Science
News This Week:
1) Ancient
crustacean had elaborate heart:
The early
ancestors of insects, centipedes and crustaceans had big hearts.
A fossil
from 520 million years ago shows that the now-extinct Fuxianhuia protensa had a
broad spindly heart that extended into a complex system of arteries, which sent
blood to the creature’s limbs and organs, including its brain, eyes and
antennae. The new 7.6-centimeter-long fossil from Kunming, in southwest China,
represents the earliest complete cardiovascular system found in an arthropod,
Xiaoya Ma of London's Natural History Museumand colleagues report April 7 in
Nature Communications. The discovery adds to F. protensa’srecord-breaking
status: It also has one of the oldest brains identified to date (SN: 11/17/12,
p. 11).
The
structure of F. protensa’sblood vessels was similar to, and in some cases more
complex than, what’s seen in modern crustaceans, suggesting that the ancient
creature’s cardiovascular system may have provided the evolutionary basis for
ones that developed in later crustaceans. The complex cardiovascular system may
also have supported F. protensa’s sophisticated brain, giving the animal
reasonably good senses of sight and smell to forage the oceans for food, the
scientists write.
2) Speed
of early universe’s expansion determined:
Rate
known as Hubble constant now known with great precision for ancient universe.
Ask an astronomer how fast the universe is currently expanding and you’ll get a
fuzzy answer (SN: 4/5/14, p. 18). But thanks to a measurement with
unprecedented precision, astronomers can now confidently cite the speed of
cosmic expansion that was occurring nearly 11 billion years ago.
Physicists
with the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey reported April 7 at a meeting
of the American Physical Society that they had improved on their 2012
measurement (SN: 12/29/12, p. 9). They did so by tracking the distances to, and
recession speeds of, gas clouds backlit by more than 140,000 distant
ultrabright galaxies called quasars. BOSS pinned down a figure — the universe
was stretching by 1 percent every 44 million years — with more precision than
estimates of the universe’s current expansion rate have.Due to quasars’ extreme
brightness, BOSS is the only expansion-rate survey able to probe the early
universe, when gravity was slowing down the stretching of space-time triggered
by the Big Bang. Scientists want to explore how, over time, gravity’s influence
waned and dark energy took over, causing cosmic expansion to accelerate. Adding
another layer of intrigue, BOSS’s measurement is slightly at odds with
theoretical predictions, team physicist Andreu Font-Ribera of Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory says.
10.8
billion years ago, universe was expanding by 1% every 44m years
Universe
has expanded faster in the last 5 billion years due to dark energy
Scientists
claim they can measure expansion of universe with 2% accuracy
Team used
technique that made use of intergalactic hydrogen gas clouds
Intergalactic
gas can be seen because it absorbs light from distant quasars
When
spectrum of a quasar is studied, astronomers see the light emitted by the
quasar and what happened to that light during its journey to Earth
3)
Scalable, universal quantum computer? Quantum information processed with system
comprising optical photon and trapped atom:
When it
comes to recognizing complex patterns or to decoding encrypted messages,
conventional computers reach their limits. A whole new quality in the
communication and processing of data is expected from a technology that
exploits the special properties of quantum particles such as superposition and
entanglement. Scientists are pursuing a variety of different concepts towards
the development of such a quantum computer. One professor follows the strategy
of combining two rather dissimilar techniques: quantum communication using
photons, and information processing using stationary atoms. His team has now
for the first time realized a quantum logic gate between a single photon and a
single atom.
When it
comes to recognizing complex patterns or to decoding encrypted messages,
conventional computers reach their limits. A whole new quality in the
communication and processing of data is expected from a technology that
exploits the special properties of quantum particles such as superposition and
entanglement. Scientists around the world pursue a variety of different
concepts towards the development of such a quantum computer. Prof. Gerhard
Rempe, Director at the MPQ and head of the Quantum Dynamics Division, follows
the strategy of combining two rather dissimilar techniques: quantum
communication using photons, and information processing using stationary atoms.
His team has now for the first time realized a quantum logic gate between a
single photon and a single atom. The development of this hybrid device could be
a milestone on the path to a scalable and universal quantum computer.Any modern
computer operates according to a mathematical principle that was developed by
German polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz more than 300 years ago: information
can be encoded in the binary system and processed via the application of logic
operators. Logic gates are based on this principle. They deterministically
generate output signals for any combination of input signals according to a
so-called truth table. Nowadays, computers contain many millions of logic gates
in the form of electronic circuits.
In the
experiment described here, the binary states 0 and 1 are represented by the two
spin orientations of an atom (upwards or downwards), and by two polarization
states of an optical photon (left or right circular), respectively. In contrast
to classical bits, these "quantum bits" can be in a coherent
superposition of both states. In order to realize a quantum gate, the atom is
trapped inside a cavity which is made of two high-finesse mirrors. The
properties of the cavity are chosen in such a way that atom and cavity form a
strongly coupled system. The light quanta are prepared as faint laser pulses containing
less than one photon on average.
In a
former experiment it has been shown that -- by a proper choice of parameters --
the light quanta are always reflected. What matters is the fact that for
certain combinations of atomic and photonic input states the photons are
reflected at the first mirror. For other combinations, however, they first
enter the cavity, subsequently leaving it on the same path. Thereby, they
experience a phase shift of 180 degrees. "This conditional phase shift is
the prerequisite for the implementation of a truth table assigning output
signals to any combination of input bits in a deterministic way, similar to a
classical logic gate.," Dr. Stephan Ritter explains."In our
experiment we measure both the polarization of the reflected photons and the
spin orientation of the atom after the gate operation. At present, we achieve
an efficiency of about 70%. By further improving the mirror parameters this
value could be significantly improved," Andreas Reiserer says.
These
measurements demonstrate that the hybrid atom-photon system can act as a
classical logic gate. However, the true advantage of a quantum gate compared to
a classical one is its ability to generate entangled states from separable
input states. In order to test this specific behaviour, the scientists chose a
combination of input bits that -- according to the rules of quantum mechanics
-- must lead to an entangled state of atom and photon after the gate operation.
