts should pick up again soon, "possibly by the end of the year," to be followed by a solar maximum of below-average intensity in 2012 or 2013.<br /><br />But like other forecasters, he knows he could be wrong. Bull or bear? Stay tuned for updates.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:science daily</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-53296022895828559002009-03-29T09:10:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.680+08:00Michael Jackson will live near haunted caves during London concerts<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7HKB8FvdJgzcMEeQTRBmlQePX0O0P22zICFCAaoe3Gb5qki8Eh6P8D7p84byHDJ0v8ySoZN4DA7iw8A16snGFjSEZmfdLN3tFZlFzAAg5P62iAIxcAuLh-V_K2DDxIjM8fke/s1600-h/jackson_1372534c.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7HKB8FvdJgzcMEeQTRBmlQePX0O0P22zICFCAaoe3Gb5qki8Eh6P8D7p84byHDJ0v8ySoZN4DA7iw8A16snGFjSEZmfdLN3tFZlFzAAg5P62iAIxcAuLh-V_K2DDxIjM8fke/s200/jackson_1372534c.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318411859063731538" /></a>The eccentric singer is reported to have paid £1 million to rent a large country house near the edge of an ancient 22-mile maze of haunted passageways.<br /><br />The undisclosed home is thought to be close to the Chislehurst Caves in Bromley, in the south-east suburbs of London. Ghost sightings have been reported at the caves, which were dug in chalk by the Saxons, Druids and Romans.<br /><br />A property source told The Sun: "His team signed up this week to stay there. We're not sure if he knows about the caves but they're all around."<br /><br />The 50-year-old star sent aides to find the perfect country retreat before his first gig in London on July 8.<br /><br />The three-storey pile – built in the 1800s – has quarters for 20 staff as well as an underground cinema, music room, indoor swimming pool, lake and private wood.<br /><br />Closed circuit television cameras and state-of-the-art alarm systems will prevent fans getting anywhere near the star during his series of 50 concerts.<br /><br />It was revealed earlier that Jackson has stumped organisers of his concerts by asking to ride an elephant onto the stage as part of a jungle theme.<br /><br />He was reported to have asked for a panther, snakes, tropical birds and three monkeys for a set that will have a jungle, circus and weather theme during the shows. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:telegraph</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-25889882562140992992009-03-29T09:07:00.002+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.690+08:00Prince William elects to fly economy as the recession bites<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv6bpqwNaWI1OkDBw6AyG9p_zRLH8MooIIxY_L6x8FfeBClbBHubKCoGRhnRJO30qy6PrlGknhXxrdWRTcrFw9TTTCf6pxzhnMhB8zAfQBD1KyenzCsQaURcq2TN5QnYsAFS8L/s1600-h/william_1374138c.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 125px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv6bpqwNaWI1OkDBw6AyG9p_zRLH8MooIIxY_L6x8FfeBClbBHubKCoGRhnRJO30qy6PrlGknhXxrdWRTcrFw9TTTCf6pxzhnMhB8zAfQBD1KyenzCsQaURcq2TN5QnYsAFS8L/s200/william_1374138c.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318410751654440210" /></a>"He is determined to get his travelling costs down," a senior courtier tells Mandrake. "Obviously there will be occasions when his security team will advise him against this, but he has told us that his default position from now on will be to turn right when he enters an aircraft. He is acutely aware that this is no time for ostentatious expenditure."<br /><br />When the 26-year-old prince flew off to Courchevel for a skiing holiday with his girlfriend Kate Middleton and her family earlier this month, it went unreported that the second in line to the throne sat among the economy passengers on the British Airways Heathrow to Geneva flight. "There was a security presence, but it was all very low-key and William sat with Kate, her sister Pippa and a group of friends among the other passengers," the courtier adds.<br /><br />"I think a lot of people on the flight didn't even realise who they were. William actually hates having a fuss made of him when he travels and said that he found it a lot more relaxing than having the cabin crew all nervously hovering around him at the front of the aircraft."<br /><br />Michael and Carole Middleton, Kate's parents, elected, interestingly, to travel business class on the flight, but this may have been because Mrs Middleton was entitled to an upgrade with her husband since she is a former BA employee.<br /><br />This was believed to be the first occasion that the prince had sat in economy, but, even so, the trip garnered some unwelcome headlines for him because he had to break into his 16-month course at the Defence Helicopter Flying School – funded by the taxpayer to the tune of £800,000 – to take the holiday.<br /><br />Prince William's decision to switch from business and first to economy – a policy that has also been adoped by a great many businesses lately – contrasts with Gordon Brown's increasingly grandiose travel arrangements.<br /><br />Earlier this month I disclosed how, when the Prime Minister returned from his trip to Washington, his British Airways flight was permitted to taxi directly to Royal Suite One, which is normally reserved for the Queen and senior members of the Royal Family.<br /><br />A British Airways captain got in touch after the story appeared to tell me that Brown's flight was also accorded the call sign Speedbird One which is considered highly pretentious in aviation circles and was eschewed even by the status-conscious Tony Blair when he travelled as prime minister.<br /><br />Both BA and Clarence House declined to comment on Prince William's travelling arrangements.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:telegraph</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-26638268062803693062009-03-27T09:51:00.002+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.699+08:00American Idol Idol: Adam’s Acoustic Comeback!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qSoc5OboY7OUYhhm-0MFdC8X9Dn-4DJANChPsvyLr2YhriBQWWYpvpQwTMujfOkttWQEpGs7u4BsSDeo1iRTKrIVborw0HG6SgblJo_1ldHZcDFz-zgxO6aNZQySzK06FXJw/s1600-h/adam_lambert150.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 113px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-qSoc5OboY7OUYhhm-0MFdC8X9Dn-4DJANChPsvyLr2YhriBQWWYpvpQwTMujfOkttWQEpGs7u4BsSDeo1iRTKrIVborw0HG6SgblJo_1ldHZcDFz-zgxO6aNZQySzK06FXJw/s200/adam_lambert150.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317681497314206130" /></a>The top 10 finalists mined the mammoth Motown catalog of hits Wednesday, with Smokey Robinson serving as a very gentle celebrity mentor. Going in, everyone may have expected Lil Rounds to triumph — “This is your week,” Kara told her — but several other singers ended up supreme.<br /><br />Adam Lambert dropped his flamboyance to sing a controlled, brooding “Track of My Tears.” You could argue that even in restraint he tends to be over the top, but the judges loved him. Kara actually gave him an ovation — that’s usually Paula’s routine — and called the song “one of the best performances of the night.” Simon went further: “It was the best performance of the night.”<br /><br />Kris Allen strapped on his guitar and sang a cheerful, synocopated “How Sweet It Is.” Smokey said the interpretation “blew me away.” Kara agreed, saying, “You did everything right” in reinventing the song. Simon’s caveat: “You haven’t got that swagger and confidence” of a star. Just watch Adam!<br /><br />And Allison Iraheta, the 16-year-old who was nearly eliminated last week, did yet another amazing-far-beyond-her-years performance with “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone.” Randy saluted her as “one of the dopest singers” in the competition. Kara marveled that America would dare not vote to keep her on. Simon and Paula’s comments, while both favorable, wound up as footnotes to the odd fact that Simon had drawn a mustache on Paula’s face.