BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- Bubonic plague has killed one person and made another sick in China, the Health Ministry has said, appealing for efforts nationwide to prevent further outbreaks.
The cases were found earlier this year in China's impoverished west -- one in Gansu province's Sunan county and another in Qinghai province's Qilian county, the ministry said on its Web site, www.moh.gov.cn.
It did not say specifically when the cases were detected but the outbreak had been brought under control, the Beijing News quoted health officials as saying.
The bubonic plague bacterium, carried by rats and fleas, is commonly thought to have been the cause of the Black Death which decimated the population of Europe in the 14th century.
It has been largely eradicated worldwide, but surfaces from time to time.
Dozens of cases were reported in China in the 1990s.
Hubble Lifts Fog on Early Universe By Robert Roy BrittSenior Science Writerposted: 24 September 200406:42 am ET
Astronomers have found what they believe to be several of the earliest star-forming galaxies, in a detailed analysis of Hubble Space Telescope images released earlier this year.
The new examination of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UDF) imagery was done by five separate teams, working since the data was revealed to the public in March. The effort involves close scrutiny of blurry dots of distant light amid a zoo of galaxy shapes, many of which are slightly closer in space and more modern in time.
Researchers are looking for the first galaxies, whose radiation burned off a cosmic fog that enveloped the universe just after the Big Bang, according to theory.
Astronomers billed their findings, released Thursday, as a possible glimpse of the "end of the opening act" of galaxy formation.
The light from the young galaxies left them when the universe was just 5 percent of its present age, which is now approximately 13.7 billion years.
Cosmic fog
After the Big Bang, theorists say, the universe was hotter than the Sun. There were no stars, but rather a searing soup of hydrogen nuclei, and electrons that raced around on their own. As space expanded, the universe cooled, allowing the hydrogen nuclei to capture electrons, making what is called neutral hydrogen.
The universe was opaque, blocking the release of light like morning fog.
The first stars were incredibly massive, containing perhaps 200 times more material than the Sun, but they will perhaps never be seen because they were born amid this cosmic fog. In time, intense ultraviolet radiation from these stars stripped interstellar hydrogen of electrons. This reionization period, as it is called, lifted the fog, literally allowing light to travel through the growing cosmos.
The reionization epoch ended somewhere between 500 million and 1 billion years after the Big Bang.
Galaxies that developed during that time are so far away -- because everything in the universe has been expanding away from everything else ever since -- that they are difficult to detect.
The UDF images combined visible-light and infrared observations from Hubble. The result reveals that roughly a billion years after the Big Bang, the universe was already loaded with dwarf galaxies. Larger galaxies like our Milky Way had not yet formed (theorists think such mature galaxies evolved out of mergers of the smaller ones).
Tentative findings
The UDF contains somewhere between 54 and 108 of the most primordial known dwarf galaxies, all seen as dim red smudges.
The new investigation suggests galaxy formation began sometime prior to a billion years after the birth of the universe, but the five research teams don't agree on any specific timeline. A couple of intriguing new findings emerged, however.
When the UDF field iss compared to a broader and less sensitive survey of galaxies done by the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, there appears to be a concentration of the dwarf galaxies that spreads from one corner of the UDF field into the surrounding space.
Galaxy concentrations are expected, and they've been seen in the more modern universe. Finding one so early on means the more intense radiation from a tight collection of primordial galaxies would probably have caused more rapid reionization there than in surrounding areas with fewer galaxies.
"It is then likely that reionization proceeded at different speeds in different regions of the early universe," said James Rhoads of the Space Telescope Science Institute, which operates Hubble for NASA.
Another team looked at how fast stars were born and found it to be lower than expected.
"At early times, the universe seems to undergo a rapid heating," explained Andrew Bunker of the University of Cambridge. "The main candidate for what caused this is ultraviolet radiation, which can be generated as stars are born.
"Our results suggest this was not the case, the small number of star forming galaxies found in the Ultra Deep Field may not be sufficient to do this. Perhaps this heating happened further back in time, closer to the Big Bang."
The lengthy observations needed to capture the scant number of photons coming from the nascent galaxies stretched Hubble to the limit of its abilities. Researchers said the next step in exploring the first epoch of galaxy formation will require upgrades to Hubble or the launch of a planned successor, the James Webb Space Telescope.
"For the first time, we at last have real data to address this final frontier -- but we need more observations," said Richard Ellis of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif.
Air Leaks from Mars via Planet's Tail By Robert Roy BrittSenior Science Writerposted: 27 September, 20047 a.m. ET
Like a comet, Mars has a tail, a stream of particles pushed away from the planet by the Sun's energy.
New measurements of the Martian tail reveal how much air the planet loses to space every day and allow scientists to estimate the tremendous loss that may have occurred billions of years ago, making the red planet the dry and cold world it is.
Theory holds that Mars once had a thick atmosphere, but today it is about 1 percent as dense as the air on Earth. Nobody is sure exactly where it all went, but a planetary tail, kicked up by a solar wind, is one likely culprit.
Naked to space
Unlike Earth, Mars is not protected by a strong magnetic field. So charged particles riding out on the solar wind -- a constant stream from the Sun -- are able to interact directly with Mars' atmosphere, energizing particles there until they reach the escape velocity of the planet.
"The atmosphere of an unmagnetized planet like the present Mars is effectively dehydrated by the solar wind," explained study leader Rickard Lundin of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics. "The solar wind carries energy and momentum directly into the ionosphere and upper atmosphere of Mars."
The escaping particles that were observed are called ions, Lundin explained. They are oxygen, hydrogen and molecules such as carbon dioxide that have lost an electron and become positively charged.
About 1 kilogram of mass is lost to space every second, Lundin told SPACE.com. That would be equal to 2.2 pounds of material if weighed on Earth.
Like a comet
Though the tail of Mars is not visible to the eye, the process is much like what the Sun does to volatile substances on the surface of a comet. "The tail of a comet illustrates this very well," Lundin said.
How all this affected ancient Mars is what scientists would really like to know.
Mars probably had a magnetic field 3.5 billion years ago, Lundin said, but it didn't stick. Thereafter, while the atmosphere was still presumably dense -- perhaps 10 times thicker than today -- the loss rate for water and other substances would have been perhaps 100 times higher than it is now, Lundin said.
The measurements were made by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. The results are detailed in the Sept. 24 issue of the journal Science.
Young Mars
Reconstruction of the red planet's past reveals acid rain and briny seas.
