Does the ?God particle? need to be renamed? (The Newsroom)

Hitchens (AP)

Christopher Hitchens, the author, writer and Vanity Fair contributing editor, has died, the magazine announced late Thursday. He was 62.

Hitchens, who had been battling esophageal cancer since early 2010, died at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, surrounded by friends, Vanity Fair said.

"There will never be another like Christopher," Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter said in a statement. "A man of ferocious intellect, who was as vibrant on the page as he was at the bar. Those who read him felt they knew him, and those who knew him were profoundly fortunate souls."

The brash, combative and provocative Hitchens was an "incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant," Vanity Fair's Juli Weiner wrote in one of what will assuredly be many memoriams in the next several hours.

His last book, "Hitch-22," was published shortly before his diagnosis, forcing him to cancel a book tour.

"I have been advised by my physician that I must undergo a course of chemotherapy on my esophagus," Hitchens wrote then. "This advice seems persuasive to me. I regret having had to cancel so many engagements at such short notice."

Yet, he continued to write about his fight with cancer--among other weighty topics--in the months that followed.

"Cancer victimhood contains a permanent temptation to be self-centered and even solipsistic," he wrote in Vanity Fair last year.

In June 2011, he observed: "My chief consolation in this year of living dyingly has been the presence of friends."

We'll post selections of remembrances from some of those friends, and obituaries, below. Check back here for updates.

Read More ?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/yahoonewsroom/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_newsroom/20111216/od_yblog_newsroom/does-the-god-particle-need-to-be-renamed

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Japan set to declare nuclear plant stable (AP)

TOKYO ? Japan's government was to declare Friday that the tsunami-devastated Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant had finally achieved a "cold shutdown," meaning it has stabilized and is no longer leaking substantial amounts of radiation.

The announcement would mark a big milestone nine months after the March 11 tsunami touched off a crisis at the plant and sent three of its reactors into meltdowns. Experts noted, however, that the facility remains vulnerable to more problems and will take decades of difficult and dangerous work to safely close down.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was to announce the government's assessment of conditions at the plant in a news conference later Friday.

The government's official endorsement of the claim by Tokyo Electric Power Co. that the reactors have reached cold shutdown status is a necessary step toward revising evacuation zones around the plant and focusing efforts from simply stabilizing the facility to actually starting the arduous process of shutting it down.

But the assessment has some important caveats.

The announcement is expected to say Fukushima has reached cold shutdown "conditions"_ a less definitive phrasing reflecting the fact that TEPCO cannot measure temperatures of melted fuel in the damaged reactors in the same way as with normally functioning ones. So the government also attached additional conditions to be met, including minimizing radiation leaks around the plant and taking backup safety measures to ensure Fukushima's wrecked reactors are safely cooled.

Even so, the announcement would mark the end of the second phase of the government's lengthy roadmap to completely decommission the plant, which is expected to take 30 years or more.

Officials can now start discussing whether to allow some evacuated residents who lived in areas with lesser damage from the plant to return home ? although a 12-mile (20-kilometer) zone around the plant is expected to remain off limits for years to come.

Some 100,000 people were displaced by the crisis.

A cold shutdown normally means a nuclear reactor's coolant system is at atmospheric pressure and the its reactor core is at a temperature below 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius), making it impossible for a chain reaction to take place.

According to TEPCO, temperature gauges inside the Fukushima reactors show the pressure vessel is at around 70 C (158 F). The government also says the amount of radiation now being released around the plant is at or below 1 millisievert per year ? equivalent to the annual legal exposure limit for ordinary citizens before the crisis began.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_re_as/as_japan_nuclear_crisis

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Nervous Gulf stresses unity amid Iran tensions (AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates ? It was a remark designed to send chills through Washington and its allies: an influential member of the Saudi royal family suggesting the kingdom could someday consider making its own atomic weapons if stuck between nuclear arsenals in Iran and Israel.

The comment at a Gulf security forum in Riyadh by Prince Turki al-Faisal ? who has served as intelligence chief and ambassador to the United States ? simply echoed Western fears about a runway arms race in the Middle East if Iran ever moves toward a nuclear warhead.

But it also reflects the hardening views among the Gulf Arab states that they must rely on themselves ? and not just Western protection ? as the showdowns with the Islamic Republic deepen.

In Kuwait, authorities are pressing ahead with several cases against alleged Iranian spies. Bahrain's rulers claim an Iran-linked cell sought to attack the Saudi Embassy and other key points.

