Tornado ripped through central Mississippi .,[ 1061 ]

Tornado kills 10 in Mississippi: officials

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama
Sat 24-4-2010

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - A tornado nearly a mile wide ripped through central Mississippi on Saturday, killing 10 people, including three children, and injuring dozens of others, state authorities said.

The tornado struck at least 13 counties, destroying scores of homes and trapping people inside, damaging businesses, blocking highways and knocking out power to thousands, said the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Five people died in Choctaw County, four in Yazoo County and one in Holmes County, said Greg Flynn, spokesman at the agency.

Governor Haley Barbour declared a state of emergency after the first major U.S. tornado of the year.

"It has done huge damage around Yazoo City," Barbour, who grew up in the city, told CBS television.

"We have fatalities, a number of people that we're still trying to rescue who are trapped in buildings. But it is a major, significant tornado ... and it did some huge damage and perhaps some fatalities north of here," Barbour said.

"The Hinds County Sheriff's Department is sending two dozen deputies and 100 inmates to assist with the response in Yazoo County and clear debris," the emergency agency said.

The storm system has moved to Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, said Greg Carbin, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

(Reporting by Peggy Gargis; Writing by Matthew Bigg; Editing by Peter Cooney)

This Weeks Post ....(reproduced ) [ 1060 ]

Wednesday Hero- April 21, 2010

This Weeks Post Was Suggested By Cindy

John "Jack" Agnew (Right)
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division


John "Jack" Agnew, one of the original members of an Army unit that operated behind enemy lines in World War II and is often credited with having loosely inspired the movie "The Dirty Dozen", has died at age 88.

Agnew belonged to the Filthy Thirteen, an unofficial unit within the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He was pronounced dead last Thursday at Abington Memorial Hospital after becoming ill at his home in the Maple Village retirement community in Hatboro, where he and his wife moved about a year ago, his daughter Barbara Agnew Maloney said.

You Can Read The Rest Of The Article Here And More Info On The "Filthy Thirteen" Can Be Found Here

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Christopher Lee
-----------------
DONE , "Nearchus"

Shuttle Discovery in a rosy glow [ 1059 ]

Sunset on Hubble Telescope Mission

• Hubble Telescope's Cultural Impact

  Image courtesy NASA

  Twenty years ago Saturday, the NASA space shuttle Discovery launched from Florida carrying what would become one of the most iconic instruments in astronomy: the Hubble telescope.

  (See a National Geographic magazine time line of the Hubble telescope's greatest hits.)

  Since then Hubble has suffered a key mirror malfunction and shuttle tragedies that put critical repair and upgrade missions at risk. Even so, NASA mission managers say Hubble has exceeded all scientific expectations during its two decades in orbit. (See pictures of Hubble's hottest science discoveries.)
  
  Thanks to the space telescope's jaw-dropping images—like this picture of the stellar nursery known as NGC 602 released in January 2007—"Hubble has done what maybe no other scientific experiment before it had done," said astrophysicist Mario Livio.

  "Hubble has gotten people interested in space and science related to the universe who never had any interest in this kind of science before. Hubble images have become a part of our culture," added Livio, of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Hubble's science and operations center.
  
  To commemorate Hubble's 20th anniversary, NASA has released Hubble: A Journey Through Space and Time, a book of images—including the pictures presented here—that best highlight the telescope's scientific and societal impacts, according to NASA astronomers.
  
  —Brian Handwerk

  Published April 24, 2010

• Hubble Telescope's Cosmic Eskimo

  Image courtesy NASA

  Using a ground-based telescope, astronomer and telescope maker William Herschel was the first to spot this nebula. Even from Earth's surface, the so-called Eskimo nebula—which sits about 5,000 light-years away—resembles a human face wearing a furry parka.

  The Hubble telescope, however, saw details Herschel could never have dreamed of when it took a picture of the nebula shortly after a December 1999 servicing mission.
  