Four billion years ago, Mars's atmosphere was four times as dense as Earth's is today. What would Mars's oceans have looked like 4 billion years ago? Scientists have worked out the answer, and found a planet with a climate ideally suited to life. Their model also answers a planetary puzzle: if Mars was once a warm, wet 'greenhouse' planet rich in carbon dioxide, why does its surface contain so few carbonate minerals?Scientists believe that the martian atmosphere must once have been thick with carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that would have kept the young planet warm enough for liquid water to carve its mark so clearly on the landscape.Some of this carbon dioxide should have been trapped in tell-tale traces of carbonate minerals such as siderite (iron carbonate) that solidified from the oceans. Geologists have seen this happening on Earth, but NASA's orbiting craft, the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey, have found very little carbonate on the red planet's surface.Alberto Fairen, a chemist from the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain, and his colleagues have worked out what kind of conditions must have been present on Mars for there to be so much carbon dioxide but so little carbonate. The answer, they conclude in an article published this week in Nature1, is that the oceans were acidic enough to stop any siderite solidifying. If Mars's oceans were richly salted with iron and sulphate ions, the seas' pH would have dropped to around 6.2; similar to some tap water, but not quite as acidic as vinegar. Earth's oceans today have a pH of about 8.As the oceans receded, any dissolved carbon dioxide would have been lost back into the atmosphere, and eventually stripped away from the planet by the harsh stream of solar particles bombarding the planet. There is evidence to support the scientists' scenario. NASA's exploration rover Opportunity recently found large quantities of sulphate minerals such as jarosite on Mars.Acid rainThe team has used this assumption to paint a detailed picture of the young planet. Today's martian atmosphere is at less than one-hundredth the pressure of Earth's atmosphere. But the scientists say that 4 billion years ago, volcanic eruptions would have flooded Mars with sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide, to create an atmosphere with four times the pressure of Earth's.This atmosphere supplied a steady drizzle of acid rain, which dissolved iron, magnesium and other minerals as it trickled into the oceans, putting roughly a gram of iron in every 22 litres of seawater. The briny seas would also have contained the same concentration of sulphate that is formed by dissolving a teaspoon of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) in about five litres of water."We know from the geological history that there has been plenty of volcanism on Mars, so these concentrations are reasonable if there was also a huge carbon dioxide reservoir," says Baker."The resulting scenario is very exciting because the cycle allows long residence times for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," adds Fairen. "Basically, the lack of carbonates in the martian surface could have helped to keep Mars warm for longer." A warm planet is good news for the prospect that life once existed there. The team's martian model shares much of its chemistry with parts of the Rio Tinto, in south-west Spain. This acidic river, in which high concentrations of iron and sulphur are dissolved, teems with living creatures including bacteria, yeast and fungi.
Monday, September 20, 2004
Nanotubes work like radio antennas to convert light into electricity.
Carbon nanotubes, at just 50 nanometres wide, make perfect miniature aerials. Radio aerials have been around for over a century, and routinely receive information carried by radio waves into our homes. Now, finally, scientists have built an aerial that can do the same for light waves. The tiny antennas could be used in solar cells, or 'optical computers' that would move data round as light beams.Radio waves, like light waves, consist of an oscillating electric field. When radio waves hit a receiving aerial, which is generally made of metal wire, they move electrons back and forth inside it. This current can then be amplified and the signal converted into sound.But the aerial needs to be a roughly similar size to the wavelength of the incoming wave. This is easy enough for radio waves, which can have wavelengths measured in metres, but light-wave cycles are just a few hundred nanometres long, about 10,000 times smaller than the head of a pin.So physicist Yang Wang and his colleagues at Boston College, Massachusetts, have made an array of carbon nanotubes of just that length. The 50-nanometre-wide tubes make ideal miniature aerials because they conduct electricity well, so electrons can move freely up and down the tubes. When the researchers shone light waves at the tubes, they detected a current, resulting from electrons bouncing up and down in the tubes at around 1015 times every second.They have also created an array of nanotubes with a steady gradient of relatively short tubes at one end, through to long tubes at the other. This means that the whole array can detect visible light of any colour, says Zhifeng Ren, who worked on the project.The team found that when the light waves were oriented so that their electric field was perpendicular to the nanotubes, the electrical response disappeared. This confirms that the light wave's electric field is responsible for the current, says Wang.The work is tantalizing, says Mark Welland, a nanotechnology expert at the University of Cambridge, UK. He hopes the development could benefit optical computing. An array of carbon nanotubes could convert the light beam of data inside such a computer into an electrical signal, he says, providing an interface with conventional electronics.The nanotubes might also enable a radically new design of solar cell, he says. Arrays of the long, thin wires could be spread over large areas to catch as much light as possible, convert it to electricity and deliver it along a circuit. A single material that can do all these things is "exactly what the ideal solar cell would consist of," he points out.
Carbon nanotubes, at just 50 nanometres wide, make perfect miniature aerials. Radio aerials have been around for over a century, and routinely receive information carried by radio waves into our homes. Now, finally, scientists have built an aerial that can do the same for light waves. The tiny antennas could be used in solar cells, or 'optical computers' that would move data round as light beams.Radio waves, like light waves, consist of an oscillating electric field. When radio waves hit a receiving aerial, which is generally made of metal wire, they move electrons back and forth inside it. This current can then be amplified and the signal converted into sound.But the aerial needs to be a roughly similar size to the wavelength of the incoming wave. This is easy enough for radio waves, which can have wavelengths measured in metres, but light-wave cycles are just a few hundred nanometres long, about 10,000 times smaller than the head of a pin.So physicist Yang Wang and his colleagues at Boston College, Massachusetts, have made an array of carbon nanotubes of just that length. The 50-nanometre-wide tubes make ideal miniature aerials because they conduct electricity well, so electrons can move freely up and down the tubes. When the researchers shone light waves at the tubes, they detected a current, resulting from electrons bouncing up and down in the tubes at around 1015 times every second.They have also created an array of nanotubes with a steady gradient of relatively short tubes at one end, through to long tubes at the other. This means that the whole array can detect visible light of any colour, says Zhifeng Ren, who worked on the project.The team found that when the light waves were oriented so that their electric field was perpendicular to the nanotubes, the electrical response disappeared. This confirms that the light wave's electric field is responsible for the current, says Wang.The work is tantalizing, says Mark Welland, a nanotechnology expert at the University of Cambridge, UK. He hopes the development could benefit optical computing. An array of carbon nanotubes could convert the light beam of data inside such a computer into an electrical signal, he says, providing an interface with conventional electronics.The nanotubes might also enable a radically new design of solar cell, he says. Arrays of the long, thin wires could be spread over large areas to catch as much light as possible, convert it to electricity and deliver it along a circuit. A single material that can do all these things is "exactly what the ideal solar cell would consist of," he points out.
Friday, September 10, 2004
Global suicide toll exceeds war and murder
13:37 08 September 04
NewScientist.com news service
Suicide kills more people each year than road traffic accidents in most European countries, the World Health Organization is warning. And globally, suicide takes more lives than murder and war put together, says the agency in a call for action.
The death toll from suicide – at almost one million people per year – accounts for half of all violent deaths worldwide, says the WHO. “Estimates suggest fatalities could rise to 1.5 million by 2020,” the agency warned on Wednesday.
"Suicide is a tragic global public health problem,” says Catherine Le Galès-Camus, WHO’s assistant director general for non-communicable diseases and mental health. “There is an urgent need for coordinated and intensified global action to prevent this needless toll."
The WHO is holding a meeting of experts in Geneva, Switzerland, to address suicide prevention ahead of its “World Suicide Prevention Day” on Friday.
"It's important to realise that suicide is preventable," points out Lars Mehlum, president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. "And that having access to the means of suicide is both an important risk factor and determinant of suicide."
Muslim countries
The number of suicides in most European countries exceeds the number of annual traffic fatalities, says the WHO. In 2001, the global toll from suicide was greater than the 500,000 deaths from homicide and the 230,000 deaths from war combined.
And an estimated 10 to 20 million people survive failed suicide attempts each year, resulting in injury, hospitalisation and trauma, says the agency. However, the ultimate extent of the problem is unknown as full reliable data is unavailable.
The highest suicide rates are found in Eastern Europe, says WHO, whereas people in Latin America, Muslim countries and a few Asian nations are least likely to die by their own hand.
Suicide rates tend to increase with age but “there has recently been an alarming worldwide increase in suicidal behaviours amongst young people aged 15 to 25”, warns WHO. Men also successfully commit suicide more than women – with the exception of rural China and parts of India.
Blister packs
The most common methods for committing suicide include swallowing pesticides, using firearms and overdosing on painkillers. Curbing access to these methods is a crucial factor in preventing suicide.