The United Arab Emirates is close to finishing an oil pipeline that would connect directly to Indian Ocean shipping lanes and bypass the choke point of the Gulf's Strait of Hormuz, where Iran shares controls with Oman. The U.S., meanwhile, is proposing selling 600 "bunker-buster" bombs and other munitions to the UAE to counter what the Pentagon described as "current and future regional threats."

In meetings last week, Gulf envoys agreed to study proposals to pool their military forces into a region-wide command in an apparent reply to Iran's expanding land and sea powers.

"Iran represents the sum total of the fears for the Gulf leaders and they have decided they need to act decisively," said Theodore Karasik, a security expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

Few have pushed this point further than Prince Turki on Monday. He said that Iran's suspected quest for atomic weapons ? a claim Iran denies ? and Israel's presumed nuclear arsenal could force Saudi Arabia to follow suit. Most defense analysts believe Israel has nuclear weapons, but it has refused to either confirm or deny their existence.

"Therefore, it is our duty toward our nation and people to consider all possible options, including the possession of these weapons," Prince Turki was quoted as saying.

Gulf Arab states are desperate for Western help to derail Iran's nuclear advances. Iran, however, says it will never give up its nuclear program ? which it claims is only for power and research ? as a point of national pride and regional sway. That stance has likely only hardened as the Arab Spring uprisings threaten the regime in key ally Syria and as sanctions chip away at Iran's economy.

Gulf support, meanwhile, is considered critical for the West to help enforce stronger economic pressures on Iran following a report last month by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency that the Islamic Republic conducted secret weapons-related tests and could be on the brink of developing an atomic weapon.

"(Gulf states) are terrified of Iran and they are determined to reinforce the notion in Washington and the West that Iran is the boogeyman," said Christopher Davidson, an expert on Gulf affairs at Britain's Durham University.

They need little help to sell that point these days.

Iran's relations with Britain are on life support after protesters in Tehran last week stormed the British Embassy and a compound for diplomatic workers. Other European nations ? including key Iranian trade partner Germany ? recalled their ambassadors in solidarity.

Iran shows no signs of easing its defiance, though.

Iranian state media said the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard has put itself on higher readiness. It's an apparent bit of bluster after Iranian forces claimed to have shot down an advanced U.S. surveillance drone near its eastern border with Afghanistan. It's unclear whether the wreckage of the RQ-170 craft ? if it's in Iranian hands ? could yield important information about its stealth systems or reconnaissance equipment.

Last month, Iran also claimed it arrested 12 "agents" with links to the CIA and Israel's Mossad spy agency. Officials have given no further details to back up the report. But it could signal stepped-up probes into suspected clandestine cells after a devastating Nov. 12 blast at a military site that killed at least 21 people, including Gen. Hasan Tehrani Moghaddam, who was in charge of the country's missile program.

Iran has called the explosion an accident, but that hasn't squelched widespread speculation of possible sabotage to set back Iran's missile program. Iran has already pointed its finger at alleged Israel and U.S. involvement in the slayings last year of at least two scientists involved in nuclear research.

For Gulf states, there is a growing sense that Iran's bravado masks some obvious worries about being an overall loser in the Arab Spring. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have led calls for Arab League pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad ? one of Tehran's most important allies in the region ? in response to his brutal crackdown on dissent.

"The situation in the region is not in Iran's favor," said Mustafa Alani, an analyst at the Gulf Research Center. "So, for Iran, it may be time to remind the Gulf countries that Tehran is still capable of destabilizing the region."

Iran aimed one sharp warning at European-led proposals for trying to choke off Iran's oil exports. A statement this week from Iran's Foreign Ministry suggested crude oil prices could more than double to a record $250 a barrel if the flow was cut from OPEC's third-largest producer ? which supplies fast-growing China with about 10 percent of its current energy needs.

The Iranian threat did little to rattle markets. But the Gulf's oil security was clearly on the minds of officials at a major petroleum gathering this week in Qatar.

Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, opened the conference Monday by trying to calm any jitters over growing friction with Iran.

"I want to point to the numerous assurances by oil and gas exporting countries of their commitment to maintain the flow of these two resources to the consumers, and to exert every effort to fulfill this especially during crises," he said.

Olivier Jakob, an oil analyst at Petromatrix in Switzerland, said even a substantial disruption of Iranian supplies ? such as through an EU-wide ban ? isn't likely to cause a massive spike in global oil prices.

"The talk of $250 a barrel, that's part of the usual noise created by Iran. It's not the first time," he said. "For that to happen, you need to have a worldwide ban," which is still far from becoming a reality, he added.

He noted that existing non-EU Iranian customers such as Turkey are unlikely to ban Iranian oil. Other Iranian supplies could shift to the Far East, particularly if Tehran decided to cut its prices significantly to entice non-Western customers.

