Morning Digest: U.S. support order, defection could buoy Libya rebels

Reuters
If you are having trouble viewing this email or would like to view it in your web browser, CLICK HERE
03/31/2011
News Good Morning Omss
LATEST NEWS
U.S. support order, defection could buoy Libya rebels
WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. officials said President Barack Obama had authorized covert support for Libyan rebels fighting Muammar Gaddafi, while Libya's foreign minister defected, potentially tipping the scales toward the opposition. | Full Article
Japan under pressure to expand nuclear evacuation
March 31, 2011 04:46 AM ET
TOKYO (Reuters) - Pressure grew on Thursday for Japan to expand an evacuation zone round its stricken nuclear plant where radiation hit 4,000 times legal limits in nearby sea and hindered the battle to contain the world's worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl. | Full Article
Wall Street set to extend gains on recovery optimism
March 31, 2011 05:18 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to edge up on Thursday, the last day of the first quarter, extending gains a day after labor data helped to boost confidence on the prospects for economic recovery. | Full Article
Google takes on Facebook with latest social tweak
March 30, 2011 04:45 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc will begin allowing users to personally endorse search results and Web pages, its latest attempt to stave off rival Facebook Inc while trying to jump onboard a social networking boom. | Full Article
China leads challenge to "scientific superpowers"
March 29, 2011 09:39 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - China and other emerging nations such as Brazil and India are becoming leaders in science to rival traditional "scientific superpowers" like the United States, Europe and Japan, a top British academy said on Monday. | Full Article
Yankees are very expensive "underdogs" this season
March 30, 2011 06:03 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Yankees are $200 million underdogs in the eyes of handicappers picking the Boston Red Sox to be World Series champions this season, and that has lit a fire under some of the Bronx Bombers. | Full Article
Aniston, Moore to direct short films on breast cancer
March 30, 2011 02:58 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actresses Jennifer Aniston and Demi Moore and singer Alicia Keys will each direct a short film about breast cancer and its impact on people's lives for cable television network Lifetime. | Full Article
Coloring book used in jail drug smuggling scheme
March 30, 2011 12:12 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Three inmates and their loved ones were charged with attempting to smuggle drugs into a New Jersey jail on the pages of a children's coloring book, authorities said on Tuesday. | Full Article
RELATED VIDEO
128 X 72
Syria maintains emergency law

128 X 72
Japan's Emperor tours evacuation centre

128 X 72
U.S. says hand of al Qaeda in Tikrit attack

Reuters Business Today
A daily digest of breaking business news, coverage of the US economy, major corporate news and the financial markets. Register Today.
Reuters Technology Report
Your daily briefing on the latest tech developments from around the world from Reuters expert tech correspondents. Register Today.
Reuters Deals Today
The latest Reuters articles on M&A, IPOs, private equity, hedge funds and regulatory updates delivered to your inbox each day.. Register Today.
» MORE NEWSLETTERS
- 3 Times Square New York, NY 10036 USA © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters
Ensure delivery of Reuters Newsmails, add mail@nl.reuters.com to your address book. Details
Subscribe to other Reuters newsletters.
Unsubscribe from this newsletter.
Follow us on Twitter Facebook Friend us on Facebook Forward this newsletter to a friend Forward to a friend

Today's headlines http://www.forsythnews.com/

Today's headlines from http://www.forsythnews.com/

Top Stories

Teen to be tried as adult

Meeting Thursday on tax assessment notices

Rock band to perform at Central on Thursday

Spirit of giving shines through

County responds to meeting complaint

To unsubscribe from this email newsletter, follow link below:
UNSUBSCRIBE

To view the privacy policy, click the link below:
PRIVACY POLICY

MY 511 Transit Update



MY 511 Transit Status for omsssignal
March 31, 2011 - 12:00 AM

Home to Work
(12th St. Oakland City Center)

24th St. Mission:  << No data available >>
Daly City:  << No data available >>
Dublin/Pleasanton:  << No data available >>
Fremont:  2, 22, 52 min
Millbrae:  << No data available >>
Montgomery:  << No data available >>
SF Airport:  << No data available >>
SF Airport then Millbrae:  <2, 20 min
Call 511 for ongoing updates.

Go to my home page.


ABC NewsMail - afternoon edition

ABC News

 

 Afternoon Edition. Thu 31 Mar 2011


You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to ABC NewsMail. If you would like to change your preferences, please enter your email address and click 'Login' here.

 Top StoriesMore Top Stories > 

Tony Abbott says to keep people on welfare when there is an alternative is the &quot;kindness that kills&quot;.