“One recent breakthrough was the move by many pharmaceutical companies to market painkillers in blister packs rather than more easily accessible bottles, which had a significant impact on their use as a suicide method,” says WHO.
High self-esteem and social “connectedness” can protect against suicide. Psychosocial interventions based on these and appropriate treatment of mental disorders has cut suicides among people at risk in countries such as the UK and Finland, says WHO.
13:37 08 September 04
NewScientist.com news service
Suicide kills more people each year than road traffic accidents in most European countries, the World Health Organization is warning. And globally, suicide takes more lives than murder and war put together, says the agency in a call for action.
The death toll from suicide – at almost one million people per year – accounts for half of all violent deaths worldwide, says the WHO. “Estimates suggest fatalities could rise to 1.5 million by 2020,” the agency warned on Wednesday.
"Suicide is a tragic global public health problem,” says Catherine Le Galès-Camus, WHO’s assistant director general for non-communicable diseases and mental health. “There is an urgent need for coordinated and intensified global action to prevent this needless toll."
The WHO is holding a meeting of experts in Geneva, Switzerland, to address suicide prevention ahead of its “World Suicide Prevention Day” on Friday.
"It's important to realise that suicide is preventable," points out Lars Mehlum, president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention. "And that having access to the means of suicide is both an important risk factor and determinant of suicide."
Muslim countries
The number of suicides in most European countries exceeds the number of annual traffic fatalities, says the WHO. In 2001, the global toll from suicide was greater than the 500,000 deaths from homicide and the 230,000 deaths from war combined.
And an estimated 10 to 20 million people survive failed suicide attempts each year, resulting in injury, hospitalisation and trauma, says the agency. However, the ultimate extent of the problem is unknown as full reliable data is unavailable.
The highest suicide rates are found in Eastern Europe, says WHO, whereas people in Latin America, Muslim countries and a few Asian nations are least likely to die by their own hand.
Suicide rates tend to increase with age but “there has recently been an alarming worldwide increase in suicidal behaviours amongst young people aged 15 to 25”, warns WHO. Men also successfully commit suicide more than women – with the exception of rural China and parts of India.
Blister packs
The most common methods for committing suicide include swallowing pesticides, using firearms and overdosing on painkillers. Curbing access to these methods is a crucial factor in preventing suicide.
“One recent breakthrough was the move by many pharmaceutical companies to market painkillers in blister packs rather than more easily accessible bottles, which had a significant impact on their use as a suicide method,” says WHO.
High self-esteem and social “connectedness” can protect against suicide. Psychosocial interventions based on these and appropriate treatment of mental disorders has cut suicides among people at risk in countries such as the UK and Finland, says WHO.
Stroke victim robbed of her dreams
15:30 10 September 04
NewScientist.com news service
The stuff that dreams are made of is a chunk of grey matter deep down at the back of the human brain, reveals a study of a rare form of brain damage.
The case of a woman who lost the ability to dream for several months after a stroke has raised some interesting questions about how and why people dream.
Soon after the stroke, the 73-year-old woman reported a peculiar and incredibly vivid hallucination or dream. She was not sure whether she was awake or asleep, says Claudio Bassetti, a neurologist at the University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, who documented her case. After that, she lost the ability to dream completely for about three months. This suggests that hallucinations and dreaming have the same origin, says Bassetti.
There have been cases of dream loss reported before, but this is the first time that anyone has studied a case thoroughly with brain scans and tests in a sleep lab to establish that the lack of dreams was not just down to a memory deficit.
Bassetti and his colleague Matthias Bischof report that the damage was to a part of the visual or occipital cortex, towards the back of the brain, on both sides.
Mental images
But Mark Solms, a sleep researcher from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, suggests that frontal brain regions, important in motivation and emotion, are vital for generating dreams. He thinks the occipital region, at the back of the brain, is important not in dream generation but in dream representation.
“These structures light up when we produce mental images,” says Solms. “The function of these tissues is perception.”
But more interesting than the location is the fact that everything else about the woman seemed to be normal. She showed no signs of any problems with memory, attention or any other mental abilities, and beyond a few visual disturbances in the first few days, normal vision. “She has no other cognitive problems after a full clinical assessment,” says Bassetti. “She has a normal visual imagination.”
Brief awakenings
“To me, this suggests - at least in adulthood - that dreams may not have any major function,” says Bassetti. “It supports the hypothesis that dreams reflect mental activity in the brain, but don’t have a specific function of their own.”
Even the woman’s rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep - the light sleep-state most commonly associated with dreaming - was normal. This reinforces the idea that REM sleep and dreaming have different origins and physical mechanisms, says Bassetti. But it also suggests that the function significance of dreams and REM sleep have been a little overemphasised, at least in adulthood, he adds.
Not everyone agrees with the interpretation. Solms points out that although mostly the woman’s sleep pattern is normal, it did seem to be disrupted by more frequent brief awakenings than expected.
“This is very interesting in a speculative direction,” he says. One of the oldest theories of dreaming is that dreams protect sleep. “If something threatens awakening, you have a dream experience instead.” People often dream about their alarm clocks, he points out.
Journal reference: Annals of Neurology (DOI: 10.1002/ana.20246)
15:30 10 September 04
NewScientist.com news service
The stuff that dreams are made of is a chunk of grey matter deep down at the back of the human brain, reveals a study of a rare form of brain damage.
The case of a woman who lost the ability to dream for several months after a stroke has raised some interesting questions about how and why people dream.
Soon after the stroke, the 73-year-old woman reported a peculiar and incredibly vivid hallucination or dream. She was not sure whether she was awake or asleep, says Claudio Bassetti, a neurologist at the University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland, who documented her case. After that, she lost the ability to dream completely for about three months. This suggests that hallucinations and dreaming have the same origin, says Bassetti.
There have been cases of dream loss reported before, but this is the first time that anyone has studied a case thoroughly with brain scans and tests in a sleep lab to establish that the lack of dreams was not just down to a memory deficit.
Bassetti and his colleague Matthias Bischof report that the damage was to a part of the visual or occipital cortex, towards the back of the brain, on both sides.
Mental images
But Mark Solms, a sleep researcher from the University of Cape Town in South Africa, suggests that frontal brain regions, important in motivation and emotion, are vital for generating dreams. He thinks the occipital region, at the back of the brain, is important not in dream generation but in dream representation.
“These structures light up when we produce mental images,” says Solms. “The function of these tissues is perception.”
But more interesting than the location is the fact that everything else about the woman seemed to be normal. She showed no signs of any problems with memory, attention or any other mental abilities, and beyond a few visual disturbances in the first few days, normal vision. “She has no other cognitive problems after a full clinical assessment,” says Bassetti. “She has a normal visual imagination.”
Brief awakenings
“To me, this suggests - at least in adulthood - that dreams may not have any major function,” says Bassetti. “It supports the hypothesis that dreams reflect mental activity in the brain, but don’t have a specific function of their own.”
Even the woman’s rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep - the light sleep-state most commonly associated with dreaming - was normal. This reinforces the idea that REM sleep and dreaming have different origins and physical mechanisms, says Bassetti. But it also suggests that the function significance of dreams and REM sleep have been a little overemphasised, at least in adulthood, he adds.
Not everyone agrees with the interpretation. Solms points out that although mostly the woman’s sleep pattern is normal, it did seem to be disrupted by more frequent brief awakenings than expected.
“This is very interesting in a speculative direction,” he says. One of the oldest theories of dreaming is that dreams protect sleep. “If something threatens awakening, you have a dream experience instead.” People often dream about their alarm clocks, he points out.
