AAA??Dec. 16, 2011?6:50 PM ET The fight: Tax cuts, jobless benefits and pipeline ALAN FRAMALAN FRAM, Associated Press DAVID ESPODAVID ESPO, Associated Press??
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., followed by House Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn of S.C. and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md. arrive for a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, where she criticized Republicans as being responsible for a "do-nothing Congress" . (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., followed by House Assistant Minority Leader James Clyburn of S.C. and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Md. arrive for a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, where she criticized Republicans as being responsible for a "do-nothing Congress" . (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, followed by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., strides into a GOP strategy session singing "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" on the morning after lawmakers from both political parties came together on an 11th-hour deal to keep the government from shutting down, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
President Barack Obama delivers remarks at the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, in National Harbor, Md. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, briefs reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, after lawmakers from both political parties came together on an 11th-hour deal to keep the government from shutting down. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. criticizes Republicans as being responsible for a "do-nothing Congress", Friday, Dec. 16, 2011, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate officials say negotiators are close to a deal for a two-month extension of Social Security payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. Both are due to expire at the end of the year.
The same package is also expected to require the Obama administration to make a speedy decision on the fate of a proposed oil pipeline from Canada to Texas that promises thousands of jobs.
If nailed down, the deal would come up for a vote in the Senate as soon as Saturday.
Majority Republican leaders in the House were not involved in the negotiations.
The developments came after the White House backed away from a veto threat that centered on the pipeline.
Associated PressNews Topics: Legislature, Energy and utilities regulation, Unemployment insurance, Government and politics, Industry regulation, Government business and finance, Business, Government regulations, Employment figures, Labor economy, Economy, Leading economic indicators
Facebook has decided Timeline is ready for the non-New Zealand population, and flipped the global switch: starting today, those still sans-Timeline "will receive a notification on their Profile if they want to 'Get Timeline' or they can visit www.facebook.com/about/timeline." Giddyup. More »
ScienceDaily (Dec. 14, 2011) ? Astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have discovered a gas cloud with several times the mass of Earth accelerating fast towards the black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. This is the first time ever that the approach of such a doomed cloud to a supermassive black hole has been observed. The results will be published in the 5 January 2012 issue of the journal Nature.
During a 20-year programme using ESO telescopes to monitor the movement of stars around the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy [1], a team of astronomers led by Reinhard Genzel at the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Garching, Germany, has discovered a unique new object fast approaching the black hole.
Over the last seven years, the speed of this object has nearly doubled, reaching more than 8 million km/h. It is on a very elongated orbit [2] and in mid-2013 it will pass at a distance of only about 40 billion kilometres from the event horizon of the black hole, a distance of about 36 light-hours [3]. This is an extremely close encounter with a supermassive black hole in astronomical terms.
This object is much cooler than the surrounding stars (only about 280 degrees Celsius), and is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium. It is a dusty, ionised gas cloud with a mass roughly three times that of Earth. The cloud is glowing under the strong ultraviolet radiation from the hot stars around it in the crowded heart of the Milky Way.
The current density of the cloud is much higher than the hot gas surrounding the black hole. But as the cloud gets ever closer to the hungry beast, increasing external pressure will compress the cloud. At the same time the huge gravitational pull from the black hole, which has a mass four million times that of the Sun, will continue to accelerate the inward motion and stretch the cloud out along its orbit.
"The idea of an astronaut close to a black hole being stretched out to resemble spaghetti is familiar from science fiction. But we can now see this happening for real to the newly discovered cloud. It is not going to survive the experience," explains Stefan Gillessen (MPE) the lead author of the paper.
The cloud's edges are already starting to shred and disrupt and it is expected to break up completely over the next few years [4]. The astronomers can already see clear signs of increasing disruption of the cloud over the period between 2008 and 2011.
The material is also expected to get much hotter as it nears the black hole in 2013 and it will probably start to give off X-rays. There is currently little material close to the black hole so the newly-arrived meal will be the dominant fuel for the black hole over the next few years.