Also in this case the gate mechanism worked as expected.By successively sending
two laser pulses onto the system the physicists could even achieve entanglement
between the atom and two photons. By clever manipulation of the atom in a
second step it was disentangled, leaving a pair of two entangled photons.
"These measurements demonstrate the versatility of the gate mechanism that
even provides an interaction between two photons," Norbert Kalb says.
"The mechanism should also allow generating entangled cluster states that
consist of the atom and several photons."The development of this hybrid
quantum logic gate could be a big step towards a universal quantum computer.
"Quantum communication, using flying photons, and data processing with
atoms or ions have been regarded as separate research fields so far," Prof.
Gerhard Rempe says. "In our experiment we merge both techniques. In
particular, our quantum gate could be easily implemented in a network in which
atoms serve as stationary nodes for the storage of information, whereas photons
transmit the information between these nodes, even over large distances. In
this way we hope to contribute to the realization of a scalable quantum
computer."
4) Genetic
circuits: Bacterial 'FM radio' created:
Programming
living cells offers the prospect of harnessing sophisticated biological
machinery for transformative applications in energy, agriculture, water
remediation and medicine. Inspired by engineering, researchers in the emerging
field of synthetic biology have designed a tool box of small genetic components
that act as intracellular switches, logic gates, counters and oscillators.But
scientists have found it difficult to wire the components together to form
larger circuits that can function as "genetic programs." One of the
biggest obstacles? Dealing with a small number of available wires.A team of
biologists and engineers at UC San Diego has taken a large step toward
overcoming this obstacle. Their advance, detailed in a paper which appears in
this week's advance online publication of the journal Nature, describes their
development of a rapid and tunable post-translational coupling for genetic
circuits. This advance builds on their development of "biopixel"
sensor arrays reported in Nature by the same group of scientists two years
ago.The problem the researchers solved arises from the noisy cellular
environment that tends to lead to highly variable circuit performance. The
components of a cell are intermixed, crowded and constantly bumping into each
other. This makes it difficult to reuse parts in different parts of a program,
limiting the total number of available parts and wires. These difficulties
hindered the creation of genetic programs that can read the cellular
environment and react with the execution of a sequence of instructions.The
team's breakthrough involves a form of "frequency multiplexing"
inspired by FM radio."This circuit lets us encode multiple independent
environmental inputs into a single time series," said Arthur Prindle, a
bioengineering graduate student at UC San Diego and the first author of the
study. "Multiple pieces of information are transferred using the same
part. It works by using distinct frequencies to transmit different signals on a
common channel."The key that enabled this breakthrough is the use of
frequency, rather than amplitude, to convey information. "Combining two
biological signals using amplitude is difficult because measurements of
amplitude involve fluorescence and are usually relative. It's not easy to
separate out the contribution of each signal," said Prindle. "When we
use frequency, these relative measurements are made with respect to time, and
can be readily extracted by measuring the time between peaks using any one of
several analytical methods."
While
their application may be inspired by electronics, the UC San Diego scientists
caution in their paper against what they see as increasing
"metaphorization" of engineering biology.
"We
explicitly make the point that since biology is often too intertwined to
engineer in the way we are accustomed in electronics, we must deal directly
with bidirectional coupling and quantitatively understand its effects using
computational models," explained Prindle. "It's important to find the
right dose of inspiration from engineering concepts while making sure you
aren't being too reliant on your engineering metaphors."Enabling this
breakthrough is the development of an intracellular wiring mechanism that
enables rapid transmission of protein signals between the individual modules.
The new wiring mechanism was inspired by a previous study in the lab on the bacterial
stress response. It reduces the time lags that develop as a consequence of
using proteins to activate or repress genes."The new coupling method is
capable of reducing the signaling time delay between individual genetic
circuits by more than an order of magnitude," said Jeff Hasty, a professor
of biology and bioengineering at UC San Diego who headed the team of
researchers and co-directs the university's BioCircuits Institute. "The
state of the art has been about 20 to 40 minutes, but we can now do it in less
than one minute.""This study is an outstanding example of the power
of interdisciplinary systems biology approaches, which treat our cells like
integrated pathways and networks instead of a collection of individual
components," said Sarah Dunsmore, a program manager at the National
Institute of General Medical Sciences, which finances a National Center for
Systems Biology at UC San Diego that supported the research. "By combining
the complexity of naturally occurring biological processes with engineering
principles, Dr. Hasty and colleagues have produced a model that will provide
the basis for creating genetic circuits that can be used to study human health
and disease."
"What's
really exciting about this coupling method is the particular way we did
it," said Prindle. "Rather than trying to build from scratch, we made
use of the enzyme machinery that the cell uses for rapid and precise signaling
during times of stress. This is an appealing strategy because it lets us take
advantage of the advanced machinery that nature has already evolved."Hasty
credited Prindle for coming up with the idea for the study and carrying it
through. "Beyond his modeling and bench skills, I've been extremely
impressed by Arthur's ingenuity and drive," said Hasty. "This project
arose from his creativity at the outset and he had the raw energy and
excitement to carry it to the end."
5) Diamond
ring shape formed by dead and living stars:
Unusually
round, planetary nebula Abell 33 aligns with foreground star A chance alignment
of stars has created a diamond ring–like image.
Abell 33
is the ghostly remnant of a dead star, a planetary nebula about 3 light-years
across and 2,500 light-years from Earth in the Hydra constellation. Like other
old stars, Abell 33 inflated to many times its original size. As powerful
stellar winds overtook gravity’s inward pull, the bulk of the star blew gently
into space and formed the nebula. The star’s core stayed behind to become a
white dwarf, a hot, compact ball about the size of Earth.