<br /><br />Now, what about Lil Rounds? She came out with her hair styled like a classic Motown diva, ready to wow with “Heat Wave,” but she sounded surprisingly harsh. Randy said her vocal, at least at the start, was “tortured” and rushed. Lil rounds promised a slower tempo — if she stays. Which she probably will.<br /><br />Most likely in trouble:<br /><br />Scott MacIntyre. He performed “You Can’t Hurry Love” with (so he said) the soul of a single man waiting for love. It came out sounding “a bit cheap,” in the words of Simon.<br /><br />Michael Sarver. He promised he was going to “church it up” with his version of “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” and ended up shouting. Paula, who gets nervous whenever she has to offer to-the-point criticism, trembled poignantly as she described the turn as “Las Vegas lounge-y.”<br /><br />Megan Joy. Having survived the flu last week, she tackled “For Once in My Life” with a bizarre interpretation that ranged all over the place. Randy thought her performance was a “trainwreck.” Simon, even blunter, told her: “Whoever is advising you, I would fire.” Then, he warned her to be ready to be sent home. – Tom Gliatto<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:people</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-59964454965617045962009-03-27T09:49:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.709+08:00Erratic Black Hole Regulates ItselfNew results from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have made a major advance in explaining how a special class of black holes may shut off the high-speed jets they produce. These results suggest that these black holes have a mechanism for regulating the rate at which they grow.Black holes come in many sizes: the supermassive ones, including those in quasars, which weigh in at millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun, and the much smaller stellar-mass black holes which have measured masses in the range of about 7 to 25 times the Sun's mass. Some stellar-mass black holes launch powerful jets of particles and radiation, like seen in quasars, and are called "micro-quasars".<br /><br />The new study looks at a famous micro-quasar in our own Galaxy, and regions close to its event horizon, or point of no return. This system, GRS 1915+105 (GRS 1915 for short), contains a black hole about 14 times the mass of the Sun that is feeding off material from a nearby companion star. As the material swirls toward the black hole, an accretion disk forms.<br /><br />This system shows remarkably unpredictable and complicated variability ranging from timescales of seconds to months, including 14 different patterns of variation. These variations are caused by a poorly understood connection between the disk and the radio jet seen in GRS 1915.<br /><br />Chandra, with its spectrograph, has observed GRS 1915 eleven times since its launch in 1999. These studies reveal that the jet in GRS 1915 may be periodically choked off when a hot wind, seen in X-rays, is driven off the accretion disk around the black hole. The wind is believed to shut down the jet by depriving it of matter that would have otherwise fueled it. Conversely, once the wind dies down, the jet can re-emerge.<br /><br />"We think the jet and wind around this black hole are in a sort of tug of war," said Joseph Neilsen, Harvard graduate student and lead author of the paper appearing in the journal Nature. "Sometimes one is winning and then, for reasons we don't entirely understand, the other one gets the upper hand."<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6AcYzkPikD_Uo_zTeCPeOmXa2qYCHWz4stUBMn7EjNNkCxPDuGU2v4b9jBq01TrjE6CYVSPybAG1rTja3Tu8qRbGTVYGSl75dBiFzatsxrbIu2xzl36sRJBfUmJwXeUsSehno/s1600-h/090325150617-large.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6AcYzkPikD_Uo_zTeCPeOmXa2qYCHWz4stUBMn7EjNNkCxPDuGU2v4b9jBq01TrjE6CYVSPybAG1rTja3Tu8qRbGTVYGSl75dBiFzatsxrbIu2xzl36sRJBfUmJwXeUsSehno/s400/090325150617-large.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317679160829893202" /></a><br />The latest Chandra results also show that the wind and the jet carry about the same amount of matter away from the black hole. This is evidence that the black hole is somehow regulating its accretion rate, which may be related to the toggling between mass expulsion via either a jet or a wind from the accretion disk. Self-regulation is a common topic when discussing supermassive black holes, but this is the first clear evidence for it in stellar-mass black holes.<br /><br />"It is exciting that we may be on the track of explaining two mysteries at the same time: how black hole jets can be shut down and also how black holes regulate their growth," said co-author Julia Lee, assistant professor in the Astronomy department at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "Maybe black holes can regulate themselves better than the financial markets!"<br /><br />Although micro-quasars and quasars differ in mass by factors of millions, they should show a similarity in behavior when their very different physical scales are taken into account.<br /><br />"If quasars and micro-quasars behave very differently, then we have a big problem to figure out why, because gravity treats them the same," said Neilsen. "So, our result is actually very reassuring, because it's one more link between these different types of black holes."<br /><br />The timescale for changes in behavior of a black hole should vary in proportion to the mass. For example, an hour-long timescale for changes in GRS 1915 would correspond to about 10,000 years for a supermassive black hole that weighs a billion times the mass of the Sun.<br /><br />"We cannot hope to explore at this level of detail in any single supermassive black hole system," said Lee. "So, we can learn a tremendous amount about black holes by just studying stellar-mass black holes like this one."<br /><br />It is not known what causes the jet to turn on again once the wind dies down, and this remains one of the major unsolved mysteries in astronomy.<br /><br />"Every major observatory, ground and space, has been used to study this black hole for the past two decades," said Neilsen. "Although we still don't have all the answers, we think our work is a step in the right direction."<br /><br />This was work made using Chandra's High Energy Transmission Gratings Spectrometer. These results appear in the March 26th issue of Nature. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's science and flight operations from Cambridge, Mass.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:science daily</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-19264941937876121592009-03-27T09:40:00.002+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.719+08:00Energy Drinks May Be Harmful To People With Hypertension, Heart DiseasePeople who have high blood pressure or heart disease should avoid consuming energy drinks, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study to be published online Wednesday in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy.Researchers found that healthy adults who drank two cans a day of a popular energy drink experienced an increase in their blood pressure and heart rate. No significant changes in EKG measurements were reported.<br /><br />The increases in blood pressure and heart rate were insignificant for healthy adults, but could prove harmful to people with a heart-related condition, says James Kalus, Pharm.D., senior manager of Patient Care Services at Henry Ford Hospital and lead author of the study.<br /><br />"Based on our findings, we recommend that people who have hypertension or heart disease and are taking medication for them to avoid consuming energy drinks because of a potential risk to their health," Dr. Kalus says.