Journal reference: Annals of Neurology (DOI: 10.1002/ana.20246)
Likely First Photo of Planet Beyond the Solar System
By Robert Roy BrittSenior Science Writerposted: 10 September 200408:50 am ET
A group of European-led astronomers has made a photograph of what appears to be a planet orbiting another star. If so, it would be the first confirmed picture of a world beyond our solar system.
"Although it is surely much bigger than a terrestrial-size object [like Earth], it is a strange feeling that it may indeed be the first planetary system beyond our own ever imaged," said Christophe Dumas, an astronomer at the European Southern Observatory.
SPACE.com revealed a similar imaging effort of another planet candidate in May by a U.S.-led team that used the Hubble Space Telescope. That possible planet has not been confirmed and could be a dim star in the background of the picture.
Otherwise, all of the more than 120 known extrasolar planets have been detected indirectly, by noting the shadow of a planet crossing in front of a star or a planet's gravitational effect on a star. Because planets are so dim compared to stars, technology has not been able to spot them amid stellar glare.
That is, perhaps, until now.
Young planet
The new picture shows a dim, red point of light that Dumas and his colleagues think is a young, giant planet something like Jupiter. It orbits a failed star known as a brown dwarf, a very dim type of star -- its core does not support nuclear fusion -- that astronomers have for years hoped would make for good planet hunting.
The brown dwarf, catalogued as 2M1207 and just 8 million years old, is 42 times less massive than the Sun, or some 25 times heftier than Jupiter.
The setup is 230 light-years away.
The possible planet is about five times as massive as Jupiter, the observations show. An analysis of its emissions found it contains water, which suggests its mass is in the range of planets rather than stars, the researchers announced today.
The object is still contracting into its final form and so is very warm, some 1,830 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 Celsius), according to the research team, which was led by ESO's Gael Chauvin.
The photograph was made at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile with an infrared camera, which records heat rather than visible light. A system of adaptive optics on the Very Large Telescope (it's 27 feet wide, or 8.2 meters) corrects for blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere, making detailed observations possible.
The discovery will be detailed in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
If it is a planet, the object orbits 55 times farther from the brown dwarf than Earth is from the Sun, or roughly twice the Earth-to-Neptune distance.
One remaining question, however, is whether the thing might instead be a star that's in the foreground or background and not gravitationally bound to the brown dwarf, a scenario the researchers say is "statistically very improbable."
Additional observations to monitor the movement of the two objects will reveal the answer within two years, the astronomers say.
How it formed
In separate work, Ray Jayawardhana of the University of Toronto has been studying the brown dwarf in question, 2M1207. He agrees that the newfound object is most likely in orbit around the brown dwarf. It could be a very dim brown dwarf in the foreground, he said, but that's doubtful.
The water found in the atmosphere, in the form of steam, "means it would have to be pretty cool and couldn't possibly be a star," Jayawardhana told SPACE.com.
Jayawardhana's team found that 2M1207, like a real star, has a surrounding disk of hydrogen gas, the leftovers of the brown dwarf's formation. But in contrast to how planets probably developed in our solar system, he does not think the planet was born out of the brown dwarf's disk. Instead, the planet and brown dwarf likely "formed together out of a clump of gas and dust," he said.
Another unsettled issue is whether an object of five Jovian masses is truly a planet. Some astronomers put the upper limit for planetary mass at 13 times what's in Jupiter. Others argue that a planet is must orbit a star and have formed out of its leftovers. There is no official definition for the term "planet."
Jayawardhana doesn't care what the new object is called, it is still very interesting from a physics perspective.
"This discovery opens up a whole new regime of objects for us to look at and learn about," he said.
By Robert Roy BrittSenior Science Writerposted: 10 September 200408:50 am ET
A group of European-led astronomers has made a photograph of what appears to be a planet orbiting another star. If so, it would be the first confirmed picture of a world beyond our solar system.
"Although it is surely much bigger than a terrestrial-size object [like Earth], it is a strange feeling that it may indeed be the first planetary system beyond our own ever imaged," said Christophe Dumas, an astronomer at the European Southern Observatory.
SPACE.com revealed a similar imaging effort of another planet candidate in May by a U.S.-led team that used the Hubble Space Telescope. That possible planet has not been confirmed and could be a dim star in the background of the picture.
Otherwise, all of the more than 120 known extrasolar planets have been detected indirectly, by noting the shadow of a planet crossing in front of a star or a planet's gravitational effect on a star. Because planets are so dim compared to stars, technology has not been able to spot them amid stellar glare.
That is, perhaps, until now.
Young planet
The new picture shows a dim, red point of light that Dumas and his colleagues think is a young, giant planet something like Jupiter. It orbits a failed star known as a brown dwarf, a very dim type of star -- its core does not support nuclear fusion -- that astronomers have for years hoped would make for good planet hunting.
The brown dwarf, catalogued as 2M1207 and just 8 million years old, is 42 times less massive than the Sun, or some 25 times heftier than Jupiter.
The setup is 230 light-years away.
The possible planet is about five times as massive as Jupiter, the observations show. An analysis of its emissions found it contains water, which suggests its mass is in the range of planets rather than stars, the researchers announced today.
The object is still contracting into its final form and so is very warm, some 1,830 degrees Fahrenheit (1,000 Celsius), according to the research team, which was led by ESO's Gael Chauvin.
The photograph was made at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile with an infrared camera, which records heat rather than visible light. A system of adaptive optics on the Very Large Telescope (it's 27 feet wide, or 8.2 meters) corrects for blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere, making detailed observations possible.
The discovery will be detailed in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
If it is a planet, the object orbits 55 times farther from the brown dwarf than Earth is from the Sun, or roughly twice the Earth-to-Neptune distance.
One remaining question, however, is whether the thing might instead be a star that's in the foreground or background and not gravitationally bound to the brown dwarf, a scenario the researchers say is "statistically very improbable."
Additional observations to monitor the movement of the two objects will reveal the answer within two years, the astronomers say.
How it formed
In separate work, Ray Jayawardhana of the University of Toronto has been studying the brown dwarf in question, 2M1207. He agrees that the newfound object is most likely in orbit around the brown dwarf. It could be a very dim brown dwarf in the foreground, he said, but that's doubtful.
The water found in the atmosphere, in the form of steam, "means it would have to be pretty cool and couldn't possibly be a star," Jayawardhana told SPACE.com.
Jayawardhana's team found that 2M1207, like a real star, has a surrounding disk of hydrogen gas, the leftovers of the brown dwarf's formation. But in contrast to how planets probably developed in our solar system, he does not think the planet was born out of the brown dwarf's disk. Instead, the planet and brown dwarf likely "formed together out of a clump of gas and dust," he said.
Another unsettled issue is whether an object of five Jovian masses is truly a planet. Some astronomers put the upper limit for planetary mass at 13 times what's in Jupiter. Others argue that a planet is must orbit a star and have formed out of its leftovers. There is no official definition for the term "planet."
Jayawardhana doesn't care what the new object is called, it is still very interesting from a physics perspective.
"This discovery opens up a whole new regime of objects for us to look at and learn about," he said.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic blasted a decision to impose defense lawyers on him as "legal fiction" on Tuesday as his first witness began her testimony at his war crimes trial.
The court assigned Milosevic two British counsel last week to speed up the hearing which has been delayed numerous times because of his ill health.
Milosevic, a law graduate from Belgrade University, had been conducting his own defense since his trial opened in February 2002.
He has declined to see British lawyers Steven Kay and Gillian Higgins.