In a new
image from the Very Large Telescope in Chile, Abell 33 appears as an expanding
blue bubble. Ultraviolet radiation from the white dwarf, the point of light
near the nebula’s center, causes ionized oxygen to glow blue. Abell 33’s nearly
perfect symmetry is rare for planetary nebulae: Usually, something distorts the
gas. The brilliant star perched on the edge of the nebula is a lucky accident,
a chance alignment with a star sitting roughly one-third of the way between
Earth and Abell 33.
6)
Squirting moons face off in race to find alien life:
Ice-bound
seas just keep getting hotter – at least as candidates for life beyond Earth.
Fresh discoveries have put two moons in our solar system neck and neck in the
race.
In
December, astronomers announced hints of watery plumes spurting from Jupiter's
large moon Europa, potentially giving us a peek into a vast ocean likely to
exist beneath its ice. Saturn's moon Enceladus stole back the limelight last
week, when NASA reported firm evidence of an ocean linked to geysers at its
south pole (see diagram, below).NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew through the
geysers and detected water, salts and carbon-based molecules. These are
encouraging signs for habitability, but it was unclear whether the geysers were
erupting from an ocean or from water pockets that wouldn't last long enough for
life to get a toehold.
Plume
raiders
Cassini
scientist Luciano Iess at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, and
colleagues have now mapped Enceladus's gravity and shown that it has a
crescent-shaped ocean, holding about as much water as Lake Superior in North
America.The constantly gushing geysers would let us easily sample those seas,
making Enceladus a prime target for a life-seeking mission, says Cassini
scientist Carolyn Porco. Cassini can't look for signs of life directly, but all
a future mission would need to do is fly past and scoop up some of the plume
for analysis, avoiding a tricky landing on the moon's surface."The
habitable zone of Enceladus remains the most well studied, well understood and
accessible of all the destinations for finding life or studying precursor
chemistry," says Porco. "Some of us are already conjuring up ways to
get back there and do just that."
Europa,
meanwhile, appears to be entirely covered by an ocean, sandwiched between a
rocky core and a thin ice crust. Models suggest that the moon can host
geothermal vents, which would be hotspots for marine life, and now we have
hints that Europa spurts plumes of water intermittently.Data from NASA's
Galileo probe, which orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003, show clay-like minerals
on Europa's surface – probably debris from meteor impacts, and that may contain
life-building organic compounds. Galileo also hints that Europa's ice crust has
active plate tectonics, which would let nutrients from the surface make their
way into the liquid ocean.
It looks
promising, but as a target for future missions, Europa has some drawbacks.
Sampling the ocean may require a probe to land and drill through the ice, since
we don't know for sure if the plumes are fed by it. And Jupiter's strong
magnetic field means that intense radiation surrounds the moon, which makes it
difficult for spacecraft to operate.
One more
fly-by
For now
Europa is slightly ahead – in terms of funding. NASA's budget for next year
includes $15 million to design possible missions there, and the agency is
inviting proposals for instruments a probe could carry.Could Cassini yet yield
insights that would swing things in favour of Enceladus? The craft is in its
twilight years and will end its mission in 2017. But first it will fly by
Enceladus one more time, and the team will be watching for any molecular
hydrogen in the plumes. Hydrogen is very short-lived, so seeing molecules would
suggest something is replenishing them – hinting at possible biological
activity."Europa is a good-sized moon, but Enceladus is tiny. That thing
should be frozen solid and dead as a doorbell," says NASA program
scientist Curt Niebur, who heads the committee that will evaluate science
instruments for a Europa mission. "Instead it's incredibly lively. That's
amazing."They're both unbelievably good candidates, which is the shocking
thing: that we have not just one but two candidates for seeking life beyond
Earth."
Movie
Release This Week:
The
entire cast of the animated smash RIO returns in RIO 2, and they are joined by
a new flock of top actors and musical talents. Rich with grandeur, character,
color and music, RIO 2 finds Jewel (Anne Hathaway), Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) and
their three kids leaving their domesticated life in that magical city for a
journey to the Amazon. They encounter a menagerie of characters who are born to
be wild, voiced by Oscar nominee Andy Garcia, Oscar/Emmy/Tony-winner Rita
Moreno, Grammy winner Bruno Mars, and Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth.
On
January 18, 2003, police, alerted by a frantic 911 call from a distraught pair
of teenage girls, arrived at the girls Toronto area town house to find their
mother dead. It appeared the 44-year-old alcoholic, having slipped into a
booze-and-pill stupor, drowned in her own bathwater. The death was ruled accidental
by the authorities. In the months that followed, however, police were alerted
to rumours and reports that the teenagers had been gossiping to friends about
the accident. Police began piecing together rumours that suggested the teens
might have had a hand in their mother's death. In fact, rather than an
accident, the story that emerged portrayed the two teens as cold-blooded,
premeditated killers.
An NFL
general manager (Kevin Costner) faces tough decisions on draft day in this sports
drama from director Ivan Reitman.
Ten years
ago, tragedy struck the Russell family, leaving the lives of teenage siblings
Tim and Kaylie forever changed when Tim was convicted of the brutal murder of
their parents. Now in his 20s, Tim is newly released from protective custody
and only wants to move on with his life; but Kaylie, still haunted by that
fateful night, is convinced her parents’ deaths were caused by something else
altogether: a malevolent supernatural force unleashed through the Lasser
Glass, an antique mirror in their childhood home. Determined to prove Tim's
innocence, Kaylie tracks down the mirror, only to learn similar deaths have
befallen previous owners over the past century. With the mysterious entity now
back in their hands, Tim and Kaylie soon find their hold on reality shattered
by terrifying hallucinations, and realize, too late, that their childhood
nightmare is beginning again…
A strike
team of mercenaries hunt for a missing naval vessel. Upon finding the ship,
they find out that the crew has been infected and are members of the walking
dead.
Political
News Of This Week:
1)
Deserted wife fasts and prays for Modi to become PM:
inadvertently
been drawn in the political slugfest by Narendra Modi's rivals to target him,
but decades of separation from Gujarat chief minister has not embittered
Jashodaben, who fasts and prays for her husband to become the prime minister.