"Those other countries can still take it. Then it's really a question of how much of a discount Iran is willing to take. ... At $110 a barrel Iran can give a pretty hefty discount," he said.

In Dubai, which has close trade ties with Iran, ruler Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum broke ranks somewhat with his Gulf allies by suggesting the world listen closer to Iran's claims about not seeking nuclear arms.

"I don't believe that Iran will be under the nuclear weapon ... I don't think so myself," he said in an interview with CNN broadcast Monday. What can Iran do with a nuclear weapon? For example, will they hit Israel? How many Palestinians will die? And you think ... if Iran hit Israel, their cities will be safe? They will be gone (the) next day."

___

Associated Press writer Adam Schreck contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111206/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_gulf_uneasy_over_iran

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Sharp decline in pollution from U.S. coal power plants, NASA satellite confirms

ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2011) ? A team of scientists have used the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite to confirm major reductions in the levels of a key air pollutant generated by coal power plants in the eastern United States. The pollutant, sulfur dioxide, contributes to the formation of acid rain and can cause serious health problems.

The scientists, led by an Environment Canada researcher, have shown that sulfur dioxide levels in the vicinity of major coal power plants have fallen by nearly half since 2005. The new findings, the first satellite observations of this type, confirm ground-based measurements of declining sulfur dioxide levels and demonstrate that scientists can potentially measure levels of harmful emissions throughout the world, even in places where ground monitoring is not extensive or does not exist. About two-thirds of sulfur dioxide pollution in American air comes from coal power plants. Geophysical Research Letters published details of the new research this month.

The scientists attribute the decline in sulfur dioxide to the Clean Air Interstate Rule, a rule passed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 that called for deep cuts in sulfur dioxide emissions. In response to that rule, many power plants in the United States have installed desulfurization devices and taken other steps that limit the release of sulfur dioxide. The rule put a cap on emissions, but left it up to power companies to determine how to reduce emissions and allowed companies to trade pollution credits.

While scientists have used the Ozone Monitoring Instrument to observe sulfur dioxide levels within large plumes of volcanic ash and over heavily polluted parts of China in the past, this is the first time they have observed such subtle details over the United States, a region of the world that in comparison to fast-growing parts of Asia now has relatively modest sulfur dioxide emissions. Just a few decades ago, sulfur dioxide pollution was quite severe in the United States. Levels of the pollutant have dropped by about 75 percent since the 1980s due largely to the passage of the Clean Air Act.

Vitali Fioletov, a scientist based in Toronto at Environment Canada, and his colleagues developed a new mathematical approach that made the improved measurements a reality. The approach centers on averaging measurements within a 30 miles radius (50 km) of a sulfur dioxide source over several years. "Vitali has developed an extremely powerful technique that makes it possible to detect emissions even when levels of sulfur dioxide are about four times lower than what we could detect previously," said Nickolay Krotkov, a researcher based at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and a coauthor of the new paper.

The technique allowed Fioletov and his colleagues to pinpoint the sulfur dioxide signals from the 40 largest sulfur dioxide sources in the United States -- generally coal power plants that emit more than 70 kilotons of sulfur dioxide per year. The scientists observed major declines in sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia by comparing levels of the pollutant for an average of the period 2005 to 2007 with another average from 2008 to 2010.

"What we're seeing in these satellite observations represents a major environmental accomplishment," said Bryan Bloomer, an Environmental Protection Agency scientist familiar with the new satellite observations. "This is a huge success story for the EPA and the Clean Air Interstate Rule," he said.

The researchers focused their analysis on the United States to take advantage of the presence of a robust network of ground-based instruments that monitor sulfur dioxide emissions inside power plant smokestacks. The ground-based instruments have logged a 46 percent decline in sulfur dioxide levels since 2005 -- a finding consistent with the 40 percent reduction observed by OMI.

"Now that we've confirmed that the technique works, the next step is to use it for other parts of the world that don't have ground-based sensors," said Krotkov. "The real beauty of using satellites is that we can apply the same technique to the entire globe in a consistent way." In addition, the team plans to use a similar technique to monitor other important pollutants that coal power plants release, such as nitrogen dioxide, a precursor to ozone.

OMI, a Dutch and Finnish built instrument, was launched in 2004, as one of four instruments on the NASA Aura satellite, and can measure sulfur dioxide more accurately than any satellite instrument flown to date. Though OMI remains in very good condition and scientists expect it to continue producing high-quality data for many years, the researchers also hope to use data from an upcoming Dutch-built OMI follow-on instrument called TROPOMI that is expected to launch on a European Space Agency satellite in 2014.