Milosevic criticised the decision to impose counsel as Kay prepared to call the first defence witness -- retired Belgrade law professor Smilja Avramov, who taught him when he was an undergraduate.
"You took away my right to defense and put it in the hands of Mr Kay. He does not represent me. He represents you," Milosevic told the court.
"Defense through an imposed lawyer is a simple legal fiction. I insist that you give me back my right to defence," Milosevic said before presiding judge Patrick Robinson cut him off.
The decision to impose counsel marked a turning point in what is regarded as Europe's most significant war crimes trial since top Nazis were tried at Nuremberg after World War II, prompting speculation about Milosevic's cooperation in court in the months ahead.
The former Yugoslav leader is charged with 66 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.
The defense has opened months later than planned because of repeated disruptions due to Milosevic's heart condition and high blood pressure.
Milosevic frowned as Kay started to question Avramov.
"He was an excellent student. He displayed a great deal of interest, especially in international economic law. He had intellectual curiosity," she told the court.
The court assigned Milosevic two British counsel last week to speed up the hearing which has been delayed numerous times because of his ill health.
Milosevic, a law graduate from Belgrade University, had been conducting his own defense since his trial opened in February 2002.
He has declined to see British lawyers Steven Kay and Gillian Higgins.
Milosevic criticised the decision to impose counsel as Kay prepared to call the first defence witness -- retired Belgrade law professor Smilja Avramov, who taught him when he was an undergraduate.
"You took away my right to defense and put it in the hands of Mr Kay. He does not represent me. He represents you," Milosevic told the court.
"Defense through an imposed lawyer is a simple legal fiction. I insist that you give me back my right to defence," Milosevic said before presiding judge Patrick Robinson cut him off.
The decision to impose counsel marked a turning point in what is regarded as Europe's most significant war crimes trial since top Nazis were tried at Nuremberg after World War II, prompting speculation about Milosevic's cooperation in court in the months ahead.
The former Yugoslav leader is charged with 66 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.
The defense has opened months later than planned because of repeated disruptions due to Milosevic's heart condition and high blood pressure.
Milosevic frowned as Kay started to question Avramov.
"He was an excellent student. He displayed a great deal of interest, especially in international economic law. He had intellectual curiosity," she told the court.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- The radio telescope at Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory will begin mapping the known galaxy on Friday, scientists said.
The radio telescope, the world's most sensitive listening device that is powerful enough to hear planets forming several billion lights years away, received six more radio receivers to expand its range.
The $1 million upgrade, nicknamed the ALFA project, was completed a few weeks ago and 12 scientists will begin using the telescope Friday to map the night sky for future generations, astronomer Dan Werthimer said.
Arecibo expects to find thousands of new pulsars, supernovas, black holes and planets.
The map, with its collection of detailed data about location, identity and properties of what is in space, will go far beyond anything currently in use, researchers say. No such map has been made until now because the telescope had a limited field of view.
"The new upgrade is like having seven Arecibo observatories at once," Werthimer said. "You can see seven different parts of the galaxy simultaneously. The mapping will be seven times faster."
The mapping could be completed in a few months if the observatory devoted all of its telescope hours to the ALFA project, said Sixto Gonzalez, observatory director. However, the process is likely to take at least two years to allow other astronomers to work on other projects like searching for extraterrestrial life, he said.
ALFA, which stands for the Arecibo L-Band Feed Array, discovered its first pulsar last month during a test run, Gonzalez said.
The 1,000-foot-wide parabolic receiver -- composed of 38,000 aluminum tiles -- allows researchers to listen to sounds in space instead of depending on optics, like the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.
The information gathered will be compiled in a worldwide database scientists can access on the Internet, scientists say.
The observatory and its gargantuan dish were built in 1963 by the Department of Defense. It is now run by Cornell University under the National Foundation of Science.
The telescope's 1974 discovery of a twin neutron stars won a pair of scientists the Nobel Prize in 1993 by proving Albert Einstein's theory of gravity waves. Other finds include ice on Mercury and the first known planets outside our solar system.
However, the dish is best known for its cameo appearances in such films as "Contact" and the James Bond adventure "Golden Eye," although the search for alien life takes up less than 1 percent of the telescope's time.
The radio telescope, the world's most sensitive listening device that is powerful enough to hear planets forming several billion lights years away, received six more radio receivers to expand its range.
The $1 million upgrade, nicknamed the ALFA project, was completed a few weeks ago and 12 scientists will begin using the telescope Friday to map the night sky for future generations, astronomer Dan Werthimer said.
Arecibo expects to find thousands of new pulsars, supernovas, black holes and planets.
The map, with its collection of detailed data about location, identity and properties of what is in space, will go far beyond anything currently in use, researchers say. No such map has been made until now because the telescope had a limited field of view.
"The new upgrade is like having seven Arecibo observatories at once," Werthimer said. "You can see seven different parts of the galaxy simultaneously. The mapping will be seven times faster."
The mapping could be completed in a few months if the observatory devoted all of its telescope hours to the ALFA project, said Sixto Gonzalez, observatory director. However, the process is likely to take at least two years to allow other astronomers to work on other projects like searching for extraterrestrial life, he said.
ALFA, which stands for the Arecibo L-Band Feed Array, discovered its first pulsar last month during a test run, Gonzalez said.
The 1,000-foot-wide parabolic receiver -- composed of 38,000 aluminum tiles -- allows researchers to listen to sounds in space instead of depending on optics, like the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.
The information gathered will be compiled in a worldwide database scientists can access on the Internet, scientists say.
The observatory and its gargantuan dish were built in 1963 by the Department of Defense. It is now run by Cornell University under the National Foundation of Science.
The telescope's 1974 discovery of a twin neutron stars won a pair of scientists the Nobel Prize in 1993 by proving Albert Einstein's theory of gravity waves. Other finds include ice on Mercury and the first known planets outside our solar system.
However, the dish is best known for its cameo appearances in such films as "Contact" and the James Bond adventure "Golden Eye," although the search for alien life takes up less than 1 percent of the telescope's time.
Friday, September 03, 2004
BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- Bubonic plague has killed one person and made another sick in China, the Health Ministry has said, appealing for efforts nationwide to prevent further outbreaks.
The cases were found earlier this year in China's impoverished west -- one in Gansu province's Sunan county and another in Qinghai province's Qilian county, the ministry said on its Web site, www.moh.gov.cn.
It did not say specifically when the cases were detected but the outbreak had been brought under control, the Beijing News quoted health officials as saying.
The bubonic plague bacterium, carried by rats and fleas, is commonly thought to have been the cause of the Black Death which decimated the population of Europe in the 14th century.
It has been largely eradicated worldwide, but surfaces from time to time.
Dozens of cases were reported in China in the 1990s.
The cases were found earlier this year in China's impoverished west -- one in Gansu province's Sunan county and another in Qinghai province's Qilian county, the ministry said on its Web site, www.moh.gov.cn.
It did not say specifically when the cases were detected but the outbreak had been brought under control, the Beijing News quoted health officials as saying.
The bubonic plague bacterium, carried by rats and fleas, is commonly thought to have been the cause of the Black Death which decimated the population of Europe in the 14th century.
It has been largely eradicated worldwide, but surfaces from time to time.
Dozens of cases were reported in China in the 1990s.
'100 bodies' in siege school
Commandos hunt down hostage-takers
Friday, September 3, 2004 Posted: 10:26 AM EDT (1426 GMT)
BESLAN, Russia (CNN) -- More than 100 bodies have been found in a Russian school gym after troops stormed the building in a bid to end a terrifying hostage crisis, news agencies reported.