The
reclusive 62-year-old retired school teacher has vowed not to eat rice and
remain bare-footed until she has seen her husband ensconced in the prime
minister's chair, says Jashodaben's brother Kamlesh."Jashodaben wishes
from her heart that from being a chief minister, he (Modi) rises to become the
prime minister of the country. She prays for that," he said.Jashodaben,
has now proceeded on a 'char dhaam yatra' to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and
Yamunotri for fulfilment of the wish.
Living in
a small village Ishwarwada in Mehasana district of North Gujarat with her two
brothers, Jashodaben, according to her family, is a devout person and leads a
simple life."She wakes up early in the morning, prays and visits
temple....after that she is busy with her daily routine. She also watches news
and reads all newspaper reports about him," Kamlesh said."Also, if
someone speaks ill of him (Modi), she does not tolerate it. Otherwise, she is
very mild-natured and never raises her voice against anybody," he said.Eldest
of our four siblings, Jashodaben got married to Modi in 1968 aged barely 17
years.
In an
interview published in a Gujarati weekly magazine, Jashodaben had said their
stay together was very brief.Modi, who soon after their marriage left his home
to become a RSS pracharak, had inspired her to study further after which she
pursued her Primary Teachers Training course and got a job.Modi's elder brother
Somabhai on Thursday said the BJP leader's marriage to Jashodaben had
"turned out" to be a "social formality"."Our parents
had not studied much and we were a poor family. To them, Narendra was like any
other child. In such context, our parents conducted his marriage at a tender
age with Jashodaben, but it turned out to be just a social formality for the
sake of it," Somabhai had said.
2) Mulayam
stands by Ladkon se galti ho jati hai comment on rape:
Seeking
to wriggle out of his controversial remarks on rape, Mulayam Singh Yadav on
Friday said "no one respects women more than Samajwadi Party" but
stuck to his stand that the "wrong" anti-rape law should be
amended."Today there is nobody in the country who respects women more than
Samajwadi Party," the SP supremo said at elections meetings.At the same
time, he said, "We will not let the wrong (anti-rape) law to
continue..."
Yadav had
on Thursday questioned the death penalty for rape, saying "mistakes"
by boys happen sometimes, sparking outrage among rival parties and women's
groups.
Unfazed
by the criticism, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister maintained that there
was a need to change the new anti-rape law so that those misusing it are
punished.
At his
poll meetings on Friday, he said there was a debate going on the world over on
the issue of capital punishment and several countries have banned it.
"There should be debate on the same in India also," he said."We
will not let the wrong law to continue...all those lodging fake cases and who
are behind them should get punishment," he said, adding that there are
several people facing life sentences.Advocating that those who file fake rape
reports needed to be "severely punished", Yadav said "sternest
of actions" should be taken in rape cases, but innocents should not be
framed.Questioning the death sentence to three men who were convicted of two
gang-rapes in Mumbai recently, he had on Thursday asked, "Should rape
cases be punished with hanging?” "Ladke, ladke hain. Galti ho jati hai
(Boys are boys. Mistakes happen sometimes)," he had told an election rally
in Moradabad."What have I said (is it) wrong? Whosoever lodges fake report
should be punished. Today there is a debate going on in the country on my
remarks and it is good as results would come out of such debates in
democracy... people have started talking in my favour on this issue," he
said on Friday while clarifying his rape remarks.
3) Kerala
and Madurai, nurseries for terror in India:
If the
words of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative Abdul Karim Tunda are to be believed, then
Bharatiya Janata Party’s assessment of Kerala, the God’s own country, turning
into a nursery for terrorism may well be true.The discarded Lashkar bomber, who
was recently arrested after a 27 year hunt, has reportedly told investigators
that there are roughly around 130 operatives of the outfit in India; at least
80 of them are based in parts of Kerala and Madurai in Tamil Nadu.
He added
that none of these trained operatives has been actively involved in any attack,
but could be summoned at any given time.Another aspect that came to light
during Tunda’s interrogation is that none of these operative works under the
Lashkar’s banner. Instead, they rely on small-time political outfits.
Currently,
the Al-Ummah, which is directly connected to the Lashkar, is the deadliest of
all the groups operating in southern India.According to Tunda, the Lashkar
first realised the potential of home-grown terrorists when in December 2007 it
started a camp in Vagamon, a hill station located in Kottayam-Idukki border of
Kottayam district of Kerala.
Tunda
revealed that the mindset of these operatives of the Students Islamic Movement
of India under their chief Safdar Nagori was completely different; their
aggression impressed the Lashkar leadership.It was at this camp that the Indian
Mujahideen was born.
Tunda
claimed that for the Lashkar, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are fertile grounds.
Investigators said quoting Tunda, ‘The impetus is not so much on carrying
blasts, but rather on changing the people’s mindset. These operatives indulge
in rioting, polarising Muslim votes and small-time political activities. So far
they have managed to create a major divide between communities in few parts of
Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This has only led to more recruitment.’ According to
intelligence agencies, nearly 50 to 100 youth are enrolled into terror camps
being organised across Kerala. A camp at Aluva in Kerala is under the radar of
the Intelligence Bureau.
Such
camps are very often conducted right under the nose of the district
administration. With Bihar high on the radar of intelligence agencies, several
operatives have taken shelter in Kerala in the recent months. IM terrorists
like Yasin Bhatkal, Tehsin Akhtar and Waqas Ahmed were reportedly spotted in
parts of Kerala after carrying out major attacks. Tehsin and Waqas had in fact
taken shelter in Munnar for a long time and the state administration had no
clue about this.