PM dismisses 'recycled' Coalition welfare plan
Julia Gillard says Coalition plans to toughen welfare rules are no more than old, recycled measures wheeled out to take the political heat off an "always-negative" Tony Abbott.

Inexperience a factor in Kokoda plane crash
Inadequate pilot experience and cloudy conditions are believed to have contributed to the 2009 Kokoda plane crash that killed 13 people, including nine Australians.

Carers stood down after boy abandoned in park
The Victorian Department of Human Services (DHS) is struggling to explain how a nine-year-old boy under a protection order came to be abandoned by his carers in a park in Melbourne's inner north one night in February.

Radiation in sea off Japan hits new high
The level of radioactive iodine in the sea off Japan's disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear plant has soared to its highest reading yet at 4,385 times the legal limit, the plant operator said.

Gaddafi insider defects to UK
The United States has hailed the apparent defection of a top Libyan minister to the UK as a major blow to dictator Moamar Gaddafi.


 The DrumMore from The Drum > 

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott attends Remembrance Day in Brisbane on November 11, 2010.

Dear Tony, let me tell you about my disabled career
In an address prepared for delivery in Brisbane today at a Queensland Chamber of Commerce lunch, Mr Abbott will propose welfare reforms, including reforms to disability welfare payments. Unfortunately it is an intense, deeply-rooted discrimination that occurs in every facet of life for people with disabilities, including employment, that makes it difficult for them to find work, not because they're being paid too much Disability Support Pension.

Environment laws won't save our farmers
Floods and droughts are accepted enemies of Australian farmers, but when their basic rights are eroded in the form of harsh environmental laws, many are driven to bankruptcy, forced to leave the land, or in extreme cases, take their life.

Why F.A.T is a four letter word
A visiting alien might wonder why skinny women feature in all fashion magazines while fat women walk the streets. Why can't we talk about obesity? And why do we ignore that obesity is a class issue?

Labor's downfall: the Machine and the split
The revenge of the voters is complete. The NSW election outcome has not only changed the government of NSW, but written a stark new chapter in the history of the Labor Party. What went wrong with NSW Labor needs to be deconstructed to expose its component parts: The Machine and the 2008 split over electricity privatisation.

It takes time to breed successful leaders
It is possible that the next NSW Labor premier is not part of the current NSW Labor Parliamentary Caucus.


 WorldMore World Stories > 

Radiation in sea off Japan hits new high
The level of radioactive iodine in the sea off Japan's disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear plant has soared to its highest reading yet at 4,385 times the legal limit, the plant operator said.

Extradition closer for alleged people smuggler
Indonesian police have taken steps to extradite the alleged people smuggler who organised the voyage that became shipwrecked off Christmas Island in December.

Inexperience a factor in Kokoda plane crash
Inadequate pilot experience and cloudy conditions are believed to have contributed to the 2009 Kokoda plane crash that killed 13 people, including nine Australians.


 Science & TechnologyMore Science & Technology Stories > 

Couples face battle for counselling services
The peak body representing family counselling providers fears planned federal budget cuts to national services will see waiting lists for separating couples blow out.

From planet politics to life on Mars
He wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up, but instead settled for what some consider another planet anyway - Federal Parliament.

New website maps koala habitats
A website has been launched to help communities protect Australia's koala populations.


 EnvironmentMore Environment Stories > 

Lake deal ends water fight
An agreement has been signed to ensure there is enough water in Hydro Tasmania lakes for fishing, irrigation and electricity generation.

Japan disaster sparks nuclear dump concern
Traditional owners say the nuclear crisis in Japan shows plans to build a nuclear waste storage facility near Tennant Creek, in Central Australia, should be reassessed.

Environmentalists call for bird protection
Environmentalists say a cockatoo species unique to the South West of Australia is being driven to the verge of extinction.



To change your preferences, please enter your email address and click 'Login' here or to unsubscribe click here.

To ABC Online Home Page
© 2009 ABC | Privacy Policy

This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, CNN and
the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.

CNN Breaking News

-- U.S. intelligence source: CIA is operating inside Libya to help U.S. increase "military and political understanding."

>+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
A bad Credit Score is 600 or below.
Click here to get your 2011 score instantly for $0!
By Experian
http://www.FreeCreditScore.com/CNN
>+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=


You have opted-in to receive this e-mail from CNN.com.
To unsubscribe from Breaking News e-mail alerts, go to: http://cgi.cnn.com/m/clik?l=textbreakingnews.

