via shine.yahoo.com
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
NASA Telescope Confirms Alien Planet in Habitable Zone - Yahoo! News
This story was updated at 12:15 p.m. ET.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has confirmed the discovery of its first alien world in its host star's habitable zone — that just-right range of distances that could allow liquid water to exist — and found more than 1,000 new explanet candidates, researchers announced today (Dec. 5).
The new finds bring the Kepler space telescope's total haul to 2,326 potential planets in its first 16 months of operation.These discoveries, if confirmed, would quadruple the current tally of worlds known to exist beyond our solar system, which recently topped 700.
The potentially habitable alien world, a first for Kepler, orbits a star very much like our own sun. The discovery brings scientists one step closer to finding a planet like our own — one which could conceivably harbor life, scientists said.
"We're getting closer and closer to discovering the so-called 'Goldilocks planet,'" Pete Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., said during a press conference today. [Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets]
The newfound planet in the habitable zone is called Kepler-22b. It is located about 600 light-years away, orbiting a sun-like star.
Kepler-22b's radius is 2.4 times that of Earth, and the two planets have roughly similar temperatures. If the greenhouse effect operates there similarly to how it does on Earth, the average surface temperature on Kepler-22b would be 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius).
Hunting down alien planets
The $600 million Kepler observatory launched in March 2009 to hunt for Earth-size alien planets in the habitable zone of their parent stars, where liquid water, and perhaps even life, might be able to exist.
Kepler detects alien planets using what's called the "transit method." It searches for tiny, telltale dips in a star's brightness caused when a planet transits — or crosses in front of — the star from Earth's perspective, blocking a fraction of the star's light.
The finds graduate from "candidates" to full-fledged planets after follow-up observations confirm that they're not false alarms. This process, which is usually done with large, ground-based telescopes, can take about a year.
The Kepler team released data from its first 13 months of operation back in February, announcing that the instrument had detected 1,235 planet candidates, including 54 in the habitable zone and 68 that are roughly Earth-size.
Of the total 2,326 candidate planets that Kepler has found to date, 207 are approximately Earth-size. More of them, 680, are a bit larger than our planet, falling into the "super-Earth" category. The total number of candidate planets in the habitable zones of their stars is now 48.
To date, just over two dozen of these potential exoplanets have been confirmed, but Kepler scientists have estimated that at least 80 percent of the instrument's discoveries should end up being the real deal.
More discoveries to come
The newfound 1,094 planet candidates are the fruit of Kepler's labors during its first 16 months of science work, from May 2009 to September 2010. And they won't be the last of the prolific instrument's discoveries.
"This is a major milestone on the road to finding Earth's twin," Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., said in a statement.
Mission scientists still need to analyze data from the last two years and on into the future. Kepler will be making observations for a while yet to come; its nominal mission is set to end in November 2012, but the Kepler team is preparing a proposal to extend the instrument's operations for another year or more.
Kepler's finds should only get more exciting as time goes on, researchers say.
"We're pushing down to smaller planets and longer orbital periods," said Natalie Batalha, Kepler deputy science team lead at Ames.
To flag a potential planet, the instrument generally needs to witness three transits. Planets that make three transits in just a few months must be pretty close to their parent stars; as a result, many of the alien worlds Kepler spotted early on have been blisteringly hot places that aren't great candidates for harboring life as we know it.
Given more time, however, a wealth of more distantly orbiting — and perhaps more Earth-like — exoplanets should open up to Kepler. If intelligent aliens were studying our solar system with their own version of Kepler, after all, it would take them three years to detect our home planet.
"We are getting very close," Batalha said. "We are homing in on the truly Earth-size, habitable planets."
You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcomand on Facebook.
via news.yahoo.com
Postal cuts to slow delivery of first-class mail - Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing bankruptcy, the U.S. Postal Service is pushing ahead with unprecedented cuts to first-class mail next spring that will slow delivery and, for the first time in 40 years, eliminate the chance for stamped letters to arrive the next day.