<br /><br />Researchers believe the caffeine and taurine levels in energy drinks could be responsible for increases in blood pressure and heart rate. The brand of energy drink used in the study is not being identified because most energy drinks on the market boast similar levels of caffeine and taurine, a non-essential amino acid derivative often found in meat and fish. The caffeine levels in energy drinks are equivalent to at least one to two cups of coffee.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFvZunaj2UHHYIKvGmtwq-iX9hfuEYXSEPG9sFE88VLEAlKh2vtw9V2m8yocLPCh-xx_7By-qSGi7ZGZ-Dq1c5P795mVil1QomobaDCVrhWMEJaJZQ1QtNK9a1ald6NRMet95/s1600-h/Starbucks-Energy-Drink-38029.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 337px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbFvZunaj2UHHYIKvGmtwq-iX9hfuEYXSEPG9sFE88VLEAlKh2vtw9V2m8yocLPCh-xx_7By-qSGi7ZGZ-Dq1c5P795mVil1QomobaDCVrhWMEJaJZQ1QtNK9a1ald6NRMet95/s400/Starbucks-Energy-Drink-38029.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317678321328651298" /></a><br />Dr. Kalus says energy drinks should not be confused with sports drinks, which aim to replenish the carbohydrates and electrolytes that a body needs.<br /><br />"Both caffeine and taurine have been shown to have a direct impact on cardiac function," Dr. Kalus says.<br /><br />Researchers studied 15 healthy adult participants who abstained from other forms of caffeine for two days prior to and throughout the study. On the first day after a baseline measurement of blood pressure, heart rate and EKG were taken, the adults consumed two cans of the energy drink.<br /><br />Researchers then measured the participants' blood pressure, heart rate and EKG again at 30 minutes and one, two, three and four hours after consumption. For the next five days, the participants' consumed two cans of the energy drink.<br /><br />On the study's seventh day, the protocol used on the first day was repeated and the average baseline measurements were compared to the measurements obtained after energy drink consumption. Researchers found that the participants:<br /><br /> * Heart rate increased 7.8 percent the first day and 11 percent the seventh day.<br /> * Blood pressure increased at least 7 percent the first and seventh days.<br /><br />Dr. Kalus says the participants did not engage in any physical activity during the study, suggesting that the increases could have been higher.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:science daily</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-67864621578037262762009-03-25T08:06:00.002+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.729+08:00Robin Williams expected to make full recovery after heart surgeryFunnyman Robin Williams, 57, is currently recovering from heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic, his publicist announced yesterday.<br /><br />“His heart is strong and he will have normal heart function in the coming weeks with no limitations on what he’ll be able to do,” Dr. A. Marc Gillinov, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the clinic, is quoted as saying by Reuters. “A couple of hours after surgery, he was entertaining the medical team and making us all laugh.”<br /><br />The surgery, which took place on March 13, was done to replace the comedian’s aortic valve, repair his mitral valve and correct an irregular heartbeat, the news agency reports. He is expected to make a full recovery.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMA7e5isbgSMoP0hASnpVNMwBvkEyC7Yhvfeejqe9UfyOELMBoHwHToY25yxOvGO5AH_Q6YbpmW0y9N0DDN3q3k0uAA03Mv1fBE1k_ttu5yzzWy9WEgQ5QqQamWk5Y7XqYQge/s1600-h/robin_williams_1_license_to_wed.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 326px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMA7e5isbgSMoP0hASnpVNMwBvkEyC7Yhvfeejqe9UfyOELMBoHwHToY25yxOvGO5AH_Q6YbpmW0y9N0DDN3q3k0uAA03Mv1fBE1k_ttu5yzzWy9WEgQ5QqQamWk5Y7XqYQge/s400/robin_williams_1_license_to_wed.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316911786336945170" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:hot gossip</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-11032961153770569102009-03-25T08:01:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.737+08:00What will the Sun look like when it dies?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPCQwHaSMIelbz3Pw_KGAoEjRmCoWBbhQnKno0SFE4-EsN8uMGwv274A1GMREomYuviJFi5lGORQTm4CroA-zYpdDLF1Eeif3a0pCJRh97rPIwGXfAIAkaIlOcRJ0Q_Bqfi6f/s1600-h/dn16822-2_300.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 153px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPCQwHaSMIelbz3Pw_KGAoEjRmCoWBbhQnKno0SFE4-EsN8uMGwv274A1GMREomYuviJFi5lGORQTm4CroA-zYpdDLF1Eeif3a0pCJRh97rPIwGXfAIAkaIlOcRJ0Q_Bqfi6f/s200/dn16822-2_300.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316909706092980402" /></a>Planetary nebulae are the final butterfly-like state that heralds the end of a Sun-like star's energy-generating life. They form when stars up to eight times the mass of the Sun begin to die, bloating into red giants before shedding as much as half their mass as gas and dust nebulae.<br /><br />The Sun itself will begin its death throes in about 5 billion years, when it starts to swell into a red giant star. Though it's not clear exactly what its planetary nebula will look like – its shape will likely be sculpted by factors such as the Sun's future magnetic field – observations of the 1600 or so known planetary nebulae suggest our star will go out in a blaze of glory.<br /><br />Lasting no more than a few tens of thousands of years, planetary nebulae help seed space with heavier chemical elements that can be incorporated into the next generation of stars. A new book called Galaxy: Exploring the Milky Way by Stuart Clark features some absolutely spectacular images of these nebulae.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />by:new scientist</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-29158300607107699662009-03-25T07:54:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.747+08:00Moon shadows on Saturn rings are a sign of springThe Cassini spacecraft has captured its first snapshots of moon shadows on Saturn's rings. The shadows are a sign that the Sun will soon cross Saturn's equator, bringing spring to the planet's northern hemisphere for the first time in almost 30 years.<br /><br />Like Earth, Saturn experiences seasons because its equator and rings do not lie in the same plane as its orbit – they are tilted by some 27°. Twice during the planet's 29.5-year orbit, the Sun crosses its equator, illuminating the planet's rings edge-on.<br /><br />The next such equinox will be on 11 August 2009. But NASA's Cassini spacecraft caught one of the first signs of the coming alignment in January, when it snapped images of moon shadows on the planet's rings. Shadows of Saturn's moons are typically seen on the planet itself.<br /><br />Cassini's mission was extended to 30 September 2010 in order to watch the equinox, which occurs once every 15 years. The team hopes the change in light will offer new insight into the planet's weather as well as reveal more about Saturn's rings.<br />Dark silhouettes<br /><br />Measuring the 3D structure of the planet's main, inner rings is usually difficult. That's because Saturn's F ring, which surrounds them, is thicker in the vertical direction than the inner rings, which are about 10 metres thick, obscuring edge-on views of the inner rings.<br /><br />During equinoxes, though, when the rings lie edge on as seen from Earth, it is usually difficult to directly image the planet's main, inner rings. That's because Saturn's F ring, which surrounds them, is thicker in the vertical direction than the inner rings, which are about 10 metres thick.<br /><br />But researchers hope to glean more information about the thickness of the inner rings by observing the shapes that the moon shadows cast on them. Any vertical bumps in the rings should distort the shadows' silhouettes.