  Hubble revealed a central, dying star blowing out gasses and materials at high speed. The doomed stellar "face" is surrounded by a disk strewn with cometlike objects, which leave behind tails as they streak away from the sunlike star. (Read about the new Imax movie Hubble 3D.)

  The picture is among those that best highlight the Hubble telescope's scientific and societal impacts, according to astronomers on the 20th anniversary of Hubble.

  Published April 24, 2010

• Image courtesy NASA

  A sunset bathes the space shuttle Discovery in a rosy glow during the second mission to service the Hubble telescope in February 1997.
  
  That mission outfitted the telescope with new infrared-sensitive equipment so Hubble could see the most distant galaxies in the universe. Light from these objects gets stretched into longer, redder wavelengths by the universe's accelerated expansion.
  
  During Hubble's 20 years in space, shuttle crews have visited the orbiter five times to make repairs and upgrade the instrument's capabilities. The final scheduled service mission was completed in 2009. (See Hubble's first pictures following the final servicing mission and read "Hubble Renewed," from National Geographic magazine.)

  The picture is among those that best highlight the Hubble telescope's scientific and societal impacts, according to astronomers on the 20th anniversary of Hubble.

  Published April 24, 2010

N.Christakis,Διδάκτωρ Κοινωνικής Ιατρικής στο Χάρβαρντ. [ 1058 ]

