NASA Image of the Day, Aug 18th..[ 1667 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Into the Night

Researchers do not yet know what is lighting up IRAS 05437+2502, a small, faint nebula that spans only 1/18th of a full moon toward the constellation of the Taurus. 

Particularly enigmatic is the bright upside-down V that defines the upper edge of this floating mountain of interstellar dust. 

This ghost-like nebula involves a small star-forming region filled with dark dust that was first noted in images taken by the IRAS satellite in infrared light in 1983. 

This recently released image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows many new details, but has not uncovered a clear cause of the bright sharp arc. 

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, R. Sahai (JPL)
Τετάρτη, 18 Αύγουστος 2010 7:00:00

The last USA combat troops have left Iraq ..[ 1666 ]

Last US combat troops leave Iraq

 

The Pentagon said the US still had a long-term commitment in Iraq

BBC., 19 August 2010 Last updated at 00:15 GMT

The last American combat troops in Iraq have left the country, the US military has said.

The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division began crossing by land into Kuwait in the early hours of the morning, said a spokesman.

Their departure comes ahead of a 31 August deadline for an end to the US combat mission in the country.

But the Pentagon has not confirmed that the move marks an early end to combat operations.

Most of the 4,000 Stryker Brigade troops drove out of Iraq in a convoy of armoured vehicles, say reports.

The journey along potentially hostile desert roads had been carefully planned for weeks.

Some of the brigade remained behind to complete logistical and administrative tasks but would leave the country by air later in the day, the Associated Press reported.

The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says the brigade's departure after seven and a half years is a significant step.

But the Pentagon has stressed that the official end to Operation Iraqi Freedom - the US military mission in the country - remains scheduled for the end of the month.

Some 50,000 US troops are set to remain in Iraq until the end of 2011 to advise Iraqi forces and protect US interests.

Those soldiers will be armed but will only use their weapons in self-defence or at the request of the Iraqi government.

State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said the US involvement in Iraq was far from over, but that it would be less intrusive and more civilian focused.

"We are ending the war ... but we are not ending our work in Iraq. We have a long-term commitment to Iraq," he told MSNBC.

Mr Crowley said the US had a trillion dollar investment to protect in the country and also wanted to see a significant return on the 4,415 troops who have lost their lives in the conflict.

Naomi Campbell. told the truth..[ 1665 ]

Mandela charity trustee resigns over Campbell diamonds

 

Mr Ractliffe said he had kept the diamonds in order to protect the reputation of Nelson Mandela

CNN., 18 August 2010 Last updated at 22:24 GMT 

The former head of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, Jeremy Ractliffe, has resigned from the charity's board after admitting he secretly kept diamonds received from the model Naomi Campbell.

Mr Ractliffe admitted he had the gems only when Ms Campbell mentioned him at the war crimes trial of former Liberian leader Charles Taylor two weeks ago.

Prosecutors say she received the diamonds from Mr Taylor in 1997.

Mr Ractliffe had apologised for his secrecy, the charity's board said.

The former chief executive handed the diamonds over to South African police after Campbell testified that she had given three stones to Ractliffe because she wanted them to go to charity.

Mr Ractliffe said he had kept the stones, which could link him to illegal "blood diamonds", because he wanted to protect the reputation of Mr Mandela and his charity.

Stepping down from his role as trustee, Mr Ractliffe apologised for causing "possible reputational risk" to the charity by not informing his colleagues of his receipt of the diamonds, the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund said in a statement.

'Suggestion'

At the trial, Ms Campbell said she was given some "dirty-looking stones" after a 1997 charity dinner hosted by South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela where Mr Taylor was also a guest.

She said two unidentified men appeared at her room and gave her the stones.

She told the court she did not have proof they came from Mr Taylor and had given them to Mr Ractliffe because she wanted the stones to go to charity.

Charles Taylor

"Naomi suggested they could be of some benefit to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund - but I told her I would not involve the NMCF in anything that could possibly be illegal," Mr Ractliffe said in a statement two weeks ago.

He said he took the diamonds as he thought it might be illegal for her to take them out of the country.

"In the end I decided I should just keep them," he added.

Mr Taylor is accused of using illegally mined diamonds to secure weapons for Sierra Leone's RUF rebels during the 1991-2001 civil war - a charge he denies.

Prosecutors say that from his seat of power in Liberia, Mr Taylor also trained and commanded the rebels.

The rebels were notoriously brutal, frequently hacking off the hands and legs of civilians.