Russia's Interfax reported the toll Friday, citing its own correspondent. The figured matched an earlier report from Britain's ITV, which said its cameraman had managed to look inside the gym.
Interfax said dozens of people were killed when the roof collapsed at the school. Itar-Tass said more than 400 hostages and local residents had been injured and taken to hospitals.
An earlier report said 10 dead were taken from the scene. One local official said earlier that "most" of the hostages had survived.
Russian officials confirmed that dead bodies had been found at the scene, Itar-Tass said.
Interfax said 10 of the hostage-takers were killed in the standoff at the school in North Ossetia, near Chechnya.
Rebels in Chechnya have been fighting Russian forces and demanding independence for that small republic.
Hostage-takers and their captives fled in a scene of chaos amid explosions and gunfire as commandos stormed the building. Itar-Tass said soldiers blew a hole in the building to help hostages escape.
Russian special forces stormed the school after the hostage-takers opened fire as troops tried to remove bodies of those killed when the siege began two days ago.
Fighting was continuing on the school grounds.
An Interior Ministry official said troops seized the gym where hostages were held but that militants may be holding hostages in other buildings.
Some hostage-takers were still holed up in a building, according to one report, but special forces were not able to go in after them because the area was mined.
Russian commandos were pursuing the hostage-takers who fled. One media report said 13 militants had managed to escape.
There was another report that troops surrounded a residence where several militants were thought to have taken refuge.
There was also a report of two women terrorists dressed in white who were trying to flee and blend into the population.
Structures were said to be ablaze near the school. Huge explosions could be heard and plumes of smoke seen near the school. Small arms fire crackled.
The explosions could have resulted from mines and booby-traps planted near the school by militants, experts say.
Interfax quoted a defense official saying that "the terrorists planted a lot of mines and booby-traps filled with metal bolts in the gym."
Casualty figures trickled over the news wires but could not be confirmed. However, images were broadcast of dead and wounded people, as well as scores of survivors running from the school.
Friday's developments came as dozens of captives escaped amid sporadic explosions and small-arms fire that lasted more than an hour. Russian helicopters circled overhead but were never seen to open fire.
Scenes of the chaotic, chilling events unfolded on television.
Half-naked children dashed out of the school in every direction. Some were carried and helped by parents and adults. Many were bleeding. Others screamed. Many received medical treatment and food and water outside.
Paramedics pulled children out in stretchers and put them into cars and ambulances. Some were bandaged and badly injured; others were just simply distraught and relieved to be free.
Anxious adults milled around an area near the school where Russian soldiers were stationed.
The standoff began when the armed attackers raided the school on the first day of classes Wednesday. It lasted for well over 40 hours.
The attackers had been holding more than 350 children, parents and teachers hostage, although relatives and at lease one freed hostage put the number closer to 1,000.
During the ordeal, the terrorists did not allow water and food into the building.
One unidentified woman freed on Thursday told Izvestia newspaper that during the night children began to cry.
"Then the fighters would fire in the air to restore quiet. In the morning they told us they would not give us anything more to drink because the authorities were not ready to negotiate.
"When children went to the toilet, some tried to drink from the tap. The fighters stopped them straight away."
The crisis follows a bloody week in Russia.
A female suicide bomber killed nine people outside a Moscow subway station on Tuesday. Two suspected Chechen female suicide bombers downed two jetliners on August 24, killing all 89 people aboard the planes.
Russian officials have said the new wave of attacks is an attempt at revenge for last weekend's elections in Chechnya in which a Kremlin-backed candidate won the presidency.
The crisis is reminiscent of the October 2002 siege of a Moscow theater, when Chechen rebels threatened to kill some 700 hostages and demanded an end to the war in Chechnya.
Many of those attackers were women, with explosives belts strapped to their body, while the men were armed with pistols and rifles. Two massive bombs also had been placed in the theater.
That standoff ended when Russian forces piped poison gas into the theater to knock out everyone inside, but more than 120 hostages and 41 attackers were killed, most of them from the gas.
Commandos hunt down hostage-takers
Friday, September 3, 2004 Posted: 10:26 AM EDT (1426 GMT)
BESLAN, Russia (CNN) -- More than 100 bodies have been found in a Russian school gym after troops stormed the building in a bid to end a terrifying hostage crisis, news agencies reported.
Russia's Interfax reported the toll Friday, citing its own correspondent. The figured matched an earlier report from Britain's ITV, which said its cameraman had managed to look inside the gym.
Interfax said dozens of people were killed when the roof collapsed at the school. Itar-Tass said more than 400 hostages and local residents had been injured and taken to hospitals.
An earlier report said 10 dead were taken from the scene. One local official said earlier that "most" of the hostages had survived.
Russian officials confirmed that dead bodies had been found at the scene, Itar-Tass said.
Interfax said 10 of the hostage-takers were killed in the standoff at the school in North Ossetia, near Chechnya.
Rebels in Chechnya have been fighting Russian forces and demanding independence for that small republic.
Hostage-takers and their captives fled in a scene of chaos amid explosions and gunfire as commandos stormed the building. Itar-Tass said soldiers blew a hole in the building to help hostages escape.
Russian special forces stormed the school after the hostage-takers opened fire as troops tried to remove bodies of those killed when the siege began two days ago.
Fighting was continuing on the school grounds.
An Interior Ministry official said troops seized the gym where hostages were held but that militants may be holding hostages in other buildings.
Some hostage-takers were still holed up in a building, according to one report, but special forces were not able to go in after them because the area was mined.
Russian commandos were pursuing the hostage-takers who fled. One media report said 13 militants had managed to escape.
There was another report that troops surrounded a residence where several militants were thought to have taken refuge.
There was also a report of two women terrorists dressed in white who were trying to flee and blend into the population.
Structures were said to be ablaze near the school. Huge explosions could be heard and plumes of smoke seen near the school. Small arms fire crackled.
The explosions could have resulted from mines and booby-traps planted near the school by militants, experts say.
Interfax quoted a defense official saying that "the terrorists planted a lot of mines and booby-traps filled with metal bolts in the gym."
Casualty figures trickled over the news wires but could not be confirmed. However, images were broadcast of dead and wounded people, as well as scores of survivors running from the school.
Friday's developments came as dozens of captives escaped amid sporadic explosions and small-arms fire that lasted more than an hour. Russian helicopters circled overhead but were never seen to open fire.
Scenes of the chaotic, chilling events unfolded on television.
Half-naked children dashed out of the school in every direction. Some were carried and helped by parents and adults. Many were bleeding. Others screamed. Many received medical treatment and food and water outside.
Paramedics pulled children out in stretchers and put them into cars and ambulances. Some were bandaged and badly injured; others were just simply distraught and relieved to be free.
Anxious adults milled around an area near the school where Russian soldiers were stationed.
The standoff began when the armed attackers raided the school on the first day of classes Wednesday. It lasted for well over 40 hours.
The attackers had been holding more than 350 children, parents and teachers hostage, although relatives and at lease one freed hostage put the number closer to 1,000.
During the ordeal, the terrorists did not allow water and food into the building.
One unidentified woman freed on Thursday told Izvestia newspaper that during the night children began to cry.
"Then the fighters would fire in the air to restore quiet. In the morning they told us they would not give us anything more to drink because the authorities were not ready to negotiate.
"When children went to the toilet, some tried to drink from the tap. The fighters stopped them straight away."
The crisis follows a bloody week in Russia.
A female suicide bomber killed nine people outside a Moscow subway station on Tuesday. Two suspected Chechen female suicide bombers downed two jetliners on August 24, killing all 89 people aboard the planes.