One explanation for the formation of the cloud is that its material may have come from nearby young massive stars that are rapidly losing mass due to strong stellar winds. Such stars literally blow their gas away. Colliding stellar winds from a known double star in orbit around the central black hole may have led to the formation of the cloud.
"The next two years will be very interesting and should provide us with extremely valuable information on the behaviour of matter around such remarkable massive objects," concludes Reinhard Genzel.
Notes:
[1] The black hole at the centre of the Milky Way is formally known as Sgr A* (pronounced Sagittarius A star). It is the closest supermassive black hole known by far and hence is the best place to study black holes in detail.
[2] The observations were made using the NACO infrared adaptive optics camera and the SINFONI infrared spectrograph, both attached to the ESO Very Large Telescope in Chile. The centre of the Milky Way lies behind thick dust clouds that scatter and absorb visible light and must be observed at infrared wavelengths where the clouds are more transparent.
[3] A light-hour is the distance that light travels in one hour. It is a little more than the distance from the Sun to the planet Jupiter in the Solar System. For comparison the distance between the Sun and the nearest star is more than four light-years. The cloud will pass at less than ten times the distance from the Sun to Neptune from the black hole
[4] This effect well known from the physics of fluids and can be seen when for example pouring syrup in a glass of water. The flow of syrup downwards through the water will be disrupted and the droplet will break apart -- effectively diluting the syrup in the water.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by European Space Agency (ESA).
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
S. Gillessen, R. Genzel, T. K. Fritz, E. Quataert, C. Alig, A. Burkert, J. Cuadra, F. Eisenhauer, O. Pfuhl, K. Dodds-Eden, C. F. Gammie, T. Ott. A gas cloud on its way towards the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Centre. Nature, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/nature10652
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.
NEW YORK ? Rite Aid Corp.'s sales continued to grow in the fiscal third quarter as the drugstore operator signed up 3 million new members to its customer rewards program and administered more flu shots.
The third-largest U.S. drugstore chain reported a smaller third-quarter loss, and for the second straight quarter, it trimmed its projected loss for fiscal 2012
Its shares rose 5 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $1.19 in afternoon trading. The stock is up 35 percent in the year to date.
Rite Aid said Thursday it lost $54.5 million, or 6 cents per share, in the quarter ended Nov. 26. That compares to a loss of $81.5 million, or 9 cents per share, a year ago.
Revenue climbed nearly 2 percent to $6.31 billion from $6.2 billion.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected, on average, a loss of 12 cents per share on $6.29 billion in revenue.
Rite Aid has posted a string of quarterly losses dating to 2007, but its sales have improved in the past two quarters. The company is closing fewer stores after shuttering hundreds of locations over the last few years, and sales at its remaining locations have been growing for about a year.
The Camp Hill, Pa., company says it now has 47 million Wellness Plus members, who tend to shop at Rite Aid more often and spend more money than non-members. It launched the rewards program in April 2010.
During the quarter, the company converted more than 100 stores to a new wellness format which feature more organic food, natural personal care products and homeopathic medicines. Rite Aid now has 159 of those stores and expects to operate about 300 of them by the end of the fiscal year. It has been spending more money on store improvements and on Wellness Plus.
However, during the quarter Rite Aid reported lower expenses related to lease terminations and other items, and it deferred less revenue from Wellness Plus.
Rite Aid has delivered more than 1.4 million flu shots during the current flu season ? more than double the 675,000 it gave during the 2010-11 flu season even though this season has been milder than last year.
Rite Aid could pick up additional sales from larger competitor Walgreen Co., which is in the middle of a contract dispute with pharmacy benefits management company Express Scripts Inc. Express Scripts pays drugstores like Walgreen to fill prescriptions, but if the companies do not agree to a new contract in the next few weeks, Express Scripts clients won't be able to fill prescriptions at Walgreen stores.
Analysts say that could bring many new shoppers to Rite Aid and CVS Caremark Corp. stores. However, Rite Aid did not say how many new customers or how much revenue it might gain if Walgreen stops filling prescriptions for Express Scripts.