<br /><br />"Because we know how big the moons are, and where they are in their orbits around Saturn when they cast these shadows, we have all the information we need to infer any substantial vertical structure that might be present," team member John Weiss of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement.<br />Unique perspective<br /><br />Although Cassini will have a clear view of the equinox, the event will not be visible from the ground. While Earth and Saturn's rings will be in exactly the same plane on 10 August and 4 September 2009, Saturn will be too close to the Sun to be a good target for skywatchers.<br /><br />"One of the best things about being in orbit around Saturn are those mind-expanding opportunities that arise every now and again to see some celestial phenomenon you couldn't possibly see here on Earth," said Carolyn Porco, leader of the Cassini imaging team in Boulder, Colorado.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Wnvuu2L3PBCeKAKe_GbG0eIaRjfVuYmsKICwl88b7kClipyi7RT3JWgVzFrhzyeYMc0E9k04lab-cBPFhInwoFf0lmF6relw45c-Ln4mm1Biuh2zPf0DJ1gy1leNQsYcEUCg/s1600-h/dn16833-1_300.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Wnvuu2L3PBCeKAKe_GbG0eIaRjfVuYmsKICwl88b7kClipyi7RT3JWgVzFrhzyeYMc0E9k04lab-cBPFhInwoFf0lmF6relw45c-Ln4mm1Biuh2zPf0DJ1gy1leNQsYcEUCg/s400/dn16833-1_300.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316908524137917010" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:new scientist</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-81943234741952287352009-03-24T09:50:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.756+08:00Lindsay's shocking demiseAfter pictures of 22-year-old Lindsay Lohan emerged of the actress looking rail thin, amid rumours of a series of bust-ups with Samantha Ronson, 31, pals of the Mean Girls star revealed that they have begun fearing for her life.<br /><br />Caught on camera drinking alcohol - despite her admission in August 2007 that "It is clear to me that my life has become completely unmanageable because I am addicted to alcohol and drugs" - friends say Lindsay is taking drugs and self-harming as her career fails and her relationship grows more tempestuous.<br /><br />Ahlan! stacks up the evidence that shows the star is in very serious trouble...<br /><br /> <br /><br />Self-harming?<br /><br />Spotted out partying almost every night - favouring travelling with Sam to her DJ gigs and sitting in the booth over staying out of the spotlight to repair her image - Lindsay has become a source of major worry for her close friends and family, after one insisted the actress is cutting herself, saying, "She has fresh scars on her wrists."<br /><br />Skinny Obsession<br /><br />Insiders say Lindsay's weight has dropped from 61 kilos to 43 kilos within the past few months, which, at 5ft 6 makes her seriously underweight according to her BMI.<br /><br />"She looks horribly unhealthy," said a friend, who adds that LiLo's pals are blaming a ‘skinny pact' with Samantha Ronson for the rapid weight loss. "Lindsay is obsessed with her weight."<br /><br />Vicious Fights With Sam<br /><br />Neighbours were left shocked, just last weekend, when a huge row broke out at Samantha's Hollywood home between the DJ and Lindsay - with sources saying the warring pair resorted to throwing things at one another.<br /><br />"The noise was pretty frightening. It was the two of them screeching at one another, and you could hear stuff being banged around too - it sounded like a lovers' quarrel, but a pretty bad one!" revealed one.<br /><br />And onlookers at the recent ESPN Pre-Super Bowl party revealed, "Lindsay grabbed Sam's blackberry obsessively to check her messages before a row broke out." With a friend adding, "They're always breaking up. Samantha won't let Lindsay go, she doesn't have a career without her."<br /><br />Her Career's In Meltdown<br /><br />Almost pathologically jealous of Scarlett Johansson's stellar career - and in 2006, Lindsay scrawled ‘Scarlett is a bloody c***' on the bathroom wall of a New York club during a night out with Kate Moss - the Herbie: Reloaded star recently lamented, "I work just as hard as any other actress around my age, like Scarlett Johansson, but I just don't get the opportunities that they get."<br /><br />And after Lindsay's character was axed from recurring episodes of Ugly Betty amid rumours of rows with America Ferrera, the struggling actress last week suffered the humiliating blow of losing out to her Mean Girls co-star Amanda Seyfried for the lead role in A Woman Of No Importance - the ‘serious movie Linds had hoped to put her back on the map.<br /><br /> <br /><br />Will Lindsay's Family Intervene?<br /><br />Desperate to split Sam and Lindsay up, the actress's estranged father, Michael revealed on his blog, "I received a text message from a dear friend of Lindsay's. The text said, ‘From what I hear, from Lindsay's nearest and dearest friends, Lindsay is worse off than ever since she has been with Sam.'"<br /><br />And although Dina Lohan has stepped out of the spotlight and is now rarely pictured with her eldest daughter, insiders are adamant that behind the scenes, plans are being made to stage an intervention, forcing Lindsay back into rehab for the fourth time.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg33-XSAzu2SrutZ8casmH3ZvWea2xCPZp84S7TdBhM3A1mT1NPSlZOmIQYmWKv4QWmpt6Z6NYAw_yxt-HxVNIXH9Ppp4o5Zd6CCyhwMl_hVisW6aKMdC-ZkvKLTmsA9RYmgCJK/s1600-h/302ahecoverstory_1_full.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 274px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg33-XSAzu2SrutZ8casmH3ZvWea2xCPZp84S7TdBhM3A1mT1NPSlZOmIQYmWKv4QWmpt6Z6NYAw_yxt-HxVNIXH9Ppp4o5Zd6CCyhwMl_hVisW6aKMdC-ZkvKLTmsA9RYmgCJK/s400/302ahecoverstory_1_full.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316566603567706450" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:ahlan live.com</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-13057131019619837822009-03-24T09:30:00.002+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.764+08:00Can Robots Be Programmed to Learn from Their Own Experiences?It took just a few decades for computers to evolve from room-size vacuum tube–based machines that cost as much as a house to cheap chip-powered desktop models with vastly more processing power. Similarly, the days of "personal robots"—inexpensive machines that can help out at home or the office—may be closer than we think. But first, says Alexander Stoytchev, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Iowa State University in Ames, robots have to be taught to do something we know instinctively: how to learn.<br /><br />"A truly useful personal robot [must have] the ability to learn on its own from interactions with the physical and social environment," says Stoytchev, whose field of developmental robotics combines developmental psychology and neuroscience with artificial intelligence and robotic engineering. "It should not rely on a human programmer once it is purchased. It must be trainable."<br /><br />Stoytchev and a team of grad students are developing software to teach robots to learn about as well as a two-year-old child. Their platform is a humanoid robot that sprouts two 60-pound (27-kilogram) Whole Arm Manipulators (WAM) made by Cambridge, Mass.,–based Barrett Technology, Inc., each tipped with a 2.6-pound (1.2-kilogram) three-fingered BarrettHand.<br /><br />In one set of experiments, the robot was presented with 36 different objects, including hockey pucks and Tupperware. It could perform five different actions with each one—grasping, pushing, tapping, shaking and dropping—and had to identify and classify them based only on the sounds they made. After just one action the robot had a 72 percent success rate, but its accuracy soared with each successive action, reaching 99.2 percent after all five. The robot had learned to use a perceptual model to recognize and classify objects—and it could rely on this model to estimate how similar two objects were with only the sounds they made to guide it.