Russian officials have said the new wave of attacks is an attempt at revenge for last weekend's elections in Chechnya in which a Kremlin-backed candidate won the presidency.
The crisis is reminiscent of the October 2002 siege of a Moscow theater, when Chechen rebels threatened to kill some 700 hostages and demanded an end to the war in Chechnya.
Many of those attackers were women, with explosives belts strapped to their body, while the men were armed with pistols and rifles. Two massive bombs also had been placed in the theater.
That standoff ended when Russian forces piped poison gas into the theater to knock out everyone inside, but more than 120 hostages and 41 attackers were killed, most of them from the gas.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Mystery Dust Coats Local Neighborhood
City Analyzes Pollution Monitoring Stations To Track Source
POSTED: 8:30 p.m. EDT September 1, 2004
Authorities are working to locate the source of a mysterious orange dust that covered a local neighborhood on Wednesday.
Residents in the area of Charles and Division streets, near Jefferson Avenue and Schaeffer, woke to find the substance on their homes and cars, Local 4 reported.
"When I was leaving for work at quarter after 6, I could see it in my headlight coming down like rain, a red dust material," said Dave Long, of River Rouge.
Residents in the industrial city told Local 4 they've seen dust before, but said the orange color was unusual.
"I'm thinking I'm being poisoned over here or something," said Rae Ray, who lives in the area.
City officials said a contractor is analyzing three pollution monitoring stations to try to determine the contents of the dust.
"They questioned witnesses, obtained samples and took photographs, tried to trace the path of it to determine whether or not it was airborne or the result of truck traffic," said River Rouge City Attorney David Bower.
River Rouge is 70 percent industrial and has frequently filed lawsuits against companies suspected of polluting, Local 4 reported.
Resident Debbie Laxton said she will keep her 4-year-old son indoors until she finds out more about the dust.
"It's scary. We wonder if it's toxic, if it's going to cause some type of permanent damage," Laxton said.
Local 4 learned that the orange color of the dust is often associated with iron products.
Officials hoped to know the contents and source of the substance by Wednesday night.
City Analyzes Pollution Monitoring Stations To Track Source
POSTED: 8:30 p.m. EDT September 1, 2004
Authorities are working to locate the source of a mysterious orange dust that covered a local neighborhood on Wednesday.
Residents in the area of Charles and Division streets, near Jefferson Avenue and Schaeffer, woke to find the substance on their homes and cars, Local 4 reported.
"When I was leaving for work at quarter after 6, I could see it in my headlight coming down like rain, a red dust material," said Dave Long, of River Rouge.
Residents in the industrial city told Local 4 they've seen dust before, but said the orange color was unusual.
"I'm thinking I'm being poisoned over here or something," said Rae Ray, who lives in the area.
City officials said a contractor is analyzing three pollution monitoring stations to try to determine the contents of the dust.
"They questioned witnesses, obtained samples and took photographs, tried to trace the path of it to determine whether or not it was airborne or the result of truck traffic," said River Rouge City Attorney David Bower.
River Rouge is 70 percent industrial and has frequently filed lawsuits against companies suspected of polluting, Local 4 reported.
Resident Debbie Laxton said she will keep her 4-year-old son indoors until she finds out more about the dust.
"It's scary. We wonder if it's toxic, if it's going to cause some type of permanent damage," Laxton said.
Local 4 learned that the orange color of the dust is often associated with iron products.
Officials hoped to know the contents and source of the substance by Wednesday night.
They have become legendary in UFO circles. Huge, silent-running “Flying Triangles” have been seen by ground observers creeping through the sky low and slow near cities and quietly cruising over highways.
The National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), has catalogued the Triangle sightings, sifting through and combining databases to take a hard look at the mystery craft. Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, NIDS is a privately funded science institute with a strong research focusing on aerial phenomena.The results of their study have just been released and lead to some unnerving, still puzzling conclusions.
The study points out: “The United States is currently experiencing a wave of Flying Triangle sightings that may have intensified in the 1990s, especially towards the latter part of the 1990s. The wave continues. The Flying Triangles are being openly deployed over and near population centers, including in the vicinity of major Interstate Highways.”
Covert operations?
A key NIDS conclusion is that the actions of these triangular craft do not conform to previous patterns of covert deployment of unacknowledged aircraft. Furthermore, “neither the agenda nor the origin of the Flying Triangles are currently known.”
The years 1990-2004 have seen an intense wave of Flying Triangle aircraft, the study observes. Sifting through reports by hundreds of eyewitnesses, the NIDS assessment states that the behavior of the vehicles “does not appear consistent with the covert deployment of an advanced DoD [U.S. Department of the Defense] aircraft.” Rather, it is consistent with (a) the routine and open deployment of an unacknowledged advanced DoD aircraft or (b) the routine and open deployment of an aircraft owned and operated by non-DoD personnel, suggests the NIDS study.
“The implications of the latter possibility are disturbing, especially during the post 9/11 era when the United States airspace is extremely heavily guarded and monitored,” the NIDS study explains. “In support of option (a), there is much greater need for surveillance in the United States in the post 9/11 era and it is certainly conceivable that deployment of low altitude surveillance platforms is routine and open.”
Open, even brazen
According to Colm Kelleher, NIDS Administrator, the newly completed quasi “meta-analysis” of Flying Triangles melds three major U.S. databases: NIDS, the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and data collected by independent researcher, Larry Hatch, the creator and owner of one of the largest and most comprehensive UFO databases in the world.
Kelleher said, the analysis indicates that deployment of Flying Triangles is open, not covert, and involves low-flying, brightly lit aircraft routinely deployed over populated areas including cities and Interstate highways.
“However, I cannot say whether these are U.S. Air Force aircraft. We simply don't know,” Kelleher told SPACE.com . “But it does not appear to be consistent with the covert patterns of deployment we saw with the F-117 and B-2 prior to their acknowledgement. This is open, even brazen,” he stated.
Stealth aircraft
For example, a perfunctory look at the how past DoD stealth aircraft programs were kept from public eye -- although eventually came to light -- is different from the patterns for the Flying Triangles.
Prior to acknowledgement of the F-117 and B-2 aircraft, only rare night time sightings occurred in the sparsely populated sections of Nevada, California and a few other states. Flying at low altitude over populated areas was rarely reported for the F-117 or B-2.
“In contrast, the Flying Triangle deployment, especially during the 1990s, appears more consistent with the open and public operation of these aircraft,” the study explains. The trend of open deployment of the Flying Triangles is not consistent with secret operation of an advanced DoD aircraft.
No attempt to hide
The database-driven study of the Flying Triangle shows the following patterns:
-- Sightings take place near cities and on Interstate highways-- They are seen at low altitude in plain sight of eyewitnesses-- They fly at extremely low speed or hover in plain sight of eyewitnesses-- The vehicles sometime fly with easily noticeable bright lights -- either blinding white lights, or have “bright disco lights” that usually flash combinations of red, green or blue.
The NIDS study emphasizes that the flying of these vehicles may be more in harmony with an attempt to display or to be noticed. There appears to be little or no attempt to hide. That finding has led to a modification of an earlier NIDS hypothesis that the Triangles are covertly deployed DoD aircraft.
While it is too early to dismiss the previously published NIDS correlation between Triangle sightings and a subset of U.S. Air Force Bases, the apparent association with centers of population may point away from a covert program. “Rather, it is consistent with routine and open deployment of an advanced aircraft,” the NIDS study concludes. Clustered on both coasts
During the ensuing years (2000-2004), NIDS received hundreds of reports from people in the United States and Canada reporting large triangular aircraft, often silent and often flying at very low altitude and at low air speed. In many cases, the objects were brightly lit. NIDS files also include reports of Flying Triangles from remote areas.
