NASA Image of the Day, Dec 13th..[ 1925 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Rollout

The Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft is rolled out by train on its way to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Monday, Dec. 13, 2010, in Kazakhstan. .

The launch of the Soyuz spacecraft with Expedition 26 Soyuz Commander Dmitry Kondratyev, NASA Flight Engineer Catherine Coleman and Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 16. 

Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

Δευτέρα, 13 Δεκέμβριος 2010 7:00:00 πμ

Israeli wildfire..[ 1924 ]

3,700 acres consumed by Israeli wildfire

From Kevin Flower, CNN

December 3, 2010 4:29 a.m. EST

Strong winds have bolstered a fire in Israel's Carmel forest region.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• New: At least 41 killed in the fire, police say
• New: More than 3,700 acres are burned
• Netanyahu calls it one of the worst fires in Israel's history
• Countries are sending aircraft to help fight the fire

Jerusalem (CNN) -- A wildfire raging across northern Israel has killed at least 41 people and injured 17 more, Israel Police said Friday.

The Israeli Cabinet was meeting Friday in Tel Aviv to formulate a response.

Shifting winds have made the inferno harder to control as flames neared a neighborhood in Haifa and the Hai Bar nature reserve, according to police.

Smoke blanketed Haifa, Israeli's second-largest city, Friday. It was not clear how the 3,700-acre fire started, but police were investigating if the blaze started in an illegal dumping ground.

More than 15,000 people have been evacuated from villages and towns in the area as authorities scrambled firefighting equipment, emergency officials said.

Fire-fighting aircraft pledged by various countries began to arrive in Israel Friday morning as more offers of help from around the world came in.

Several nations, including Turkey, were sending firefighting planes, Israel's Foreign Ministry said. Relations between Turkey and Israel have been tense since last spring, when Israeli commandos boarded a Turkish ship carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, killing nine people.

In addition to Turkey's sending two planes, Greece was sending four, France two, Cyprus two, and one each from Croatia, Russia and Azebaijan, the ministry said. Jordanian firefighters and British helicopters were also assisting, police said.

Spain was sending four aircraft, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "The necessary means are not currently in the field but they are on the way here," he said, adding that he planned to request more planes from Russia.

The United States is sending a Boeing 747 filled with chemical retardants to help fight the flames.

The wildfire erupted Thursday near Haifa and has consumed thousands of acres in Carmel Forest.

Many of the deaths appear to be the result of a bus accident.

A bus carrying up to 50 people overturned "allegedly after the driver lost control of the vehicle because of the fire and surrounding smoke" as it was traveling between kibbutz Beit Oren and Damon Prison, the IDF website said.

It was not clear from the IDF website how many of the deaths attributed to fire occurred in the bus accident, but the newspaper Haaretz reported that all 40 of the dead were on the bus.

Inmates of the prison were evacuated to temporary jails nearby.

Netanyahu's office called it one of the worst fires in Israel's history and ordered the military to assist rescue and firefighting efforts.

He urged people, including the news media, to stay away from the blaze, which he called "a fire on an international scale."

He predicted that the fire would take time to douse and called for calm. "I think that together, we will surmount this."

"We must achieve two goals -- saving lives and putting out the fire, " Netanyahu said Thursday night at the forward command center, according to his media adviser.

NASA Image of the Day, Nov 24th..[ 1923 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Harrat Khaybar

 

Harrat Khaybar, Saudi Arabia lies in the western half of the Arabian peninsula and contains not only large expanses of sand and gravel, but also extensive lava fields known as haraat (harrat for a named field). 

 

According to scientists, the volcanic field was formed by eruptions along a long north-south linear vent system over the past 5 million years; the most recent recorded eruption took place between 600-700 A.D. 

 

The presence of tuff cones -- formed by eruption of lava in the presence of water together with other volcanic features indicative of water -- in the Harrat Khaybar suggest that the local climate was much wetter during some periods of volcanic activity. 

 

Today, however, the regional climate is hyperarid -- little to no yearly precipitation -- leading to an almost total lack of vegetation. 

The image was taken by the Expedition 16 crew aboard the Inernational Space Station in March 2008. 

 

Image Credit: NASA

Τετάρτη, 24 Νοέμβριος 2010 7:00:00 πμ

Paul the Octopus dies [ 1922 ]

Paul the Octopus dies at 2 1/2 after World Cup fame

Video

Paul the Octopus picks Spain to win World Cup

Paul the prescient octopus has tipped Spain to beat Holland and win the World Cup. The mollusc also predicted Germany would beat Uruguay in the consolation contest. (July 9)

» LAUNCH VIDEO PLAYER

Washington Post Staff

Tuesday, October 26, 2010; 11:49 AM

  Cindy Boren 

 Paul the Octopus, who rose to worldwide fame for correctly predicting the winner of several World Cup 2010 games, died at the age of 2 1/2.

The lifeless body of the octopus was discovered in his tank early Tuesday morning, according to a spokesman at the Sea Life Aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany.

"He appears to have passed away peacefully during the night, of natural causes, and we are consoled by the knowledge that he enjoyed a good life here," Stefan Porwoll, manager of the aquarium, told the Daily Mail, nipping conspiracy theories in the bud.

Japan : Transportation of Hansen's disease patients..[ 1921 ]

Private sector's role in running ferries angers one-time Hansen's disease patients on island

A ferry is pictured at the port of  Takamatsu. (Mainichi) 

 

(Mainichi Japan) October 26, 2010

 

TAKAMATSU -- The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) met with strong criticism from one-time Hansen's disease patients after it decided to leave the operation of some public ferry services connecting Shikoku and a state-run sanatorium on a remote island here to the private sector.

Residents of the National Sanatorium Oshimaseishoen in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, criticized the ministry's move to partially outsource the operation of passenger ferry services between the prefectural capital and Oshima Island, where the medical facility is located.

The sanatorium residents are calling on the ministry to cancel their plan, saying, "Outsourcing public transportation services, the lifeline for the sanatorium, is equivalent to abandoning the nation's responsibility for segregating Hansen's disease patients."

During a general assembly on Oct. 25, a cross-party group of Diet members seeking a settlement of Hansen's disease-related issues -- led by House of Representatives member of the Democratic Party of Japan Hiroshi Kawauchi -- also decided to request top MHLW officials to review the plan to leave some ferry operations to the private sector.

Meanwhile, the national association of leprosariums residents planned to call an emergency meeting in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on the evening of Oct. 26 to discuss the matter.

"The government is responsible for stealing the lives of patients with Hansen's disease by isolating them on the remote island. Therefore, it should continue to provide ferry services until the end," the head of the association said.

The national sanatorium in question was established on Oshima Island, located some eight kilometers off the port of Takamatsu, in 1909. Currently, the government regularly operates two state-owned ferries, "Seisho" and "Matsukaze." The passenger ferries are the only way for the residents of the sanatorium to travel back and forth between the two islands.

There are a total of six ship captains and crew members, but two of them are scheduled to retire in March next year. However, the ministry is not planning to fill the vacancy. Instead, it will leave the operation of one of the two ferries to a private company, and has already included the outsourcing costs in its fiscal 2011 budget request.

"The decision is in line with the government's policy to reduce the number of new government employees. The public sector can also improve services by increasing the number of ferry operations," a ministry official said.

However, residents of the sanatorium are still anxious, as they may no longer be able to rely on a night-shift captain who can take emergency patients to hospitals across the sea.

"Following the opening of a number of Honshu-Shikoku bridges, the maritime transportation industry is experiencing a business downturn. Can the private sector take care of emergency situations?" one resident said.

Click here for the original Japanese story