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Today's Topics:
1. Space to Earth: the sun is flaring up (Greg Williams)
2. Space to Earth: the sun is flaring up - Full article
(Greg Williams)
3. Severe storms kill one, damage hundreds of homes in Minnesota
(Rob)
4. Personalized service may be key to success of Internet-TV
links (Monty Solomon)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 03:08:54 -0400
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Space to Earth: the sun is flaring up
To: Media News <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
Space to Earth: the sun is flaring up
Jonathan Leake, Science Editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2361439,00.html
Satellites to give early warning of solar explosions that cause
electrical chaos
HUMANITY is about to get its first early-warning system against solar
flares, the massive explosions that periodically erupt from the sun,
with the launch of three satellites to study the phenomenon.
Such flares ? also known as coronal mass ejections ? can release as much
energy as a billion megatons of TNT or 300,000 power stations.
They are so powerful that they can wipe out communication satellites,
disrupt aviation, bring down power grids and, potentially, kill astronauts.
However, despite the disruption they can cause, scientists have until
now found them impossible to predict.
This week a consortium of the world?s space research agencies is due to
launch Solar B, the first of three satellites designed to study such
flares ? and create the first early-warning system against them. Next
month two more probes, the so-called Stereo mission, should follow Solar
B into space.
?Currently, solar flares can cause huge damage with very little
warning,? said Chris Davis of Britain?s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory,
which is involved with both projects. ?With these satellites we might
predict them days beforehand and be prepared.?
Solar B, built by teams from Britain, America and Japan, is due to be
launched on September 22 from the Uchinoura space centre in southern
Japan. Its three instruments will try to find out what happens on the
sun?s surface just before solar flares erupt. One of them, a telescope
built by a team from University College London (UCL), will watch the
sun?s atmosphere for signs suggesting the surface is building up to an
explosion.
?Solar flares are fast and furious and can cause communication blackouts
on Earth within 30 minutes of erupting from the sun?s surface,? said
Professor Louise Harra, the UK Solar B project scientist based at UCL?s
Mullard Space Science Laboratory. ?It is imperative that we understand
what triggers these events.?
The two Stereo probes, built and launched by Nasa, the American space
agency, but also carrying British instruments, will have the
complementary task of observing what happens to solar flares once they
erupt into space.
If a flare appears to be heading for Earth, the probes will trigger
alerts so satellites can be prepared for the blast.
The Stereo satellites will be launched together in a single rocket, but
once in space they will move apart. Chris Eyles of Birmingham
University, said: ?One spacecraft will move ahead of the Earth, the
other lag behind. The resulting offset will allow the two spacecraft to
have stereo vision such as humans have.?
It also means the spacecraft will be able to generate high-quality
three-dimensional ?movies? of solar flares. If these are good enough
they could be turned into Imax-style films and put on general release.
Solar flares are generated by the bizarre way in which the sun rotates,
with its equator spinning every 25 days ? while the poles take five days
longer. This difference in speed slowly twists the sun?s powerful
magnetic fields into giant knots. As these distortions build up, the
magnetic forces become concentrated in certain parts of the sun?s
surface, bottling up its red-hot plasma and radiation and so creating
cooler areas known as sun spots.
Eventually, the repressed energy bursts out, resulting in an explosion
of radiation, high-energy particles and associated magnetic fields that
hurtle into space at millions of miles an hour.
--
Greg Williams
K4HSM
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.etskywarn.net
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 03:11:11 -0400
From: Greg Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Space to Earth: the sun is flaring up - Full
article
To: Media News <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
Space to Earth: the sun is flaring up
Jonathan Leake, Science Editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2361439,00.html
Satellites to give early warning of solar explosions that cause
electrical chaos
HUMANITY is about to get its first early-warning system against solar
flares, the massive explosions that periodically erupt from the sun,
with the launch of three satellites to study the phenomenon.