4) LS poll
2014: Record turnout in phase 3 :
April 10:
The third phase of the Lok Sabha election 2014 will be held in 11 states and
three Union Territories (UTs) on Thursday. Delhi (7 seats), Odisha (10 seats),
Jharkhand (4 seats), Andamans, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Jammu and Kashmir and
Chhattisgarh (1 seat each), Madhya Pradesh (9 seats), Maharashtra (10 seats),
Uttar Pradesh (10 seats), Kerala (20 seats), Haryana (10 seats) and Bihar (6
seats) will go the elections today. Election in the Hazaribagh seat in
Jharkhand was postponed owing to the Ram Navami celebrations.
In UP
(voter turnout): Aligarh 60.04%,Baghpat 65.6%, Bijnor 65.38%, Bulandshahr
29.36%, Gautam Buddh Nagar 58.83%, Ghaziabad 60.2%, Hapur 63%, Meerut 62.68%,
Muzaffarnagar 62.68%, Kairana 70.85%, Saharanpur 70.64% In Delhi (voter
turnout): Chandni Chowk 65.1%, North East Delhi 66.6%, East Delhi 64%, New
Delhi 65.9%, North West Delhi 61.2%, West Delhi 64.4%, South Delhi 63% 7.17 pm:
Maharashtra saw 56% polling. In 2009, it saw 55.7% polling. Kerala saw 75%
polling. Last time, it was 73.52% in the southern state. Jharkhand saw 58%
polling. Last time, it was 50.9%. MP saw 66% polling. Last time, it was 53.66%.
Jammu and Kashmir saw 65% polling. In 2009, the figure was 49%.
5) Indians
vote in first phase of giant general election:
Indians
have voted in the first phase of a general election which pits the governing
Congress party against the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.The
nine-phase vote got under way in the north-eastern states of Assam and Tripura
and will conclude on 12 May. Votes will be counted on 16 May.More than 814
million Indians are eligible to vote in a poll dominated by corruption and high
inflation.An anti-corruption party the AAP offers another challenge to the main
parties.The Aam Aadmi (Common Man's) Party) secured a spectacular result in
local polls in Delhi last autumn and is fielding candidates in all of
parliament's 543 elected seats. Several smaller regional parties are also in
the fray and if no single party wins a clear majority, they could play a
crucial role in government formation.
Brisk
voting
India's
marathon vote is being staggered over more than a month for security and logistical
reasons.On the first day of voting, polling took place in six constituencies in
two states in the north-east - five in Assam and one in Tripura.Voters began
queuing up outside the polling centres even before voting began in the morning,
the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Assam says.
A large
number of the voters who turned up were women, dressed in colourful saris and
some draped in Assamese shawls.Many smiled happily after they had voted,
holding up their fingers stained with indelible ink, a sign that they had
exercised their right, our correspondent adds."We need good people in
government," said one of them. Assam is a Congress party stronghold but
the BJP is hoping to make inroads there.
The state
is dotted with plantations growing the world-famous Assam tea and has more than
six million eligible voters.Brisk polling was registered in the state.
Officials put turnout at about 75%.The strong turnout is a sign, many believe,
that voters are frustrated and want a change, our correspondent adds.The main
contest in the elections is between the Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, the
latest member of India's influential Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, and the BJP, led by
the charismatic and controversial Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi.Mr
Modi, who is ahead in all the pre-election surveys, is the leader of Gujarat
state, which witnessed one of India's worst anti-Muslim riots in 2002.The BJP
has promised to improve the economy and infrastructure and curb corruption if
it wins in the general elections.The party launched its manifesto hours after
polling began for the first phase. "Today the country has become stagnant.
It is drowned in pessimism. It needs momentum to move forward," Mr Modi
said at the launch of the manifesto.
The Lok
Sabha (lower house of parliament) has 543 elected seats and any party or a
coalition needs a minimum of 272 MPs to form a government.Some 814 million
voters - 100 million more than at the last elections in 2009 - are eligible to
vote at 930,000 polling stations, up from 830,000 polling stations in
2009.Electronic voting machines will be used and will, for the first time,
contain a None of the Above (Nota) button - an option for voters who do not
want to cast their ballot for any of the candidates.The Congress party has
promised "inclusive growth" if it returns to power.In its election
manifesto, the party promised a raft of welfare schemes, including a right to
healthcare for all and pensions for the aged and disabled.
6)
Bijapur: Two CRPF jawans injured in Naxal blast:
polling
in Chattisgarh's Bastar Lok Sabha seat, two security personnel were on Friday
injured in a pressure bomb blast carried out by Naxals in the insurgency-hit
Bijapur district of the region, police said.
"The
blast occurred when a joint Road Opening Party of the Central Reserve Police
Force and district force was on an operation for sanitising the area for the
movement of polling party returning to their fold after voting, in Dubaiguda
forest of Awapalli region”, Bijapur Additional Superintendent of Police
Abhishek Meena told PTI."During operation, a Central Reserve Police Force
jawan and a state police personnel came in contact with the pressure bomb that
exploded, injuring both of them," he said.
Reinforcement
was rushed to the spot soon after news of the incident was received. The
injured personnel were being airlifted and referred to Raipur for treatment,
Meena said.Amid tight security, the Maoist-hit Bastar constituency of
Chhattisgarh went to the polls in the first phase of parliamentary election in
the state on Thursday where 52 per cent voter turnout was recorded.
7) In
2004, Rahul Gandhi told the press that he had a girlfriend, Veronique Cartelli,
a Spanish architect who lives in Venezuela:
Rahul
Gandhi girlfriend Veronique Cartelli is actually of Spanish origin but living
and working in Venezuela. In addition, we also have an information on what kind
of a work she does and we can tell you that she is an architect. Before getting
involved with Veronique Cartelli, Rahul Ghandi was in a relationship with a
Colombian and many people across India are not approving that he is dating
girls that have no Indian origins. But he obviously doesn’t care about what
other people say.
Rahul
Gandhi girlfriend Veronique Cartelli and the scandal
We are
used to scandals when it comes to politicians and one did hit Rahul Ghandi
career recently. Rahul Gandhi girlfriend Veronique Cartelli and he himself got
arrested in the USA namely in Boston for caring way too much money in cash
without stating it at the airport. However, the police soon let them go. We are
now waiting for their safe marriage.