The company now expects a fiscal 2012 loss of between $325 million and $440 million, or 37 cents to 50 cents per share, on revenue ranging from $25.85 billion to $26 billion. Three months ago, Rite Aid cut its projected loss for the year to $345 million to $495 million, or 40 cents to 56 cents per share, on revenue of $25.8 billion to $26.1 billion.
Analysts expect a loss of 44 cents per share on $25.79 billion in revenue.
Rite Aid had 4,679 stores as of Nov. 26, down 62 from a year ago. The company expects to close about 25 stores during the fiscal fourth quarter. Rivals CVS and Walgreen both have well over 7,000 stores.
_____
Tom Murphy contributed to this story from Indianapolis.
Carolyn Cioffari took this photo during a 10-day tour of Iceland in September. Cioffari, who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., told TODAY.com in an email that the first half of the trip was overcast or rainy, "so it wasn't the best for photography, even though the landscape was incredible."
She had been traveling on Iceland's 830-mile Ring Road, the main route that circles the country, when she saw this abandoned farmhouse on her way to the fishing town of Hofn. She planned to capture the image the following day on her way back.
"The light was a bit flat, but it was just such a beautiful scene ... the decaying structures, the mountains, the vivid green grass, the horses," Cioffari said. "There is so much that's indescribable about the country, that it's a must-see, must-experience destination."
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$3 million awarded for research and training Public release date: 6-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Christian Basi BasiC@missouri.edu 573-882-4430 University of Missouri-Columbia
University will match the grant with $1.3 million
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- For years, scientists have used neutron scattering techniques to discover the molecular properties of materials. Technologies that have been developed using neutron scattering include new drugs, high-strength metals and cement, electronic and magnetic devices, and hydrogen storage materials. However, the United States is experiencing a shortage of scientists trained in these nuclear techniques. In an effort to combat the shortage, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $3 million grant to the University of Missouri to train current and future scientists and thus, help build a scientific foundation for future discoveries.
"MU's Research Reactor (MURR) is a unique facility on MU's campus that gives us a fantastic opportunity for training scientists to use the current neutron scattering techniques," said Haskell Taub, a professor of physics in the College of Arts and Science and director of the training program. "In our program, we'll focus on three areas of research and interdisciplinary study: the molecular structure and dynamics of biological materials; the characterization of materials used for electronic devices, such as lasers and computers; and the structure of nanoscale materials, such as gold nanoparticles that have many uses including cancer treatments."
Over the last several decades, the United States has invested nearly $2 billion for new facilities that have the capability to conduct neutron scattering experiments, but very few individuals are qualified to use the facilities, Taub said. Graduate students who are working toward their doctorates will have the opportunity to apply for the training program. Taub hopes to train up to 20 students during the five year program, which will provide $30,000 annual stipend plus tuition and fees.
The project will use problem-based learning in the courses, including hands-on training at MURR, and follow the guidelines of Mizzou's writing intensive courses. These two instructional methods have been recognized as strengths at MU. Taub hopes that graduates of the program will develop communication and organizational skills required to collaborate with scientific teams in different parts of the globe.
The research and training program will be a collaboration among four universities: Indiana University, North Carolina State University, and Fisk University, which is located in Nashville, Tenn. MU is the lead institution in the program. At MU, faculty from five departments -- physics, biochemistry, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, and biological sciences -- will participate in the program.
"We also will train faculty who have research that could benefit from neutron scattering, but are unfamiliar with the technique," Taub said. "Faculty who are trained in neutron scattering will partner with faculty from other departments who bring interesting science or engineering projects, but lack experience or expertise in neutron scattering. By doing this, we hope to expand the use of neutron scattering even further."
The grant is part of the NSF's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT) and is the first such award received by MU since the IGERT program began in 1998. MU was one of 18 universities to receive the award this year and will match the grant with $1.3 million. More than 410 proposals were submitted for the award.
"As Fisk University produces more African-American students who go on to earn doctoral degrees in the natural sciences than any other school in the nation, we are delighted to be partnering with MU in training our country's next generation of neutron scattering scientists," said Arnold Burger, professor of physics at Fisk University.