Such flares ? also known as coronal mass ejections ? can release as much
energy as a billion megatons of TNT or 300,000 power stations.
They are so powerful that they can wipe out communication satellites,
disrupt aviation, bring down power grids and, potentially, kill astronauts.
However, despite the disruption they can cause, scientists have until
now found them impossible to predict.
This week a consortium of the world?s space research agencies is due to
launch Solar B, the first of three satellites designed to study such
flares ? and create the first early-warning system against them. Next
month two more probes, the so-called Stereo mission, should follow Solar
B into space.
?Currently, solar flares can cause huge damage with very little
warning,? said Chris Davis of Britain?s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory,
which is involved with both projects. ?With these satellites we might
predict them days beforehand and be prepared.?
Solar B, built by teams from Britain, America and Japan, is due to be
launched on September 22 from the Uchinoura space centre in southern
Japan. Its three instruments will try to find out what happens on the
sun?s surface just before solar flares erupt. One of them, a telescope
built by a team from University College London (UCL), will watch the
sun?s atmosphere for signs suggesting the surface is building up to an
explosion.
?Solar flares are fast and furious and can cause communication blackouts
on Earth within 30 minutes of erupting from the sun?s surface,? said
Professor Louise Harra, the UK Solar B project scientist based at UCL?s
Mullard Space Science Laboratory. ?It is imperative that we understand
what triggers these events.?
The two Stereo probes, built and launched by Nasa, the American space
agency, but also carrying British instruments, will have the
complementary task of observing what happens to solar flares once they
erupt into space.
If a flare appears to be heading for Earth, the probes will trigger
alerts so satellites can be prepared for the blast.
The Stereo satellites will be launched together in a single rocket, but
once in space they will move apart. Chris Eyles of Birmingham
University, said: ?One spacecraft will move ahead of the Earth, the
other lag behind. The resulting offset will allow the two spacecraft to
have stereo vision such as humans have.?
It also means the spacecraft will be able to generate high-quality
three-dimensional ?movies? of solar flares. If these are good enough
they could be turned into Imax-style films and put on general release.
Solar flares are generated by the bizarre way in which the sun rotates,
with its equator spinning every 25 days ? while the poles take five days
longer. This difference in speed slowly twists the sun?s powerful
magnetic fields into giant knots. As these distortions build up, the
magnetic forces become concentrated in certain parts of the sun?s
surface, bottling up its red-hot plasma and radiation and so creating
cooler areas known as sun spots.
Eventually, the repressed energy bursts out, resulting in an explosion
of radiation, high-energy particles and associated magnetic fields that
hurtle into space at millions of miles an hour.
Earth?s magnetic fields protect humanity from the direct effects of such
storms, but growing dependence on satellites for communication and
navigation means that a massive solar flare could spell disaster.
The collapse of satellite links could lead to a meltdown in stock
markets and endanger aircraft and ships that depend on global
positioning systems.
One of the most powerful solar flares on record happened in September
1859, when the sun doubled its brightness for some minutes. The surge in
magnetism induced powerful electrical currents in telegraph wires across
Europe, igniting widespread fires.
That event was three times more powerful than the strongest solar flare,
or space storm, in modern memory, which occurred in 1989, but even that
was able to burn out power cables and black out Quebec.
The Apollo moon programme narrowly escaped disaster in 1972 when a solar
flare erupted just as one crew had returned from the moon and another
was preparing for launch.
If it had happened during a mission the astronauts would have received a
potentially fatal dose of radiation.
Professor Keith Mason, chief executive of Britain?s Particle Physics and
Astronomy Research Council, said: ?Predicting the timing and strength of
solar eruptions is becoming vital and these observatories will be
Earth?s new sentinels.?