<br /><br />Another set of experiments showed the robot could learn to tell whether or not something was a container. The team presented the machine, topped with a 3-D camera, with objects of different shapes. By dropping a small block on each one and then pushing it, the robot learned to classify objects either as containers—those that moved together with the block ["co-moved"] more often when pushed—or as noncontainers. The robot could then use this knowledge to judge whether unfamiliar objects could hold things; in other words, it had learned, roughly, how to discern the unique characteristics of a container.<br /><br />When personal robots finally hit retail chains, they might look something like HERB, the "Home Exploring Robotic Butler" created at an Intel lab in Pittsburgh. It is part of the company's Personal Robotics Project, whose goal is to make a truly autonomous robotic assistant that can perform routine tasks at human speeds in cluttered environments like homes or offices.<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqN9aISiUONXV3b1eBEEHAFrO_Xxn_sOM9guYCifHYepsx3ZVRMIoP-MEf9zG2LBwz1VLdgCgjm4MbJa5Xx25QgYgrft_GgbTxbSJOBChjkNqCGdL9ffCvnuO1VM6iw1dElJes/s1600-h/robot-learning_1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqN9aISiUONXV3b1eBEEHAFrO_Xxn_sOM9guYCifHYepsx3ZVRMIoP-MEf9zG2LBwz1VLdgCgjm4MbJa5Xx25QgYgrft_GgbTxbSJOBChjkNqCGdL9ffCvnuO1VM6iw1dElJes/s400/robot-learning_1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316565236163200386" /></a><br />by:scientific american</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-15949981307005839182009-03-24T09:24:00.002+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.775+08:00After the collapse: Scientists observe the largest exploding star yet seenArchival photographs from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have been used to uncover the progenitor star to a supernova that exploded in 2005. To the surprise of astronomers, the progenitor is a rare class of ultra-bright star that, according to theory, shouldn't explode so early in its evolution. [Top Center] This is a 2005 ground-based photograph of the supernova as seen in host galaxy NGC 266, located in the constellation Pisces. Credit: Puckett Observatory [Bottom Left] This is a 1997 Hubble archival visible-light image of the region of the galaxy where the supernova exploded. The white circle marks a star that Hubble measured to have an absolute magnitude of -10.3. This corresponds to the brightness of 1 million suns (at the galaxy's distance of 215 million light-years). Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel) [Bottom Center] This is a near-infrared-light photo of the supernova explosion taken on Nov. 11, 2005, with the Keck telescope, using adaptive optics. The blast is centered on the position of the progenitor. Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel), D. Leonard (San Diego State University), and D. Fox (Penn State University) [Bottom Right] This is a visible-light Hubble follow-up image taken on September 26, 2007. Note that a bright source near the site of the supernova can be seen in all three panels, but the progenitor star is gone. The Hubble pictures from both epochs were taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2. Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Gal-Yam (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel)<br /><br />Scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science and San Diego State University managed to observe a super-sized supernova explosion from start to finish, including the black hole ending. In the first observation if its kind, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science and San Diego State University were able to watch what happens when a star the size of 50 suns explodes. As they continued to track the spectacular event, they found that most of the star's mass collapsed in on itself, resulting in a large black hole.<br /><br />While exploding stars - supernovae - have been viewed with everything from the naked eye to high-tech research satellites, no one had directly observed what happens when a really huge star blows up. Dr. Avishay Gal-Yam of the Weizmann Institute's Faculty of Physics and Prof. Douglas Leonard of San Diego State University recently located and calculated the mass of a gigantic star on the verge of exploding, following through with observations of the blast and its aftermath. Their findings have lent support to the reigning theory that stars ranging from tens to hundreds of times the mass of our sun all end up as black holes.<br /><br />A star's end is predetermined from birth by its size and by the 'power plant' that keeps it shining during its lifetime. Stars, among them our sun, are fueled by hydrogen nuclei fusing together into helium in the intense heat and pressure of their inner cores. A helium nucleus is a bit lighter than the sum of the masses of the four hydrogen nuclei that went into making it and, from Einstein's theory of relativity (E=MC2), we know that the missing mass is released as energy.<br /><br />When stars like our sun finish off their hydrogen fuel, they burn out relatively quietly in a puff of expansion. But a star that's eight or more times larger than the sun makes a much more dramatic exit. Nuclear fusion continues after the hydrogen is exhausted, producing heavier elements in the star's different layers. When this process progresses to the point that the core of the star has turned to iron, another phenomenon takes over: In the enormous heat and pressure in the star's center, the iron nuclei break apart into their component protons and neutrons. At some point, this causes the core and the layer above it to collapse inward, firing the rest of the star's material rapidly out into space in a supernova flash. A supernova releases more energy in a few days than our sun will release over its entire lifetime, and the explosion is so bright that one occurring hundreds of light years away can be seen from Earth even in the daytime. While a supernova's outer layers are lighting up the universe with dazzling fireworks, the star's core collapses further and further inward. The gravity created in this collapse becomes so strong that the protons and electrons are squeezed together to form neutrons, and the star's core is reduced from a sphere 10,000 kilometers around to one with a circumference of a mere 10 kilometers. Just a crate-full of this star's material weighs as much as our entire Earth. But when the exploding star is 20 times the mass of our sun or more, say the scientists, its gravitational pull becomes so powerful that even light waves are held in place. Such a star - a black hole - is invisible for all intents and purposes.<br /><br />Until now, none of the supernovae stars that scientists had managed to measure had exceeded a mass of 20 suns. Gal-Yam and Leonard were looking at a specific region in space using the Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii and the Hubble Space Telescope. Identifying the about-to-explode star, they calculated its mass to be equal to 50-100 suns. Continued observation revealed that only a small part of the star's mass was flung off in the explosion. Most of the material, says Gal-Yam, was drawn into the collapsing core as its gravitational pull mounted. Indeed, in subsequent telescope images of that section of the sky, the star seems to have disappeared. In other words, the star has now become a black hole - so dense that light can't escape. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkn23Qk25wqOYfv8D1Yf40iDoeHRggoMh8p1amHtVzr2ljp7FgSckLF2rnp-dSMP3OlHSA4OkD3RIhZhzZ45tGy2Ik-CJ38XKZ8FMycdVchFtkRXmRdMRzJoMS8sPLWa8jePgQ/s1600-h/afterthecoll.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 333px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkn23Qk25wqOYfv8D1Yf40iDoeHRggoMh8p1amHtVzr2ljp7FgSckLF2rnp-dSMP3OlHSA4OkD3RIhZhzZ45tGy2Ik-CJ38XKZ8FMycdVchFtkRXmRdMRzJoMS8sPLWa8jePgQ/s400/afterthecoll.