8) Shoe
hurled at Hillary Clinton during speech in Vegas:
female
protester has thrown a shoe at Hillary Clinton, the former US Secretary of
State, while she was delivering a speech in Las Vegas, media reports said.The
woman was immediately taken into federal custody by the Secret Service.
Clinton,
who is widely expected to run for the 2015 presidential elections, had to dodge
as the protester hurled her footwear at her during her keynote address to the
annual convention of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries."Is that
somebody throwing something at me?" Clinton asked, putting her right hand
above her eyes to cut the glare of lights from the stage, Las Vegas Review
Journal reported."Is that part of Cirque du Soleil?" she quipped
amidst laughter from the audience.
"My
goodness, I didn't know that solid waste management was so
controversial...Thank goodness she didn't play softball like I did," she
said.The Secret Service said the women, who wished not to be identified,
sneaked in the auditorium with a capacity of some 1,000 people.
Sports News This Week:
1) Indian
Cricket Team Fixed Every Team In T20 World Cup 2014 except Sri Lanka , which
caused losses in Final:
India vs. Sri Lanka
130/4
(20) 134/4 (17.5)
Sri Lanka
won by 6 wickets
Winning
world events is an ugly business. Even aspiring to win is. Ask Mahela
Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. Before tonight they had reached finals four
times, wanting desperately to win, and ended up with broken hearts each time.
On a night that these two champion players finally got that monkey off their
backs - in their last Twenty20 international match - another champion player
played a poignant, cagey innings that cost his side the final. Yuvraj Singh,
India's limited-overs talisman for so long, came in at 64 for 2 in the 11th
over, scored 11 off 21, denied the unstoppable Virat Kohli the strike, and that
spell of play resulted in the lowest first-innings total in a World Twenty20
final and the second-lowest score for the loss of only four wickets.
Title
matches consume the vanquished. This final may have put down one of the
all-time limited-overs greats, but just ask Jayawardene and Sangakkara, the
redemption didn't come easy. India defended the small total admirably, preying
on the Sri Lankan nerves, fielding everything down, spinning a web around the
batsmen, but the two champions somehow had enough in them to take their side
over the line. Under palpable pressure, against a shrewd limited-overs captain,
Jayawardene settled the early nerves with a run-a-ball 24, and Sangakkara saw
the chase through with an ice-cool unbeaten 52 off 35.
Big
finals are a cruel business, though, and history will remember Yuvraj's knock
as much as it will Sangakkara's. He has won India matches from nowhere on
innumerable occasions, he has buried sides with his cameos, he has turned
around games in 10 balls, which is why he was still part of the team in the
final. MS Dhoni trusted his match-winner, and sent him in ahead of Suresh Raina
and himself. Kohli, now the leading run-scorer in any World Twenty20, had just
begun to put behind him a slow start against disciplined Sri Lankan bowling. He
had even been dropped by opposition captain Lasith Malinga on 11. He was in a
mood to make them pay.
Sri
Lanka, though, kept their wits, and gave Yuvraj nothing to score off. That too
after Kohli had laced the otherwise frugal Nuwan Kulasekara for six, four and
six in the 16th over to make it 111 for 2. That over featured another slip in
the fielding when the fielder at cow corner was lobbed after misjudging a
catch. Normally you would expect teams to fall apart at these times, but Sri
Lanka produced four superb overs.
In the
17th, Yuvraj faced two dots from Sachithra Senanayake, who gave him no pace or
room to work with. Malinga bowled the next over, and was happy with a single to
Kohli first ball. Then came a yorker outside off. The dugout began to become
edgy by now. They badly needed Yuvraj to come off now, and make up for the 9
off 17 he had made till now. You can't even begin to imagine what it would have
been like being Kohli there, the best batsman of the tournament, but now
without the strike to make the difference. When Kohli got the strike fourth
ball, Malinga again produced a low wide one that he couldn't get under, and
went on to bowl another dot to Yuvraj before the over ended. That dot was a
yorker wide outside off, which went past and very near Yuvraj's outside edge,
and that Sangakkara didn't appeal loudly for it said all you needed to know
about Yuvraj's innings.
2)
Armstrong provides names in written testimony:
Lance
Armstrong has given sworn testimony naming several people he says knew about
his performance-enhancing drug use, insisting he didn't pay anyone or any
organization to keep his doping secret.The testimony came in written answers to
questions in a lawsuit that was settled in late 2013. The previously
undisclosed documents were filed this week as part of the federal
whistle-blower lawsuit over his team's sponsorship by the U.S. Postal Service
that could lead to fines in excess of $100 million.
Armstrong
said those who provided him with performance-enhancing drugs included trainer
Pepi Marti, Dr. Pedro Celaya, Dr. Luis Garcia del Moral and Dr. Michele
Ferrari, all of whom were involved with Armstrong's teams or part of his
entourage. He also said team manager Johan Bruyneel assisted his doping. Each
of them has previously denied they aided Armstrong's doping.
Armstrong
also said he believed former U.S. Postal Team financier Thomas Weisel knew of
his doping, which Weisel has denied.After years of denials, Armstrong first
admitted doping during his career in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in January
2013.His testimony is part of a lawsuit filed by Acceptance Insurance, which
wanted repayment of $3 million in performance bonuses paid to him. Armstrong
settled the case for an undisclosed sum before he was scheduled to answer
questions in person under oath.
His
written answers are now part of the federal whistle-blower case initially filed
by Armstrong's former teammate Floyd Landis. The federal government has joined
the case.
Armstrong
has so far refused to provide sworn testimony to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
It was USADA's detailed report in 2012 of drug use by Armstrong's U.S. Postal
Service team that led to him being stripped of the seven Tour de France titles
he won from 1999 to 2005.