One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303
(c) & (r) 2011 Cable News Network

Why Do These Breathtaking Russian Images of Earth Look So Different from NASA's?

By Jesus Diaz

Why Do These Breathtaking Russian Images of Earth Look So Different from NASA's?

Why Do These Breathtaking Russian Images of Earth Look So Different from NASA's?While this morning's orbital image of Mercury is historic, these two images are the ones that have truly left me in complete awe today. Even more so than the most accurate, highest resolution view of Earth to date.

But unlike Blue Marble, these images are not by NASA. In fact, they look a lot different from NASA's Earth imagery. Much better and crispier, some may say. But are they really better? Are they more accurate? NASA has explained to us why they look so different compared to their own.

The russians are back in the space race

It was taken by a Russian spacecraft, a new weather satellite called Elektro-L. It's now orbiting Earth on a geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the equator, after being launched on January 20 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, on board a Zenit rocket.

This is the first major spacecraft fully developed in post-Soviet Russia, developed by NPO Lavochkin for the Russian Federal Space Agency. This is a major step in the country's aerospace industry, after two decades of trouble developing anything new and living from the past glories of the Soviet system (which are great on their own right).

Elektro-L is a 1620-kilogram beast, consuming 700W from its 1.7kW solar panels. Its design is modular, with a service part called Navigator and a payload part that contains the spacecraft weather monitoring equipment. A future satellite, the space telescope Spektr-R, will use the same base module with a different payload.

In the case of Elektro-L, the payload is a 1-kilometer-per-pixel resolution camera for the visible spectrum and a 4-kilometer-per-pixel one for infrared. The spacecraft sends images every 30 minutes using a 2.56 to 16.36 Mbits per second connection with ground control. In case of emergency, the agency says, they can throttle up the frequency to 10 minutes per image.

Why Do These Breathtaking Russian Images of Earth Look So Different from NASA's?Click on the images to expand

Why do they look different from NASA's?

But all this technological terror is nothing compared to the beauty of these images. The top image shows the Moon over the Red Sea region. The one next to these lines is an incredibly detailed view of our planet, showing Africa, Arabia and India.

I don't know what Instagram filters the Russians are using, but there's something about these low-saturation photographs that mesmerizes me. They seem more real than NASA's, but in fact, the are not. According to Robert Simmon—a scientist at the NASA Earth Observatory, Goddard Space Flight Center—the Russian images are not better or worse than their images. They are just different visualizations of reality based on different data sets:

Elektro-L is a Russian Satellite similar to GOES (the satellites that provide the cloud image loops shown on the news every night). The images posted by Gizmodo are a combination of visible and near-infrared wavelengths, so they show the Earth in a way not visible to human eyes (vegetation looks red, for example). They're not any better or worse than NASA images, but they show different things.

The Elektro-L is similar to their GOES satellites. "It's a geostationary weather satellite orbiting above the equator at ~54˚ East" says Robert, "the US has two similar operational geostationary satellites over the east and west coasts, EUMETSAT has one over Europe and one over the Indian Ocean, Japan has one over the far western Pacific." The difference between them is that Elektro-L uses three bands in reflected light—red and two near infrared bands—while NASA's GOES doesn't have the near-infrared.

Dennis Chesters, GOES Project Scientist at Goddard, explains the Russian process:

The 3 reflected sunlight bands can simulate a conventional red-green-blue color picture. The near infrared channel is a vegetation indicator, since plants reflect near-ir as well as green. You can learn more about the basic characteristics of Elektro-L's ten-channel imager, the Multichannel Scanning Unit (MSU), here.

NASA's GOES imagery, however, comes in black and white. It captures images in multiple infrared wavelengths, which is unlike any photo you can imagine. The final color images that GOES produces "are a combination of visible light, thermal infrared, and the Blue Marble."

Which images are more accurate?

Blue Marble uses true color images, combining red, green and blue into a global composite and rendered in a 3D program. It's actually what the eye can see. The Russian satellite, however, is presenting a different view. It may feel more realistic, but it's not.

I wouldn't really say one approach is more accurate than another: Viewing the Earth in different wavelengths gives scientists different information. Since the Blue Marble is true color, images based on it are easier for non-experts to interpret than false-color images. However, it's composed of many days of data, so won't be as detailed as single images at the same resolution, and shows a fixed point in time. It does show the whole globe, while Elektro-L will only show the hemisphere it's facing.