The estimated $3 billion in reductions, to be announced in broader detail on Monday, are part of a wide-ranging effort by the cash-strapped Postal Service to quickly trim costs, seeing no immediate help from Congress.
The changes would provide short-term relief, but ultimately could prove counterproductive, pushing more of America's business onto the Internet. They could slow everything from check payments to Netflix's DVDs-by-mail, add costs to mail-order prescription drugs, and threaten the existence of newspapers and time-sensitive magazines delivered by postal carrier to far-flung suburban and rural communities.
That birthday card mailed first-class to Mom also could arrive a day or two late, if people don't plan ahead.
"It's a potentially major change, but I don't think consumers are focused on it and it won't register until the service goes away," said Jim Corridore, analyst with S&P Capital IQ, who tracks the shipping industry. "Over time, to the extent the customer service experience gets worse, it will only increase the shift away from mail to alternatives. There's almost nothing you can't do online that you can do by mail."
The cuts, now being finalized, would close roughly 250 of the nearly 500 mail processing centers across the country as early as next March. Because the consolidations typically would lengthen the distance mail travels from post office to processing center, the agency also would lower delivery standards for first-class mail that have been in place since 1971.
Currently, first-class mail is supposed to be delivered to homes and businesses within the continental U.S. in one day to three days. That will lengthen to two days to three days, meaning mailers no longer could expect next-day delivery in surrounding communities. Periodicals could take between two days and nine days.
About 42 percent of first-class mail is now delivered the following day. An additional 27 percent arrives in two days, about 31 percent in three days and less than 1 percent in four days to five days. Following the change next spring, about 51 percent of all first-class mail is expected to arrive in two days, with most of the remainder delivered in three days.
The consolidation of mail processing centers is in addition to the planned closing of about 3,700 local post offices. In all, roughly 100,000 postal employees could be cut as a result of the various closures, resulting in savings of up to $6.5 billion a year.
Expressing urgency to reduce costs, Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in an interview that the agency has to act while waiting for Congress to grant it authority to reduce delivery to five days a week, raise stamp prices and reduce health care and other labor costs.
The Postal Service, an independent agency of government, does not receive tax money, but is subject to congressional control on large aspects of its operations. The changes in first-class mail delivery can go into place without permission from Congress.
After five years in the red, the post office faces imminent default this month on a $5.5 billion annual payment to the Treasury for retiree health benefits. It is projected to have a record loss of $14.1 billion next year amid steady declines in first-class mail volume. Donahoe has said the agency must make cuts of $20 billion by 2015 to be profitable.
It already has announced a 1-cent increase in first-class mail to 45 cents beginning Jan. 22.
"We have a business model that is failing. You can't continue to run red ink and not make changes," Donahoe said. "We know our business, and we listen to our customers. Customers are looking for affordable and consistent mail service, and they do not want us to take tax money."
Separate bills that have passed House and Senate committees would give the Postal Service more authority and liquidity to stave off immediate bankruptcy. But prospects are somewhat dim for final congressional action on those bills anytime soon, especially if the measures are seen in an election year as promoting layoffs and cuts to neighborhood post offices.
Technically, the Postal Service must await an advisory opinion from the independent Postal Regulatory Commission before it can begin closing local post offices and processing centers. But such opinions are nonbinding, and Donahoe is making clear the agency will proceed with reductions once the opinion is released next March.
"The things I have control over here at the Postal Service, we have to do," he said, describing the cuts as a necessary business decision. "If we do nothing, we will have a death spiral."
The Postal Service initially announced in September it was studying the possibility of closing the processing centers and published a notice in the Federal Register seeking comments. Within 30 days, the plan elicited nearly 4,400 public comments, mostly in opposition.
Among them:
—Small-town mayors and legislators in states including Illinois, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania cited the economic harm if postal offices were to close, eliminating jobs and reducing service. Small-business owners in many other states also were worried.
"It's kind of a lifeline," said William C. Snodgrass, who owns a USave Pharmacy in North Platte, Neb., referring to next-day first-class delivery. His store mails hundreds of prescriptions a week to residents in mostly rural areas of the state that lack local pharmacies. If first-class delivery were lengthened to three days and Saturday mail service also were suspended, a resident might not get a shipment mailed on Wednesday until the following week.