--
Greg Williams
K4HSM
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.twiar.org
http://www.etskywarn.net
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2006 14:09:07 -0500
From: Rob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Severe storms kill one, damage hundreds of homes
in Minnesota
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], Dean <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Tom and
Darryl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Media News
<medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
Severe storms kill one, damage hundreds of homes in Minnesota
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/stormcenter/2006-09-17-Minn-storms_x.htm?csp=34
ROGERS, Minn. (AP) ? A 10-year-old girl died after a house collapsed on
her when severe storms swept through Rogers, Minn., damaging hundreds of
homes and scattering debris across the city, officials said Sunday.
Rogers is about 20 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
The girl was at a neighbor's house with her 19-year-old brother at about
10 p.m. Saturday, when the house collapsed on her, Police Chief Keith
Oldfather said.
Oldfather got an aerial view of the damage Sunday morning.
"It's more severe than we thought," he said, adding that between 200 and
300 homes sustained "pretty significant damage."
The damage was still being assessed Sunday morning, and Gov. Tim
Pawlenty was also expected to view the area. The storm ripped through
homes and buildings, downed power lines and blew roofs and garage doors
off of houses.
"It just came out of nowhere and really did a lot of damage," he said.
At one point, Xcel Energy reported 10,000 customers without power in Rogers.
The storm also injured seven other people. Two remained hospitalized
Sunday morning with injuries that were not life-threatening, WCCO-AM
reported.
The National Weather Service planned to view the damage to determine
whether it was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds.
When the storm hit, the 10-year-old girl was with her 19-year-old
brother, who was baby-sitting two neighbor boys: 12-year-old Ryan Heibel
and his little brother, 6-year-old Jakob.
Ryan Heibel told the Star Tribune that everyone was on the first floor
when all of the sudden there was a "huge boom." He said he couldn't see
anything but felt a weight on him. It was the weight of the collapsed
house. Ryan said the baby sitter was yelling and calling him to get up.
Ryan said he saw a light and was able to get out of the house. The boys'
mother and father were at a friend's house in Crystal at the time. Their
mother, Beth, could hear screaming and commotion when she picked up
their voicemail messages on her cellphone. The boys said they did not
hear sirens. Oldfather could not confirm whether the sirens activated
before the storm, but he told the Associated Press they were going off
when he arrived on the scene.
Other people also said they got little or no warning.
"We were just falling asleep, heard a popping sound and yelled 'Get
downstairs!'" said Darrin Zachman, who lives in North Ridge development
in Rogers.
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 00:05:20 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Personalized service may be key to success of
Internet-TV links
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Personalized service may be key to success of Internet-TV links
By Scott Kirsner | September 17, 2006
Ever since Steve Jobs began prefacing Apple's product names with a
lower-case ``i," with the introduction of the turquoise iMac desktop
computer in 1998, the company has been on a tear. The iPod upstaged
every digital music player that preceded it, and the accompanying
iTunes Music Store made it cool to purchase music legally online.
But was Apple's disclosure of iTV last week the first step toward
reinventing television? The company's $299 set-top device, designed
to wirelessly connect the television with a Mac or PC, won't be
available until early next year, but expectations are high that Apple
will create a new viewing experience by linking the TV with the
digital realm.
Plenty of other companies have tried to forge that link, without much
success. Microsoft introduced its Windows Media Center Edition in
2002, a version of its operating system designed to turn a PC sitting
next to the television into a DVD player, digital video recorder,
music library, and gateway to the Internet. Akimbo Systems of San
Mateo, Calif., introduced an Internet-connected set-top box in 2004,
and TiVo has made video from the Web available on its devices, in
part through a partnership with Brightcove, a Cambridge start-up.
But consumers may not feel like there's something lacking on the
small screen. Apple is proposing to deliver primarily new and old TV
shows and movies like NBC's ``The Office" or Disney's ``The English
Patient," but that's content readily available at video stores, via
Netflix, recorded on a digital video recorder, or purchased from a
cable video-on-demand service.
...
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/09/17/personalized_service_may_be_key_to_success_of_internet_tv_links/
------------------------------
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End of Medianews Digest, Vol 34, Issue 1
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