All these are similar processes to the ones used by astronomers to create the Hubble's images in Photoshop. To me, all the results—no matter what part of the spectrum they cover—are equally as beautiful and inspiring. [Russian Space Web via Facebook]

Number of comments
  • Share this:

ABC NewsMail - morning edition

ABC News

 

 Morning Edition. Thu 31 Mar 2011


You are receiving this email because you are subscribed to ABC NewsMail. If you would like to change your preferences, please enter your email address and click 'Login' here.

 Top StoriesMore Top Stories > 

Get back to work: Tony Abbott tours an Illawarra steel plant

Abbott calls for dole crackdown
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is urging the Government to crack down on welfare payments for the disabled and the unemployed.

Fears meltdown has begun as radiation spreads
As dangerously high levels of radiation spread beyond the Fukushima exclusion zone in Japan, there are fears the race to contain the nuclear crisis has been lost and meltdown has already taken place.

India revels in magical semi-final win
Thousands of delirious home fans brought the house down at the Mohali stadium overnight after India ended Pakistan's World Cup dream with a 29-run win in an action-packed semi-final.

Gaddafi forces snatch back Ras Lanuf
Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamar Gaddafi have captured more territory from the rebels and are now believed to be at the gates of one of the opposition's key cities.

Boy killed by train in Geelong
A six-year-old boy was killed when he was hit by a train after wandering away from his home at Geelong in Victoria last night.


 The DrumMore from The Drum > 

Climate change activists try to breach police barricades outside the Hazelwood power station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley on September 13, 2009.

The pot calling the kettle Green
Just when you think you've plumbed the depths of progressive hypocrisy, along comes Sarah Hanson-Young to lower the limbo bar of intellectual disingenuousness. If we apply Sarah Hanson-Young's 'guilt-by-association' yardstick to her own political party, it becomes tarred by a toxic taint of its very own. After all, the Greens show no hesitation about collaborating with radical Leftist groups that explicitly call for armed insurrection to destroy Australian democracy.

Book burning in the name of democracy
The entire print run of a highly critical account of BritainÂ's role in Afghanistan has been bought by the British Ministry of Defence and pulped.

Electronic voting a threat to democracy
It took off at last weekend's NSW election, but embracing the convenient joys of online voting introduces new risks to this core process of democracy.

Politics in the Mucky Country
While the Gillard Government has shown itself to be over-reliant on focus groups and unceasing polling, it's the conservative side of politics that has given me the most cause for concern in their grab for potential votes.

I will defend to the death Bolt's right to wallow in the mire
I don't like Andrew Bolt. I'm sure he doesn't like me. When he responded to an article I wrote, he said I was either a 'liar' or 'simply ignorant'. For my part, I have criticised him repeatedly at some length for his tendentious, ignorant writings. This is the appropriate response to someone saying something we don't like. But the case being tried against Andrew Bolt, in my opinion, is wrong, because he should be allowed the right to express his opinions, however odious they may seem to others.


 WorldMore World Stories > 

Dollar continues its ascent, Wall St gains
US shares are on track to record their biggest March quarter increase since 1998, after the release of encouraging jobs data.

Berlusconi moves to evacuate refugee island
Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has promised to evacuate thousands of migrants from the overcrowded island of Lampedusa, saying they are exhausting its resources.

Ivory Coast capital taken by pro-Ouattara forces
Forces loyal to Ivory Coast presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara have taken the official capital and advanced to within 130 kilometres of the cocoa port of San Pedro.


 Science & TechnologyMore Science & Technology Stories > 

Remoteness still influencing education outcomes
A survey of 10,000 Australian children has found that a remote location is still a major influence on how they perform at school.

Wasps drop ants to take their food
New Zealand biologists have documented the antics of an invasive wasp that picks up annoying ants and drops them from a great height.

UNE launches US collaboration
A collaboration between the University of New England, the University of Newcastle and The University of California's Irvine Medical School will be launched in Armidale today.


 EnvironmentMore Environment Stories > 

Ammonium nitrate plant planned for upper Spencer Gulf
Public consultation is about to start on a proposed ammonium nitrate plant to be built in the upper Spencer Gulf region of South Australia.

Koala mapper paints bleak picture for north coast
The Australian Koala Foundation has released the first detailed online mapping of the nation's koala habitat.

NSW Greens say marine sanctuary zones must stay
The New South Wales Greens say the north coast fishing industry is at risk under the new Coalition Government.



To change your preferences, please enter your email address and click 'Login' here or to unsubscribe click here.

To ABC Online Home Page
© 2009 ABC | Privacy Policy

This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, CNN and
the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.