USADA has
questioned whether Armstrong paid officials at the International Cycling Union
to keep his doping secret. Armstrong has said in interviews that former UCI
president Hein Verbruggen helped him cover up doping at the 1999 Tour de
France, a charge Verbruggen has denied.In his written answers, Armstrong
insisted there was not payment for a cover-up."Armstrong has not paid or
offered to pay someone to keep his or others' doping a secret," Armstrong
said. "However, Armstrong has, on occasion, provided benefits or made
contributions to many people and institutions, some of whom may have been aware
of, or suspected Armstrong's use of performance-enhancing drugs and banned
methods. Armstrong never provided any such benefits or contributions with the
intent for it to be a payoff to keep doping a secret."
3)
Pacquiao has lost his fire, says Bradley before rematch:
Timothy
Bradley Jr. believes a lengthy and successful career has sapped Manny Pacquiao
of his motivation, and that their WBO welterweight title bout on Saturday may
be one fight too many for the Filipino legend."I think he may lack
fire," the American told journalists in Las Vegas."His motivation is
not there. He's been at the top for a very long time. He has over 60 fights in
the ring with all the best. He's 36 years old. Maybe this is one fight too late
for him."Bradley (31-0, 12 KOs) is defending the WBO belt he won from
Pacquiao in a controversial fight in June 2012. Most ringside observers felt
Pacquiao won comfortably, but after 12 rounds Bradley was awarded a split
decision victory.In the aftermath, Bradley says, fans aimed their anger at him.
"I
got letters from fans belittling me like crazy, telling me I'm not a true
champion," he said, adding that he also received an anonymous death threat
in the mail.
"It's
really hard to swallow. That night, man, I did my job. I thought the fight was
very close. I thought the decision could go either way. But the fact that they
gave it to me - I thought it was fair."If the winner's experience in the
aftermath was negative, the man who officially lost the fight seems to be at
ease with what happened.
"In
this sport, sometimes you're on the winner's side, sometimes you're on the
loser's side, so you have to prepare for that," Pacquiao told reporters at
the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where the fight will take place.
"I
never complain. In boxing, it's part of the sport. If you don't want to lose,
then don't fight."But Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KOs) is facing questions as the
rematch approaches. He has not scored a knockout since stopping Miguel Cotto in
November 2009, and was himself knocked out at the end of the sixth round by
Juan Manuel Marquez in his first outing after the Bradley fight.Pacquiao
professes to be unconcerned by his recent knockout drought, asserting that he
was on the verge of stopping Marquez until walking into a right hand from the
Mexican."If he didn't get me in six rounds, by seven rounds I could have
finished him," he said. "But by being careless, that's what
happened."
Besides,
he argued, "if the knockout comes, it comes, but my focus is to be
aggressive and throw a lot of punches and make the fans happy."
Bradley,
on the other hand, is confident that this time he is the one who will be making
fans happy.
"I
know this is my time," he said. "It's my time, it's my moment."
4) It must
be hard to be Messi, Barca coach says:
Barcelona
coach Gerardo Martino has defended Lionel Messi following sharp criticism of
the four-times World Player of the Year's limp performance in Wednesday's
Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid.Messi, who has excelled in so many
past appearances in Europe's elite club competition, was strangely subdued
during the 1-0 reverse at the Calderon, which sent Atletico through to the last
four 2-1 on aggregate."It is so hard to be Leo Messi in this life and
playing football," Martino, who comes from Messi's home town of Rosario in
Argentina, said at a news conference previewing Saturday's La Liga match at
Granada."Basically because everything is so unfair. When he doesn't play
as well as people expect him to he ends up being criticised very
strongly," he added. "I think it must be very hard to be him."
Barca
will need Messi to make a swift return to top form if they are to rescue their
season following Wednesday's failure to reach the Champions League semi-finals
for what would have been a record-extending seventh consecutive edition.They
are a point behind La Liga leaders Atletico, who play at Getafe on Sunday, with
six games left and play arch rivals Real Madrid in Wednesday's King's Cup final
in Valencia.Martino, in his first season in charge of a European club, said
Barca's Champions League exit had been a painful experience and even winning La
Liga and the Cup would not dispel the sense of failure."I will be happy if
we win any other tournament but for me being the new one playing in Europe and
the expectations I had for the Champions League this was a failure and will
remain a failure no matter what happens," he told reporters.
"After
what we went through a team cannot be on top emotionally speaking, but we
understand there is no time for grieving. What happened happened and now we must
focus on what comes next."Martino will need to reshuffle his defence for
the trip to Granada after Marc Bartra picked up an injury in training on Friday
and joined fellow centre back Gerard Pique in the treatment room.Alex Song or
Sergio Busquets may be drafted in to play alongside Javier Mascherano, who is
also a converted midfielder, as captain Carles Puyol has yet to make his return
after injury.
5)
Mercedes driver duel has hidden depths:
The
rivalry between Mercedes team mates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg produced an
epic battle under the floodlights in Bahrain last weekend but what Formula One
fans saw was just the tip of the iceberg.Behind the scenes, on separate sides
of the garage and with teams of engineers trawling through banks of data, another
duel unfolded witnessed only by those privileged few on the inside."One of
the new games you can play in Formula One is energy management," Mercedes
executive technical director Paddy Lowe told reporters after his team's third
win in three races this season and second one-two finish."There are
opportunities to manage your energy flow, save it up perhaps and play it out in
different places. The team are very well practised and trained in doing all
that and how to use that with the drivers."And what we saw during that
last 10 laps was not only the drivers competing but each side of the garage
competing in terms of playing the game of energy deployment. A cat and mouse
game, staying ahead of the other with the energy around the lap."Last
season Formula One had just the KERS kinetic energy recovery system which
provided a limited boost for overtaking and defending a position.The new rules
have seen the old V8 engines replaced by a V6 turbo and ERS - energy recovery
systems - harnessing exhaust gases and brake heat, which provide a much greater
boost and more strategy options.Which is where the engineers play a bigger
role, like a game of high speed chess.