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$3 million awarded for research and training Public release date: 6-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Christian Basi BasiC@missouri.edu 573-882-4430 University of Missouri-Columbia
University will match the grant with $1.3 million
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- For years, scientists have used neutron scattering techniques to discover the molecular properties of materials. Technologies that have been developed using neutron scattering include new drugs, high-strength metals and cement, electronic and magnetic devices, and hydrogen storage materials. However, the United States is experiencing a shortage of scientists trained in these nuclear techniques. In an effort to combat the shortage, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $3 million grant to the University of Missouri to train current and future scientists and thus, help build a scientific foundation for future discoveries.
"MU's Research Reactor (MURR) is a unique facility on MU's campus that gives us a fantastic opportunity for training scientists to use the current neutron scattering techniques," said Haskell Taub, a professor of physics in the College of Arts and Science and director of the training program. "In our program, we'll focus on three areas of research and interdisciplinary study: the molecular structure and dynamics of biological materials; the characterization of materials used for electronic devices, such as lasers and computers; and the structure of nanoscale materials, such as gold nanoparticles that have many uses including cancer treatments."
Over the last several decades, the United States has invested nearly $2 billion for new facilities that have the capability to conduct neutron scattering experiments, but very few individuals are qualified to use the facilities, Taub said. Graduate students who are working toward their doctorates will have the opportunity to apply for the training program. Taub hopes to train up to 20 students during the five year program, which will provide $30,000 annual stipend plus tuition and fees.
The project will use problem-based learning in the courses, including hands-on training at MURR, and follow the guidelines of Mizzou's writing intensive courses. These two instructional methods have been recognized as strengths at MU. Taub hopes that graduates of the program will develop communication and organizational skills required to collaborate with scientific teams in different parts of the globe.
The research and training program will be a collaboration among four universities: Indiana University, North Carolina State University, and Fisk University, which is located in Nashville, Tenn. MU is the lead institution in the program. At MU, faculty from five departments -- physics, biochemistry, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical and aerospace engineering, and biological sciences -- will participate in the program.
"We also will train faculty who have research that could benefit from neutron scattering, but are unfamiliar with the technique," Taub said. "Faculty who are trained in neutron scattering will partner with faculty from other departments who bring interesting science or engineering projects, but lack experience or expertise in neutron scattering. By doing this, we hope to expand the use of neutron scattering even further."
The grant is part of the NSF's Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program (IGERT) and is the first such award received by MU since the IGERT program began in 1998. MU was one of 18 universities to receive the award this year and will match the grant with $1.3 million. More than 410 proposals were submitted for the award.
"As Fisk University produces more African-American students who go on to earn doctoral degrees in the natural sciences than any other school in the nation, we are delighted to be partnering with MU in training our country's next generation of neutron scattering scientists," said Arnold Burger, professor of physics at Fisk University.
###
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
DURBAN, South Africa ? The U.N.'s top climate scientist cautioned climate negotiators Wednesday that global warming is leading to human dangers and soaring financial costs, but containing carbon emissions will have a host of benefits.
Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, summarized a litany of potential disasters at a U.N. climate conference in the South African city of Durban. Although he gave no explicit deadlines, the implication was that time is running out for greenhouse gas emissions to level off and begin to decline.
Heat waves currently experienced once every 20 years will happen every other year by the end of this century, he said.
Coastal areas and islands are threatened with inundation by global warming, rain-reliant agriculture in Africa will shrink by half and many species will disappear. Within a decade, up to 250 million more people will face the stress of scarce water.
Increasingly frequent weather disasters have imposed heavy financial burdens, with some poor countries running up 90 percent of their national debt to deal with the aftermath of storms, droughts and floods, he said.
But the Indian scientist said "many impacts can be avoided, reduced or delayed" by reducing emissions.
To stabilize carbon concentrations in the atmosphere would slow economic growth by 0.12 percent per year, he said, but those costs would be offset by improved health, greater energy security and more secure food supplies.
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Public release date: 6-Dec-2011
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