Japanese researchers developed a cancer vaccine..[ 1664 ]

Researchers develop new cancer vaccine mobilizing immune cells

(Mainichi Japan) August 18, 2010

Japanese researchers have developed a cancer immunotherapy vaccine that mobilizes two types of immune cells at the same time, providing hope for the development of more effective cancer treatment.

The vaccine, developed by researchers including Takashi Nishimura of Hokkaido University, activates immune system cells called killer T cells and helper T cells at the same time, which is said to boost patients' immunity. The researchers confirmed that the vaccine cleared up cancer in a patient for whom anticancer drugs and radiation therapy had proven ineffective.

"We want to conduct more clinical trials and make decisions on its detailed effectiveness. At the same time we want to conduct research on synthesis processes for more effective vaccines," Nishimura said.

Helper T cells are a type of lymphocyte, a kind of white blood cell in the immune system, that help keep track of antigens, including cancer antigens. They aid the action of killer T cells, which attack cancer cells directly.

Previous vaccines focused on the activity of killer T cells alone, but Nishimura and the other researchers set about making both helper and killer T cells active. They created a vaccine dubbed "H/K-HELP" that artificially bound about 40 amino acids that work against cancer from peptides, which are strings of amino acids.

In clinical tests performed at Hokkaido University Hospital and Kinki University Hospital, the researchers administered the vaccine to a breast cancer patient and a patient whose lung cancer had spread to cause bowel cancer. They found that the cancer cleared up or restrained the focus of the cancer.

The researchers plan to announce their findings at a symposium of the International Congress of Immunology beginning in Kobe on Aug. 22.

Click here for the original Japanese story

Israel to Strike Iran Nuclear Facility ? ..[ 1663 ]

Israel Has Until Week's End to Strike Iran Nuclear Facility, Bolton Says

AP2009

In this November 2009 photo released by the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), the reactor building of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is seen. (AP Photo)

Published August 17, 2010

| FoxNews.com

Israel has until the weekend to launch a military strike on Iran's first nuclear plant before the humanitarian risk of an attack becomes too great, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Tuesday. 

A Russian company is expected to help Iran start loading nuclear fuel into its plant on Saturday, after which an attack on the Bushehr reactor could trigger harmful radiation, which Israel wants to avoid, Bolton said. So unless the Israelis act immediately to shut down the facility, it will be too late.

"Once it's close to the reactor ... the risk is when the reactor is attacked, there will be a release of radiation into the air," Bolton told FoxNews.com. "It's most unlikely that they would act militarily after fuel rods are loaded." 

Earlier Tuesday, Bolton told Fox Business Network the Israelis will have to move in the "next eight days" if they want to attack the Bushehr facility -- a reference to the window between when the start-up was announced last week and the loading date. Bolton said Tuesday that the date has fluctuated, but he described the start-up as the ultimate deadline. 

Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, told Fox News that the nation is hopeful sanctions -- passed by the United Nations, European Union and United States -- will "modify" Iran's behavior. Oren said Israel is "committed" to the sanctions program and will assess its impact at a later date. 

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"Until that time, the position of the government of Israel -- as the position of the Obama administration -- is that all options will remain on the table," he said, without commenting directly on Bolton's remarks. 

Though Iranian officials insist the reactor is for peaceful purposes, Bolton warned about the danger of the up-and-running reactor. 

"What this does is give Iran a second route to nuclear weapons in addition to enriched uranium," Bolton said. "It's a very, very huge victory for Iran." 

Bolton, who was U.S. ambassador during the Bush administration, expressed doubt that Israel was planning a military strike but suggested it's an open question. 

"If they were going to do anything, they certainly wouldn't be talking about it," he said. 

He noted that the reactor gives Iran something that both Iraq and Syria were never able to achieve because their facilities were destroyed. 

"Iran will have achieved something that no other opponent of Israel, no other enemy of the United States really in the Middle East has, and that is a functioning nuclear reactor," he said on Fox Business Network. 

Iranian officials on Tuesday warned Israel not to take military action. Iranian media quoted Ahmad Vahidi, Iran's defense minister, as saying Israel would be taking a huge risk with such an attack. 

"We may lose a power plant, but the whole existence of the Zionist regime will be jeopardized," Vahidi was quoted as saying. 

The reactor project has been in existence for decades, but the Russians have helped push it to the finish line. Russian state firm Rosatom announced last week that the Bushehr facility would be starting up on Aug. 21. According to the Iranian state Mehr news agency, the head of that company, Sergey Novikov, says the plant "just generates electricity.