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316560345898515250" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:physorg</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-56247533225649546172009-03-23T10:46:00.002+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.785+08:00Pink elephant is caught on cameraA pink baby elephant has been caught on camera in Botswana.<br /><br />A wildlife cameraman took pictures of the calf when he spotted it among a herd of about 80 elephants in the Okavango Delta.<br /><br />Experts believe it is probably an albino, which is an extremely rare phenomenon in African elephants.<br /><br />They are unsure of its chances of long-term survival - the blazing African sunlight may cause blindness and skin problems for the calf.<br /><br />Mike Holding, who spotted the baby while filming for a BBC wildlife programme, said: "We only saw it for a couple of minutes as the herd crossed the river. "This was a really exciting moment for everyone in camp. We knew it was a rare sighting - no-one could believe their eyes."<br /><br />Documented evidence<br /><br />Albino elephants are not usually white, but instead they have more of a reddish-brown or pink hue.<br /><br />While albinism is thought to be fairly common in Asian elephants, it is much less common in the larger African species. Ecologist Dr Mike Chase, who runs conservation charity Elephants Without Borders, said: "I have only come across three references to albino calves, which have occurred in Kruger National Park in South Africa.<br /><br />"This is probably the first documented sighting of an albino elephant in northern Botswana.<br /><br />"We have been studying elephants in the region for nearly 10 years now, and this is the first documented evidence of an albino calf that I have come across."<br /><br />He said that the condition might make it difficult for the calf to survive into adulthood.<br /><br />"What happens to these young albino calves remains a mystery," said Dr Chase.<br /><br />"Surviving this very rare phenomenon is very difficult in the harsh African bush. The glaring sun may cause blindness and skin problems."<br /><br />However, he told BBC News that there might be a ray of hope for the pink calf as it already seemed to be learning to adapt to its condition. Dr Chase explained: "Because this elephant calf was sighted in the Okavango Delta, he may have a greater chance of survival. He can seek refuge under the large trees and cake himself in a thick mud, which will protect him from the Sun.<br /><br />"Already the two-to-three-month-old calf seems to be walking in the shade of its mother.<br /><br />"This behaviour suggests it is aware of its susceptibility to the harsh African sun, and adapted a unique behaviour to improve its chances of survival."<br /><br />He added: "I have learned that elephants are highly adaptable, intelligent and masters of survival." <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVwlD5gpjzf39o8kpy9WOxpwp2OASmh77lrBEDi-AnXVDlzPyQS9mrk8qWqe3xgXrFm9RMHjq6m8dOfWGaCU_J8jZkLpqDKjI8YvcysAxgkMl0l_2fJmo8e0-YyVxuCXy92QMI/s1600-h/_45581600_pinkelephant(1of3).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVwlD5gpjzf39o8kpy9WOxpwp2OASmh77lrBEDi-AnXVDlzPyQS9mrk8qWqe3xgXrFm9RMHjq6m8dOfWGaCU_J8jZkLpqDKjI8YvcysAxgkMl0l_2fJmo8e0-YyVxuCXy92QMI/s400/_45581600_pinkelephant(1of3).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316210188738290930" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:bbc news</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-3718437602319556382009-03-23T10:36:00.002+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.794+08:00Criticizing Robert Pattinson, Humility for Twilight and New Moon Star<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjSdO78r7ccDK0au4i9BgBQ7VBrK0FJ3aUasIyGeTl4M-CqmlKG4rkvyZLE_YLnd1ul5Am-VZeIBDypB-x-uZP0o-0KBO5FzdsBnv5P4cnGAV8RMxF-Br0wekqbNHILBRgj9JT/s1600-h/robert-pattinson-sexy-hot-undercover-2-187x300.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 125px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjSdO78r7ccDK0au4i9BgBQ7VBrK0FJ3aUasIyGeTl4M-CqmlKG4rkvyZLE_YLnd1ul5Am-VZeIBDypB-x-uZP0o-0KBO5FzdsBnv5P4cnGAV8RMxF-Br0wekqbNHILBRgj9JT/s200/robert-pattinson-sexy-hot-undercover-2-187x300.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316208679637107202" /></a>Robert Pattinson looks dreamy and smolderingly sexy on the cover of GQ Magazine and on the set of his upcoming film New Moon. His brief trip into Hollywood for the Academy Awards sent sweethearts like Natalie Portman swooning (at least according to an E! Online report) and reports of many other women desperately seeking Robert Pattinson. So who is the chief critic of Rob? It appears he is pretty hard on himself.According to this week's In Touch, on the commentary track to the Twilight DVD (big splash release on Friday night at midnight) Pattinson rips on his looks. A story titled "Robert Thinks He's Ugly" is based on the DVD commentary from Pattinson and he makes comments such as, "Sometimes I think I look as if I've had facial reconstructive surgery. After burns or something. My whole head looks like it's had a face lift. A really bad one!" He also says he has a "butt chin."<br />In Touch examines a bit deeper and asks why is the actor being so self-deprecating? "He may be insecure and doubting himself," the magazine cites Dr. Cynthia Cardinal (who the report notes has not treated robe) for the quote and she tells the weekly celebrity magazine, "Just because you're loved by millions doesn't mean you can love yourself."<br /><br />Another possible reason cited in the article, a touch of humility. "Also humbling himself makes him more lovable - he doesn't want to come off as snobby." Pattinson seems far from that. Is he being too tough on himself, or is he just this humble?<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:national ledger</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-59885417646795207482009-03-21T19:56:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.803+08:00Two Dying Red Supergiant Stars Produced Supernovae<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuOfYV0XBLRDZ_XYnvmZipY6QAg3mFVH2FmQo1oAe7YAEfA4CjRmyegoPsWMSNOUyonmhnSToDDGhjLhDtx2fOKMo1eYj5sUX5TG9ozsA2BAhG_ivYMw9gA9OErOajPTBWYBO/s1600-h/Galaxy"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcuOfYV0XBLRDZ_XYnvmZipY6QAg3mFVH2FmQo1oAe7YAEfA4CjRmyegoPsWMSNOUyonmhnSToDDGhjLhDtx2fOKMo1eYj5sUX5TG9ozsA2BAhG_ivYMw9gA9OErOajPTBWYBO/s200/Galaxy" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315609201655149314" /></a>A star is a large ball of hot gas and in its incredibly hot interior hydrogen atoms combine to form helium, which subsequently forms carbon, other heavier elements and finally iron. When all the atoms in the centre have turned to iron the fuel is depleted and the star dies. When very large and massive stars, that are at least about eight times as massive as our sun, die, they explode as supernovae.<br /><br />Enormous swollen stars<br /><br />But some massive stars become red supergiant stars first, which is an intermediate phase where, after the fuel in the centre is used up, energy is still produced in shells surrounding the now dead core. In this phase, the star swells up to an enormous size, approximately 1500 times larger than the sun, and emits as much light as a hundred thousand suns. But there has been doubt over whether red supergiants explode as supernovae.<br /><br />Using images from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini Observatory, Justyn R. Maund, astrophysicist at the Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen and astrophysicist Stephen J. Smartt, Queens University Belfast, have observed two stars that exploded as supernovae. By analysing archival images of the same section of the sky from long before the explosions, the researchers could see which stars might have gone supernova. But picking out individual stars in the distant universe is difficult, and pinpointing exactly which star it was that exploded is a huge challenge.