"A lot of people in these communities are 65 or 70 years old, and transportation is an issue for them," said Snodgrass, who hasn't decided whether he will have to switch to a private carrier such as UPS for one-day delivery. That would mean passing along higher shipping costs to customers. "It's impossible for many of my customers to drive 100 miles, especially in the winter, to get the medications they need."
—ESPN The Magazine and Crain Communications, which prints some 27 trade and consumer publications, said delays to first-class delivery could ruin the value of their news. Their magazines are typically printed at week's end with mail arrival timed for weekend sports events or the Monday start of the work week. Newspapers, already struggling in the Internet age, also could suffer.
"No one wants to receive Tuesday's issue, containing news of Monday's events, on Wednesday," said Paul Boyle, a senior vice president of the Newspaper Association of America, which represents nearly 2,000 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. "Especially in rural areas where there might not be broadband access for Internet news, it will hurt the ability of newspapers to reach customers who pretty much rely on the printed newspaper to stay connected to their communities."
—AT&T, which mails approximately 55 million customer billing statements each month, wants assurances that the Postal Service will widely publicize and educate the public about changes to avoid confusion over delivery that might lead to delinquent payments. The company is also concerned that after extensive cuts the Postal Service might realize it cannot meet a relaxed standard of two-to-three day delivery.
Other companies standing to lose include Netflix, which offers monthly pricing plans for unlimited DVDs by mail, sent one disc or two at a time. Longer delivery times would mean fewer opportunities to receive discs each month, effectively a price increase. Netflix in recent months has been vigorously promoting its video streaming service as an alternative.
"DVD by mail may not last forever, but we want it to last as long as possible," Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said this year.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate committee that oversees the post office, believes the agency is taking the wrong approach. She says service cuts will only push more consumers to online bill payment or private carriers such as UPS or FedEx, leading to lower revenue in the future.
"Time and time again in the face of more red ink, the Postal Service puts forward ideas that could well accelerate its death spiral," she said, urging passage of a bill that would refund nearly $7 billion the Postal Service overpaid into a federal retirement fund, encourage a restructuring of health benefits and reduce the agency's annual payments into a retiree health account.
That measure would postpone a move to five-day-a-week mail delivery for at least two years and require additional layers of review before the agency closed postal branches and mail processing centers.
"The solution to the Postal Service's financial crisis is not easy but must involve tackling more significant expenses that do not drive customers," Collins said.
In the event of a shutdown due to bankruptcy, private companies such as FedEx and UPS could handle a small portion of the material the post office moves, but they do not go everywhere. No business has shown interest in delivering letters everywhere in the country for a set rate of 44 cents or 45 cents for a first-class letter.
Ruth Goldway, chair of the Postal Regulatory Commission, said the planned cuts could test the limits of the Postal Service's legal obligation to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price and quality. "It will have substantial cost savings, but it really does have the potential to change what the postal service is and its role in providing fast and efficient delivery of mail," she said.
___
Online:
Postal Service: https://www.usps.com
via news.yahoo.com
Sunday, December 4, 2011
The Best and Worst Reasons to Go Back to School - Yahoo! Education
The Best and Worst Reasons to Go Back to School
The Best and Worst Reasons to Go Back to SchoolThe Best and Worst Reasons to Go Back to SchoolThe Best and Worst Reasons to Go Back to School
Is higher education right for you? Before you decide, check out our list of best and worst reasons to go back to school.
By Terence Loose
Thinking of going back to school to advance your education? That could be a great move if it's done for the right reason. If done for the wrong reason...well, not so much.
Meredith Haberfeld, New York-based career and executive coach, says potential students need to carefully consider what they want their future to look like before returning to school.
"It's about figuring out what you love doing, how much you are committed to earning, and what careers and degrees match back to that," says Haberfeld.
Are you going back to school for the right reasons? Read on to see what experts say are some of the best and worst reasons to go back to school.