"Obviously
you wouldn't be very aware of that although you may have heard a lot of
strategy calls on the radio. That was a pretty exciting internal aspect to that
competition," said Lowe."They (the driver's separate teams of
engineers) can see each other's data so they immediately know ‘OK, he's done
that, you do this'. You could hear all of this going on."
DATA
SHARING
The
drivers are also delving deep into the data, with Mercedes maintaining an open
policy on sharing everything between the two.Both before and after the race
Hamilton, victorious in Malaysia and Bahrain, and Australian GP winner Rosberg
immersed themselves in their rivals' telemetry searching for anything that
might tip the balance.
With the
team still unlocking the potential of the new power units, the unseen engineers
are playing a massive role."We're in a period of time where technology is everything,"
said Hamilton."You don't see what goes on in the (engineers') room. You
can't predict anything, everything's changing all the time from session to
session...the target's moving all the time still, for us, and we're trying to
pinpoint the setup on that target."As a driver and engineer it's massively
challenging. It's really good fun for us back in there but you don't get to see
that stuff, what goes on behind closed doors."After Hamilton's dominant
win from pole at Sepang, the team conducted an exhaustive analysis of the data
to see where he had made the difference."Someone in the team did a huge
study on my pace last week and, as I arrived (in Bahrain)...there was this big
document with all the reasons why I was quick. And he (Rosberg) used that to
his advantage," Hamilton revealed.In Bahrain, Rosberg showed how much the
labours had paid off, even if it is a circuit he has always liked. He started
on pole position and the two crossed the finish line barely a second
apart."A lot of the advantages that I had in the last race Nico found them
as we came here and applied them and did even better," said
Hamilton."So I've got to go now and find out what he did better than me
and see if I can improve for the next race."
Book Of
This Week:
Sphere by
Michael Crichton:
.jpg)
A group
of scientists, including psychologist Norman Johnson, mathematician Harry
Adams, biologist Beth Halpern, and astrophysicist Ted Fielding, along with U.S.
Navy personnel, are dispatched to a deep sea habitat at the bottom of the
Pacific Ocean to explore a crashed spacecraft.
To their
surprise, they discover the spacecraft is not alien, but an American spacecraft
constructed in the future and accidentally sent through time,
"arriving" 350 years before its creation. On further exploration, the
team discovers a mysterious spherical artifact, clearly of extraterrestrial
origin, which quickly becomes the focus of their attention. Harry becomes quite
certain that, because the ship's future builders didn't seem to learn that
their ship had already been discovered, the members of the team aren't likely
to survive. At this point, a storm traps the scientists on the ocean floor
without contact or support from the surface for over a week.
The crew
soon focuses on asking questions about the sphere and then on attempting to
open it and learn about its nature, contents, and origin. Harry eventually
succeeds in opening it and goes inside. Upon returning, he has a terrible
headache and he remembers little about what happened inside or how he opened
it. The scientists are eventually contacted by an intelligent,
seemingly-friendly lifeform which calls itself Jerry, apparently from within
the sphere. It first contacts them via a numeric code, which Harry translates.
But while they struggle to communicate with Jerry, increasingly bizarre and
deadly events occur, including the appearance of "impossible" sea
creatures that Beth claims can not exist. Jerry tells them he is
"manifesting" the creatures. Members of the team start to die in
various attacks by sea life, and the dwindling survivors struggle to placate
the unthinkably powerful, childlike, and temperamental Jerry.
Norman
suddenly has an important role when he realizes he must use psychology to keep
the surviving team (now only himself, Beth, and Harry) alive by placating
Jerry. Translating the original code himself, though, Norman discovers that
Jerry is actually Harry: by entering the sphere, Harry acquired the power to
manifest his subconscious thoughts into reality. As Harry noted his childhood
fears of squid and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, he has unconsciously
created them as an enemy.
Beth and
Norman tranquilize Harry with a powerful mixture of sedatives and wait for
contact to be re-established with the surface. However, although Harry is
sedated, the manifestations continue. Beth accuses Norman of having entered the
sphere and gaining access to the power. Though unable to recall this incident,
Norman is close to yielding until he watches a security video of Beth entering
the sphere herself. Concluding that Norman is a threat to her, Beth
irrationally plants potent explosives around the spacecraft and habitat and
then attempts to suffocate Norman with the habitat's climate systems. Norman
escapes to the spacecraft and, figuring out at last how to open it, enters the
sphere. Norman begins to ascend by himself in the submarine, but realizes that
he could never leave the others to die. Now with the same power of thought as
Harry and Beth, Norman fights Beth and brings both her and Harry to the escape
submarine before the explosives destroy the site.
Afterward,
while in a surface decompression chamber, the three survivors ponder what to
tell the Navy about what happened. Realizing they could not control the power,
they decide to use the power to remove it from themselves and their memories
simultaneously, replacing it with memories of a technical failure. Afterwards,
as they mourn the colleagues lost to this scenario.
John
Michael Crichton, MD (October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an
American best-selling author, physician, producer, director, and screenwriter,
best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller
genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have
been adapted into films. In 1994 Crichton became the only creative artist ever
to have works simultaneously charting at No. 1 in television, film, and book
sales (with ER, Jurassic Park, and Disclosure, respectively).
His
literary works are usually based on the action genre and heavily feature technology.
His novels epitomize the techno-thriller genre of literature, often exploring
technology and failures of human interaction with it, especially resulting in
catastrophes with biotechnology. Many of his future history novels have medical
or scientific underpinnings, reflecting his medical training and science
background. He was the author of, among others, The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic
Park, Congo, Travels, Sphere, Rising Sun, Disclosure, The Lost World, Airframe,
Timeline, Prey, State of Fear, Next (the final book published before his
death), Pirate Latitudes (published November 24, 2009), and a final unfinished
techno-thriller, Micro, which was published in November 2011
Nature Magazine
National Geographic
Cartoon Games
History Channel
Online Movies
Scientific American
Filmfare Mag
Online Britannica
Time Mag
Unexplained Mysteries
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