Νίκος Χρηστάκης: ο ιός της ευτυχίας

του Σταύρου Θεοδωράκη

Το είχα σκεφθεί πολλές φορές και χθες το βράδυ μου το επιβεβαίωσε και ο κ.Χρηστάκης. Μιλώ για τον Νίκο Χρηστάκη, ένα από τα 100 πρόσωπα που επηρεάζουν περισσότερο τον κόσμο σύμφωνα με το περιοδικό TIME. Η συνάντηση μας είχε κανονισθεί εβδομάδες πριν και έγινε στο καφέ του Public. Γιος Ελλήνων που γνωρίστηκαν στο προαύλιο του Γέιλ. Βιολόγος, γιατρός, ειδικευμένος στην Παρηγορητική Ιατρική, την ανακούφιση δηλαδή ασθενών που βρίσκονται στα πρόθυρα του τέλους και Διδάκτωρ σήμερα Κοινωνικής Ιατρικής στο Χάρβαρντ. Contact 617-432-5890 (Phone) 617-432-5891 (FAX) Harvard Medical School;180 Longwood Ave.;Boston, MA 02115 On leave 2009-10 Staff Contact Mandy Bardsley (for course-related matters) Η πρώτη χειραψία μας έγινε έξω από τις τουαλέτες του 5ου ορόφου. Αυτός μόλις είχε τελειώσει την υπογραφή δεκάδων αντιτύπων του βιβλίου του και εγώ προετοιμαζόμουν για να του κάνω κάποιες ερωτήσεις μήπως και τον γνωρίσει καλύτερα το αθηναϊκό κοινό. Στο βιβλίο του «Συνδεδεμένοι» που έγραψε με τον επίσης καθηγητή στο Χάρβαρντ, Τζέιμς Φόουλερ, ο Χρηστάκης υποστηρίζει ότι η ευτυχία είναι μεταδοτική σαν τη γρίπη. Η μελέτη του ξεκίνησε παρατηρώντας τους συγγενείς και φίλους ανθρώπων που πέθαιναν. «Αν η σύζυγος νοσήσει ή πεθάνει αυξάνεται ο κίνδυνος θανάτου του συζύγου του». Το είχα σκεφθεί λοιπόν, αλλά από εδώ και πέρα αρχίζουν τα δύσκολα. Ποιοι φίλοι και ποιοι συγγενείς επηρεάζονται; «Η κοινωνική επιρροή δε σταματά στους ανθρώπους που γνωρίζουμε», λέει ο Χρηστάκης. «Αν επηρεάζουμε τους φίλους μας κι εκείνοι τους δικούς τους, τότε οι πράξεις μας μπορούν να εξαπλωθούν σε ανθρώπους που ποτέ δεν έχουμε γνωρίσει. (…) Έτσι τελικά η φίλη της φίλης της φίλης μας, επιδρά περισσότερο στην ευτυχία μας, απ’ ό, τι ένα φουσκωμένο πορτοφόλι στην τσέπη μας». Η ευτυχία, ή η δυστυχία μεταδίδονται πιο εύκολα σε μια παρέα ή (επιστημονικότερα) σε ένα κοινωνικό δίκτυο; Και σε αυτό το ερώτημα νόμιζα ότι ήξερα την απάντηση αλλά ο Χρηστάκης με αιφνιδίασε. «Ναι, τα κοινωνικά δίκτυα μεταδίδουν εύκολα και φόβο και πανικό, μεταδίδουν όμως πιο εύκολα την χαρά και την ευτυχία.» Μήπως αυτό συμβαίνει σε όλο τον κόσμο αλλά όχι την Ελλάδα, τον ρώτησα αλλά το κοινό άρχισε να γελάει γεγονός που τον παρέσυρε και αυτόν σε γέλια και έτσι δεν πήρα απάντηση. Μου είπε όμως κάτι άλλο που δεν πρέπει να ξεχάσω να σας πω. Το Ίντερνετ παρά τα όσα λένε δεν θα επηρεάσει καθοριστικά τις σχέσεις μας. Τέσσερις φίλες είχε η προγιαγιά μας που δεν είχε ούτε τηλέφωνο. Τέσσερις φίλες είχε η μαμά μας και τέσσερις φίλες (θα) έχει τελικά και η κόρη μας. Και είναι πολύ κακό – κατά τον Χρηστάκη – που ορισμένοι μπερδεύουν τις λέξεις φίλος και γνωστός. Οι επικοινωνίες δεν αλλάζουν τους ανθρώπους επέμεινε, μιλώντας αυτά τα ωραία ελληνικά όπου το χάος είναι κάος και η ευτυχία, ευτυκία. Άλλο παράδειγμα: 150 άντρες είχε η βασική μονάδα του ρωμαϊκού στρατού, η Σπείρα, περίπου τόσους έχει και σήμερα ο Λόχος. Γιατί υπάρχει ένα ανώτατο όριο στο μέγεθος μιας ομάδας τα μέλη της οποίας μπορούν να συνεργασθούν γνωρίζοντας τις δυνάμεις τους και τις αδυναμίες τους. Για να μάθουμε λοιπόν ποιοι είμαστε θα πρέπει να κατανοήσουμε πώς συνδεόμαστε με τους άλλους. Οι φοιτητές που έχουν μελετηρούς συγκατοίκους γίνονται πιο μελετηροί. Και τα παχύσαρκα παιδιά έχουν παχύσαρκους φίλους. Γιατί κι αν δεν θέλουμε ίσως να το παραδεχτούμε τελικά καθοδηγούμαστε ασυναίσθητα από τους ανθρώπους που μας περιστοιχίζουν, σαν τα πουλιά ενός σμήνους.

Austria and the South Stream project [ 1057 ]

Russia, Austria sign deal on South Stream project

Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann,RIA Novosti. Aleksey Nikolskyi

VIENNA, (RIA Novosti) 17:25., 24/04/2010

Russia and Austria signed a deal in Vienna on Saturday on Austria joining the South Stream gas project.

The gas pipeline is designed to carry 31 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas a year across the Black Sea to Bulgaria and further on to Italy and Austria.

The deal was signed by Russia's Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and Austria's Economy Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner in the presence of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann.

The agreement is the last deal necessary for the start of the project.

The pipeline is expected to go into operation in 2015, its capacity eventually reaching 63 bcm, or some 35% of Russian gas supplies to Europe.

Russia has already signed intergovernmental agreements with Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia to implement the onshore part of the project.

The project is part of Russia's efforts to reduce dependence on transit nations, particularly Ukraine. It is widely seen as a rival project to the EU-backed Nabucco, which would also transport Caspian and Central Asian gas to Europe but would bypass Russia.