Worst Reason #1 - You Are Being Pushed by Someone to Do It
Going back to school should be a decision you make for yourself, not a decision someone makes for you.
"Personally, I think it's better for those students to, like that great quote in 'Pulp Fiction' says, 'Walk the earth like Kane in Kung-Fu' and figure out what they want," says Schneiderman.
In other words, he thinks letting someone else push you back to school is a terrible idea.
"What happens," he says, "is they end up being unsuccessful for their first couple semesters and once they have those poor grades on their transcripts, it's with them forever. Then, in a few years when they're ready and motivated to go back to school, they have those poor grades stuck with them."
So, make sure that you're going back to school because you want to, not because someone is pushing you to do it.
Still Think Going Back to School is Right for You? Click to Find the Right Degree Program.
Going back to school to help you reach your career goals is a terrific idea. But, if you're going back to school to earn a degree solely for a job - that's a problem.
A lot of people are desperate for a job right now, and as so many studies have shown, earning a college degree is linked to better employment rates. But remember, life is about more than a paycheck. Enjoying what you do is also vital to your health and happiness.
"Is business a great degree to have? Yes. But if you hate business it's a terrible degree to pursue," says Schneiderman. He's even seen students trying to earn a nursing degree who hate people and faint at the sight of blood. That's desperate - and a bad life choice.
Not knowing what you're going to do in terms of your career can be tough. But that doesn't mean that going back to school is the best solution.
"I can't tell you how many lawyers I work with who are three to 20 years out of law school and hate what they do, but went to law school thinking 'Well, I don't know what else to do,'" says Haberfeld. "They never really wanted to be a lawyer. Their thought process was 'What's something that will forward my future?'"
Before you decide to go back to school, do some research and see if the degree you're considering is really for you.
Haberfeld suggests talking to people who actually do the job you are thinking about pursuing. "Find out what they love about their job, what they hate about their job, what they actually do all day, what the culture of the industry is like, and then assess whether it's a match for you."
SCHOOL FINDER: Find local & online degrees now!
Best Reason #1 - You Want to Pursue a High-Growth Career
Being jobless is no fun, as 14 million Americans can attest. And with unemployment at 9.1 percent as of August 2011, doing what you can to get a job, and secure it, is important.
One way you could prepare to pursue a high-growth career is by going back to school to earn a relevant degree. At least, that's what the correlation between educational attainment and unemployment rates suggests.
Are You Ready to Go Back to School? Click to Find the Right Degree Program for You.
As of August 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor notes that high school grads with no college had an unemployment rate of 9.6 percent. Compare that to bachelor's degree holders, whose unemployment was at 4.3 percent, and pursuing higher education looks like a smart option.
What's more, a recent report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce projects that by 2018, "about two-thirds of all employment will require some college education or better."
Have you watched as the guy who couldn't sell TVs to a couch potato get a promotion instead of you, just because he finished college? You're not alone, according to Rob Schneiderman, a counselor at Southern California's Orange Coast College.
Schneiderman says that one of the most common reasons people go back to school is because they were passed over for a promotion due to their lack of degree.
Click to Find the Right School for You.
"And nowadays, with the bad economy, it's even worse," Schneiderman says."People with better skills than their colleagues are getting laid off because they don't have a degree."
So, if you're hoping to advance in your career, going back to school to upgrade your degree could be a great idea.
While there are many factors that go into finding - and qualifying for - a better-paying career, recent studies show that a college degree could greatly improve your chances.
Start Your Education. Find the Right School for You.
According to a 2011 second quarter survey of earnings by the U.S. Department of Labor, the median weekly income of a full-time worker with a high school diploma was $643. Compare that to the median weekly income of bachelor's degree holders - $1,141 - and you're talking almost $26,000 more per year.
As they say on the golf course, that's a lot of green in-between.
SCHOOL FINDER: Find local & online degrees now!
Next Article: Great Degrees for Going Back to School »<div><img src="http://a.analytics.yahoo.com/p.pl?a=10001399099462&js=no" width="1" height="1" alt="" /></div>
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)