<br /><br />Stars became supernovae<br /><br />A supernova is visible in the sky for some time after its explosion before its giant dust- and gas clouds are blown clear. The researchers can then observe the region around the position of the supernova several years after the supernova explosion and can then see exactly which star has disappeared.<br /><br />For one of the supernovae, SN1993J (which exploded in 1993) they found that a red supergiant no longer exists, but that its neighboring star remained. In addition, they found that the red supergiant that was postulated to have caused the supernova SN2003gd has also disappeared. This simple but very time intensive method, establishes that it was these two red supergiant stars that produced the supernovae 2003J and 2003gd, and confirms that red supergiant stars create type II supernovae.<br /><br />Maund and Smartt have found the missing link between red supergiant stars and their supernovae, giving astronomers a greater understanding of how massive stars die. Stellar death is a process crucial for understanding the origin of the chemical elements in the Universe, a precursor necessary ultimately to the formation of planets and life.matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-61755147286409766732009-03-21T19:46:00.001+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.821+08:00Teeth Of Columbus' Crew Flesh Out Tale Of New World Discovery<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qnrDYHMMD-oqSQ2aS3ZqAb28Tx4AVQF7lepp7B-dRU5MGkO6SqESli946GvUHQqsVzSY_7y8SAvGE3csbEuzPmpXJ25HFXdXdzrr1RWZ8a3ttyrLLWS7_R46S2S6Li_Fbcz1/s1600-h/columbus"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-qnrDYHMMD-oqSQ2aS3ZqAb28Tx4AVQF7lepp7B-dRU5MGkO6SqESli946GvUHQqsVzSY_7y8SAvGE3csbEuzPmpXJ25HFXdXdzrr1RWZ8a3ttyrLLWS7_R46S2S6Li_Fbcz1/s200/columbus" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315607227210032386" /></a>Now, however, science is taking interrogation of the dead to new heights. In a study that promises fresh and perhaps personal insight into some of the earliest European visitors to the New World, a team or researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison is extracting the chemical details of life history from the teeth of crew members Christopher Columbus left on the island of Hispaniola after his second voyage to America in 1493-94.<br /><br />"This is telling us about where people came from and what they ate as children," explains T. Douglas Price, a UW-Madison professor of anthropology and the leader of the team conducting an analysis of the tooth enamel of three individuals from a larger group excavated almost 20 years ago from shallow graves at the site of La Isabela, founded by Columbus.<br /><br />Price and colleague James Burton, in collaboration with researchers from the Autonomous University of the Yucatan in Mexico, are attempting to flesh out the details of a colony that lasted less than five years. The human remains used in the study were buried without the formalities of coffins or shrouds, and were excavated from what was once the church graveyard of the town Columbus established. Headstones and other identifying markers have long since faded to nothing or have been lost entirely during the 500 years since the bodies were first interred.<br /><br />Despite its brief existence, historians and archaeologists believe La Isabela was a substantial settlement with a church, public buildings such as a customhouse and storehouse, private dwellings and fortifications. It is also the only known settlement in America where Columbus actually lived.<br /><br />Although the town has been the subject of previous archaeological studies, the work by Price, Burton and their colleague Vera Tiesler and Andrea Cucina of the Autonomous University of the Yucatan is revealing new insight into the people who lived and sailed with Columbus, and who died on the shores of a strange and exotic new world.<br /><br />Histories of La Isabela, named after Spain's queen and Columbus's patron and located in what is today the Dominican Republic, suggest its population was made up only of men from the fleet of 17 vessels that comprised Columbus's second visit to the New World. But the first analysis of the remains of 20 individuals excavated two decades ago by Italian and Dominican archaeologists portray a different picture, suggesting that living among the Spaniards at La Isabela were native Taínos, women and children, and possibly individuals of African origin. If confirmed, that would put Africans in the New World as contemporaries of Columbus and decades before they were believed to have first arrived as slaves.<br /><br />The study conducted by the Wisconsin researchers relied on isotopic analysis of three elements: carbon, oxygen and strontium.<br /><br />Carbon isotope ratios provide reliable evidence of diet at the time an individual's adult teeth emerge in childhood. For example, people who eat maize, as opposed to those who consume wheat or rice, have different carbon isotope ratio profiles locked in their tooth enamel.<br /><br />"Heavy carbon means you were eating tropical grasses such as maize, found only in the New World, or millet in Africa, neither of which was consumed in Europe" at the time, says Burton.<br /><br />Oxygen isotopes provide information about water consumption and also can say something about geography as the isotopic composition of water changes in relation to latitude and proximity to the ocean. Strontium is a chemical found in bedrock and that enters the body through the food chain as nutrients pass from bedrock to soil and water and, ultimately, to plants and animals. The strontium isotopes found in tooth enamel, the most stable and durable material in the human body, thus constitute an indelible signature of where someone lived as a child.<br /><br />Three of the individuals whose teeth were subjected to isotopic analysis by the Wisconsin group were males under the age of 40 and who had carbon isotope profiles far different from the rest, suggesting an Old World origin. "I would bet money this person was an African," Price says of one of the three individuals whose teeth were subjected to analysis.<br /><br />It was known that Columbus had a personal African slave on his voyages of discovery. The new analysis could mean that Africans played a much larger role in the first documented explorations of America.<br /><br />The strontium isotope analysis, Price notes, is not yet complete, as samples from the teeth of the presumed sailors remain to be matched with strontium profiles of Spanish soils. However, such matches could open an intriguing window to the personal identities of individuals buried in La Isabela.<br /><br />"All of these sailors — their place of birth, their age — were recorded in Seville before they left on the second voyage," Price explains. "One of the things we're hoping to do with the strontium is identify individuals."<br /><br />The skeletons also exhibit evidence of scurvy, a common affliction of 15th century sailors who lacked vitamin C on their long voyages, as well as signs of malnutrition and physical stress. Chronicles of the voyage noted that most of the Europeans, including Columbus himself, fell sick shortly after landfall on Hispaniola, and many subsequently died, perhaps becoming the first to be buried in the La Isabela church graveyard.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:science daily</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-4564291906285836632009-03-18T08:21:00.002+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.830+08:00Copy-and-paste ability to be added to iPhone<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_c2BL3d1RHfF9AG6StL_bLCcKPVxf0QOMm4KRzBsCrsRxtDw3FAEzMho3rRLF7t0a4p9WqcJ5JBnOTPA0Wz7qSzzJNx_BVksCbfdvgvRzZG4cfqwUPvpZ7GIUBPKjR69r25a/s1600-h/iphone.