In mid 2004, NIDS reviewed its database that contains the locations of the Triangle sightings in the United States. The sightings of Triangles appear primarily adjacent to population centers and along Interstate Highways, with sightings clustered on both coasts.
NIDS has amassed almost 400 separate sightings of triangular/boomerang/wedge-shaped objects. Many of these craft are brightly lit, low flying, and traveling at unexpectedly low air speeds.
In earlier reports, NIDS outlined a tentative correlation between reported sightings of Triangles and the locations of Air Mobility Command and Air Force Materiel Command bases in the United States.
Like a Star Trek "uncloaking"
According to ground observers, the features of a Black Triangle are indeed impressive.
For example, the NIDS study includes the observation of a Port Washington Wisconsin person who encountered a large object that flew over her home at 500 feet altitude in October 1998. Her eyeing of the clear starry night was interrupted as the craft came into her field of view.
“Suddenly this monstrosity came out of the ‘blue’, just like a Star Trek 'uncloaking', no kidding…so quiet I couldn’t believe it and so huge…no more than 500 feet or so up, and big enough to take up my field of sky vision,” she reported.
Crude mathematics, the witness recounted, would make the vessel about 200 feet wide and 250 feet long.
Two camps
In wrapping up its look at the burgeoning number of Flying Triangle sightings in the United States, NIDS also took into account the work of writers and researchers delving into the topic both in the United States and abroad.
Those analyses fall into two camps: The Triangles are human-made, while the other says they are not.
“In 2004 it is extremely difficult to distinguish between these two possibilities since the former option overlaps heavily with legitimate national security concerns, while in the absence of much more physical evidence, the latter option is not testable,” the NIDS assessment concludes.
The National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS), has catalogued the Triangle sightings, sifting through and combining databases to take a hard look at the mystery craft. Based in Las Vegas, Nevada, NIDS is a privately funded science institute with a strong research focusing on aerial phenomena.The results of their study have just been released and lead to some unnerving, still puzzling conclusions.
The study points out: “The United States is currently experiencing a wave of Flying Triangle sightings that may have intensified in the 1990s, especially towards the latter part of the 1990s. The wave continues. The Flying Triangles are being openly deployed over and near population centers, including in the vicinity of major Interstate Highways.”
Covert operations?
A key NIDS conclusion is that the actions of these triangular craft do not conform to previous patterns of covert deployment of unacknowledged aircraft. Furthermore, “neither the agenda nor the origin of the Flying Triangles are currently known.”
The years 1990-2004 have seen an intense wave of Flying Triangle aircraft, the study observes. Sifting through reports by hundreds of eyewitnesses, the NIDS assessment states that the behavior of the vehicles “does not appear consistent with the covert deployment of an advanced DoD [U.S. Department of the Defense] aircraft.” Rather, it is consistent with (a) the routine and open deployment of an unacknowledged advanced DoD aircraft or (b) the routine and open deployment of an aircraft owned and operated by non-DoD personnel, suggests the NIDS study.
“The implications of the latter possibility are disturbing, especially during the post 9/11 era when the United States airspace is extremely heavily guarded and monitored,” the NIDS study explains. “In support of option (a), there is much greater need for surveillance in the United States in the post 9/11 era and it is certainly conceivable that deployment of low altitude surveillance platforms is routine and open.”
Open, even brazen
According to Colm Kelleher, NIDS Administrator, the newly completed quasi “meta-analysis” of Flying Triangles melds three major U.S. databases: NIDS, the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and data collected by independent researcher, Larry Hatch, the creator and owner of one of the largest and most comprehensive UFO databases in the world.
Kelleher said, the analysis indicates that deployment of Flying Triangles is open, not covert, and involves low-flying, brightly lit aircraft routinely deployed over populated areas including cities and Interstate highways.
“However, I cannot say whether these are U.S. Air Force aircraft. We simply don't know,” Kelleher told SPACE.com . “But it does not appear to be consistent with the covert patterns of deployment we saw with the F-117 and B-2 prior to their acknowledgement. This is open, even brazen,” he stated.
Stealth aircraft
For example, a perfunctory look at the how past DoD stealth aircraft programs were kept from public eye -- although eventually came to light -- is different from the patterns for the Flying Triangles.
Prior to acknowledgement of the F-117 and B-2 aircraft, only rare night time sightings occurred in the sparsely populated sections of Nevada, California and a few other states. Flying at low altitude over populated areas was rarely reported for the F-117 or B-2.
“In contrast, the Flying Triangle deployment, especially during the 1990s, appears more consistent with the open and public operation of these aircraft,” the study explains. The trend of open deployment of the Flying Triangles is not consistent with secret operation of an advanced DoD aircraft.
No attempt to hide
The database-driven study of the Flying Triangle shows the following patterns:
-- Sightings take place near cities and on Interstate highways-- They are seen at low altitude in plain sight of eyewitnesses-- They fly at extremely low speed or hover in plain sight of eyewitnesses-- The vehicles sometime fly with easily noticeable bright lights -- either blinding white lights, or have “bright disco lights” that usually flash combinations of red, green or blue.
The NIDS study emphasizes that the flying of these vehicles may be more in harmony with an attempt to display or to be noticed. There appears to be little or no attempt to hide. That finding has led to a modification of an earlier NIDS hypothesis that the Triangles are covertly deployed DoD aircraft.
While it is too early to dismiss the previously published NIDS correlation between Triangle sightings and a subset of U.S. Air Force Bases, the apparent association with centers of population may point away from a covert program. “Rather, it is consistent with routine and open deployment of an advanced aircraft,” the NIDS study concludes. Clustered on both coasts
During the ensuing years (2000-2004), NIDS received hundreds of reports from people in the United States and Canada reporting large triangular aircraft, often silent and often flying at very low altitude and at low air speed. In many cases, the objects were brightly lit. NIDS files also include reports of Flying Triangles from remote areas.
In mid 2004, NIDS reviewed its database that contains the locations of the Triangle sightings in the United States. The sightings of Triangles appear primarily adjacent to population centers and along Interstate Highways, with sightings clustered on both coasts.
NIDS has amassed almost 400 separate sightings of triangular/boomerang/wedge-shaped objects. Many of these craft are brightly lit, low flying, and traveling at unexpectedly low air speeds.
In earlier reports, NIDS outlined a tentative correlation between reported sightings of Triangles and the locations of Air Mobility Command and Air Force Materiel Command bases in the United States.
Like a Star Trek "uncloaking"
According to ground observers, the features of a Black Triangle are indeed impressive.
For example, the NIDS study includes the observation of a Port Washington Wisconsin person who encountered a large object that flew over her home at 500 feet altitude in October 1998. Her eyeing of the clear starry night was interrupted as the craft came into her field of view.
“Suddenly this monstrosity came out of the ‘blue’, just like a Star Trek 'uncloaking', no kidding…so quiet I couldn’t believe it and so huge…no more than 500 feet or so up, and big enough to take up my field of sky vision,” she reported.
Crude mathematics, the witness recounted, would make the vessel about 200 feet wide and 250 feet long.
Two camps
In wrapping up its look at the burgeoning number of Flying Triangle sightings in the United States, NIDS also took into account the work of writers and researchers delving into the topic both in the United States and abroad.
Those analyses fall into two camps: The Triangles are human-made, while the other says they are not.
“In 2004 it is extremely difficult to distinguish between these two possibilities since the former option overlaps heavily with legitimate national security concerns, while in the absence of much more physical evidence, the latter option is not testable,” the NIDS assessment concludes.
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