On July 6, 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), requiring 27 states to significantly reduce power plant emissions that contribute to ozone and fine particle pollution in other states. This rule replaces EPA's 2005 Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). A December 2008 court decision kept the requirements of CAIR in place temporarily but directed EPA to issue a new rule to implement Clean Air Act requirements concerning the transport of air pollution across state boundaries. This action responds to the court's concerns.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. V. E. Fioletov, C. A. McLinden, N. Krotkov, M. D. Moran, K. Yang. Estimation of SO₂ emissions using OMI retrievals. Geophysical Research Letters, 2011; 38 (21) DOI: 10.1029/2011GL049402

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111201163608.htm

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Roger Ebert says show in going on hiatus (AP)

CHICAGO ? Movie critic Roger Ebert says the public television program "Ebert Presents: At The Movies" will go on hiatus at the end of December.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning critic wrote on his blog Wednesday the move is necessary to allow the public television stations that carry the show to plan their programs for the beginning of the new year.

Ebert wrote that although it is distributed by American Public Television to all 50 top markets, he hasn't been able to line up additional funding for the show.

The show is hosted by Associated Press movie reviewer Christy Lemire and Mubi.com film critic Ignatiy Vishnevetsky.

Ebert wrote that he and his producer wife, Chaz, really believe in the show and its mission to "provide an intelligent place for the discussion of movies ..."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_en_mo/us_ebert_at_the_movies

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Red and Blue (Poliblogger)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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Congress, White House at odds over defense bill (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Congress and the White House are headed for a showdown over a massive, $662 billion defense bill that would require the military to hold suspected terrorists linked to al-Qaida or its affiliates, even those captured on U.S. soil, and detain some indefinitely without trial.

The Senate voted 93-7 Thursday night for the legislation, which must be reconciled with a House-passed version in the closing days of the session. The White House has threatened a veto of the Senate bill over the policies on handling terror suspects and has criticized similar provisions in the House bill.

Overall, the bill would authorize money for military personnel, weapons systems, national security programs in the Energy Department, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. Reflecting a period of austerity and a winding down of decade-old conflicts, the bill is $27 billion less than President Barack Obama requested and $43 billion less than Congress gave the Pentagon this year.

In a resounding vote, the Senate unanimously backed an amendment to impose harsh sanctions on Iran as fears about Tehran developing a nuclear weapon outweighed concerns about driving up oil prices that would hit economically strapped Americans at the gas pump.

"Iran's actions are unacceptable and pose a danger to the United States and the entire world," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

In an escalating fight with the White House, the bill would ramp up the role of the military in handling terror suspects. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and FBI Director Robert Mueller both oppose the provisions as does the White House, which said it cannot accept any legislation that "challenges or constrains the president's authorities to collect intelligence, incapacitate dangerous terrorists and protect the nation."

Late Thursday, a White House official said the veto threat still stands.

The bill would require military custody of a suspect deemed to be a member of al-Qaida or its affiliates and involved in plotting or committing attacks on the United States. American citizens would be exempt. The bill does allow the executive branch to waive the authority based on national security and hold a suspect in civilian custody.

The legislation also would deny suspected terrorists, even U.S. citizens seized within the nation's borders, the right to trial and subject them to indefinite detention.

The series of detention provisions challenges citizens' constitutional rights, tests the boundaries of executive and legislative branch authority and sets up a confrontation with the Democratic commander in chief. Civil rights groups fiercely oppose the bill.

"The bill is an historic threat to American citizens and others because it expands and makes permanent the authority of the president to order the military to imprison without charge or trial American citizens," said Christopher Anders, ACLU senior legislative counsel.

The bill reflects the politically charged dispute over whether to treat suspected terrorists as prisoners of war or criminals. The administration insists that the military, law enforcement and intelligence agents need flexibility in prosecuting the war on terror after they've succeeded in killing Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki.

Republicans counter that their efforts are necessary to respond to an evolving, post-Sept. 11 threat, and that Obama has failed to produce a consistent policy on handling terror suspects.

The House-passed bill would limit Obama's authority to transfer terrorist suspects from the U.S. naval facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to installations in the United States, even for trial. It also would make it difficult for the administration to move detainees to foreign countries.

On Iran, Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., had widespread bipartisan support for their amendment, which would target foreign financial institutions that do business with the Central Bank, barring them from opening or maintaining correspondent operations in the United States. It would apply to foreign central banks only for transactions that involve the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products.

The sanctions on petroleum would only apply if the president determines there is a sufficient alternative supply and if the country with jurisdiction over the financial institution has not significantly reduced its purchases of Iranian oil.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_defense

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