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-_c2BL3d1RHfF9AG6StL_bLCcKPVxf0QOMm4KRzBsCrsRxtDw3FAEzMho3rRLF7t0a4p9WqcJ5JBnOTPA0Wz7qSzzJNx_BVksCbfdvgvRzZG4cfqwUPvpZ7GIUBPKjR69r25a/s200/iphone.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314317065513051474" /></a>At long last, Apple will be adding copy-and-paste for text to its iPhone, something customers have clamored for, and something that is commonly featured on almost all other smartphones.<br /><br />Scott Forstall, Apple's senior vice president of iPhone software, unveiled the new feature today along with others for the phone at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.<br /><br />"We've been working really hard to design an easy-to use interface for this on our touchscreen display," he said.<br /><br />The new features of what is called iPhone 3.0 Operating System software will be available this summer, probably when a new version of the device itself is released. The software upgrade will be free to iPhone owners, and cost $9.95 for those who own the iPod touch, which does not have a phone, and uses wireless networks to connect to the Internet.<br /><br />The ability to cut, copy and paste text will be available for e-mails, Web pages and other programs on the device, as will another key feature: the ability to send photos — but not videos — using text messaging. Photos can now be sent by e-mail using the iPhone, but not text messaging, or MMS, as it is called.<br /><br />Users will be able to view e-mails and documents in "landscape," or horizontal, mode, as well as portrait mode with the new software, and will also be able to search contacts and e-mails much as they would on a computer.<br /><br />Some of the programs announced yesterday, including MMS, will not work on first-generation iPhones, those released in 2007, and only with the second-generation iPhone 3G, which came out last July, because of the phones' different hardware.<br /><br />"The new iPhone OS 3.0 is a major software release packed with incredible new features and innovations for iPhone customers and developers alike," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing in a statement. "It will keep us years ahead of the competition."<br /><br />The iPhone 3G has a GPS chip which has been used for providing location-based services and for mapping, but no programs with voice-based, turn-by-turn directions have been available. That should change with the new software upgrade, Forstall said.<br /><br />Apple is broadening the ways that third-party software programmers can sell content on the iPhone. <br /><br />The company says software developers now will be able to create applications that have items for sale within them, such as electronic books, subscriptions to magazines or newspapers or additional levels of a video game.<br /><br />In addition, peer-to-peer connectivity, allowing gamers to wirelessly find other gamers using an iPhone or iPod touch will be among the new features of iPhone 3.0 software. Connections will be made using Bluetooth, a short-range wireless technology, instead of Wi-Fi.<br /><br />Examples of two games, "Touch Pet" and "LiveFire" were shown, with "push" notification being available to connect with other players.<br /><br />Another new feature will allow streaming of ESPN video using a new media player that automatically adjusts the video's quality based on the "bandwidth," or connection a user has.<br /><br />While the changes announced are welcomed by iPhone users, "Apple delivered no 'knock-out' blows to competitors with this release," said Avi Greengart, Current Analysis research direction for consumer devices.<br /><br />"It’s hard to get too excited about cut-and-paste — a feature that should have been there in the first place," he said. "Indeed, many of the features announced today are just catching up with what Windows Mobile, Symbian, and RIM (BlackBerry) phones have provided for years."<br /><br />However, he added, "Lost in all the features checklists is the impact that this release is likely to have on application development — and here is where iPhone 3.0 really does keep Apple in the forefront. Consumers are increasingly looking at smartphones as a platform investment that increases in value over time as applications are added." <br /><br />Another analyst, Kevin Burden, director of mobile devices research, said that "Even though the iPhone reset the bar for every other mobile phone manufacturer, this version of its OS shows just how much catch-up Apple itself needed to do.<br /><br />"Cut-and-paste and MMS messaging have been expected functionality — and not just on high-end phones, either."<br /><br />Apple also said at the announcement that it sold 13.7 million iPhones in 2008, exceeding its goal of 10 million, and that from June, 2007 to December, 2008, a total of 17 million iPhones were sold.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:msnbc</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26666951.post-64420983512072060112009-03-18T08:11:00.000+08:002009-07-04T14:37:28.839+08:00Saturn photographed with four moons<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY3NdR0tAVGipQT15wJC9zzLSPDsxdgVB4cD7aVlLIJOIIjSJw_-FrzEmT9XmFKqvyiS6HH15w2X4beWjPgnGNU5LtMHzFTSg1S24jN22m4trTxC8b1bwP7Qs53xfg6sJd1i5/s1600-h/saturn.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLY3NdR0tAVGipQT15wJC9zzLSPDsxdgVB4cD7aVlLIJOIIjSJw_-FrzEmT9XmFKqvyiS6HH15w2X4beWjPgnGNU5LtMHzFTSg1S24jN22m4trTxC8b1bwP7Qs53xfg6sJd1i5/s200/saturn.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314316295095430882" /></a>A new Hubble photograph captured a rare alignment of four of Saturn's moons lining up in front of their planet.<br /><br />The snapshot, taken on Feb. 24 with the Hubble Space Telescope, shows the moons transiting in front of Saturn. The moons, from far left to right, are the white icy moons Enceladus and Dione, the large orange moon Titan, and icy Mimas. Due to the angle of the sun, they are each preceded by their own shadow.<br /><br />These rare moon transits only happen when the tilt of Saturn's ring plane is nearly "edge on" as seen from the Earth. Saturn's rings will be perfectly edge on to our line of sight on Aug. 10 and Sept. 4, 2009. Unfortunately, Saturn will be too close to the sun to be seen by viewers on Earth at that time. This "ring plane crossing" occurs every 14-15 years. In 1995-96 Hubble witnessed the previous ring plane crossing, as well as many moon transits, and helped to discover several new moons of Saturn.<br /><br />Early 2009 was a favorable time for viewers with small telescopes to watch moon and shadow transits crossing the face of Saturn. Titan, Saturn's largest moon, crossed Saturn on four separate occasions: Jan. 24, Feb. 9, Feb. 24 and March 12, although not all events were visible from all locations on Earth.<br /><br />Italian Galileo Galilei — often referred to as the father of astronomy — was the first to observe Saturn through a telescope in 1610. Dutch mathematician and astronomer Christian Huygens discovered Titan in 1655 and, 350 years later, the ESA probe named for him touched down on Titan (on Jan. 14, 2005), giving the world its first views of the surface of the mysterious, icy world. Giovanni Domenico Cassini, a French/Italian astronomer, discovered Dione (in addition to others) and the German-born Englishman, William Herschel, discovered Mimas and Enceladus. <br /><br />These pictures were taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 when Saturn was at a distance of roughly 780 million miles (1.25 billion kilometers) from Earth. Hubble can see details as small as 190 miles (300 kilometers) across on Saturn. The dark band running across the face of the planet slightly above the rings is the shadow of the rings cast on the planet.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">by:msnbc</span>matthewjadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17541985073381289320noreply@blogger.com0