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PASADENA, Calif.—The International Astronomical Union (IAU) today downgraded the status of Pluto to that of a "dwarf planet," a designation that will also be applied to the spherical body discovered last year by California Institute of Technology planetary scientist Mike Brown and his colleagues. The decision means that only the rocky worlds of the inner solar system and the gas giants of the outer system will hereafter be designated as planets.
The ruling effectively settles a year-long controversy about whether the spherical body announced last year and informally named "Xena" would rise to planetary status. Somewhat larger than Pluto, the body has been informally known as Xena since the formal announcement of its discovery on July 29, 2005, by Brown and his co-discoverers, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory and David Rabinowitz of Yale University. Xena will now be known as the largest dwarf planet.
"I'm of course disappointed that Xena will not be the tenth planet, but I definitely support the IAU in this difficult and courageous decision," said Brown. "It is scientifically the right thing to do, and is a great step forward in astronomy.
"Pluto would never be considered a planet if it were discovered today, and I think the fact that we've now found one Kuiper-belt object bigger than Pluto underscores its shaky status."
Pluto was discovered in 1930. Because of its size and distance from Earth, astronomers had no idea of its composition or other characteristics at the time. But having no reason to think that many other similar bodies would eventually be found in the outer reaches of the solar system—or that a new type of body even existed in the region—they assumed that designating the new discover as the ninth planet was a scientifically accurate decision.
However, about two decades later, the famed astronomer Gerard Kuiper postulated that a region in the outer solar system could house a gigantic number of comet-like objects too faint to be seen with the telescopes of the day. The Kuiper belt, as it came to be called, was demonstrated to exist in the 1990s, and astronomers have been finding objects of varying size in the region ever since.
Few if any astronomers had previously called for the Kuiper-belt objects to be called planets, because most were significantly smaller than Pluto. But the announcement of Xena's discovery raised a new need for a more precise definition of which objects are planets and which are not.
According to Brown, the decision will pose a difficulty for a public that has been accustomed to thinking for the last 75 years that the solar system has nine planets.
"It's going to be a difficult thing to accept at first, but we will accept it eventually, and that's the right scientific and cultural thing to do," Brown says.
In fact, the public has had some experience with the demotion of a planet in the past, although not in living memory. Astronomers discovered the asteroid Ceres on January 1, 1801—literally at the turn of the 19th century. Having no reason to suspect that a new class of celestial object had been found, scientists designated it the eighth planet (Uranus having been discovered some 20 years earlier).
Soon several other asteroids were discovered, and these, too, were summarily designated as newly found planets. But when astronomers continued finding numerous other asteroids in the region (there are thought to be hundreds of thousands), the astronomical community in the early 1850s demoted Ceres and the others and coined the new term "minor planet."
Xena was discovered on January 8, 2005, at Palomar Observatory with the NASA-funded 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope. Xena is about 2,400 kilometers in diameter. A Kuiper-belt object like Pluto, but slightly less reddish-yellow, Xena is currently visible in the constellation Cetus to anyone with a top-quality amateur telescope.
Brown and his colleagues in late September announced that Xena has at least one moon. This body has been nicknamed Gabrielle, after Xena's sidekick on the television series.
Xena is currently about 97 astronomical units from the sun (an astronomical unit is the distance between the sun and Earth), which means that it is some nine billion miles away at present. Xena is on a highly elliptical 560-year orbit, sweeping in as close to the sun as 38 astronomical units. Currently, however, it is nearly as far away as it ever gets.
Pluto's own elliptical orbit takes it as far away as 50 astronomical units from the sun during its 250-year revolution. This means that Xena is sometimes much closer to Earth than Pluto—although never closer than Neptune.
Gabrielle is about 250 kilometers in diameter and reflects only about 1 percent of the sunlight that its parent reflects. Because of its small size, Gabrielle could be oddly shaped.
Brown says that the study of Gabrielle's orbit around Xena hasn't yet been fully completed. But once it is, the researchers will be able to derive the mass of Xena itself from Gabrielle's orbit. This information will lead to new insights on Xena's composition.
Based on spectral data, the researchers think Xena is covered with a layer of methane that has seeped from the interior and frozen on the surface. As in the case of Pluto, the methane has undergone chemical transformations, probably due to the faint solar radiation, that have caused the methane layer to redden. But the methane surface on Xena is somewhat more yellowish than the reddish-yellow surface of Pluto, perhaps because Xena is farther from the sun.
Brown and Trujillo first photographed Xena with the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope on October 31, 2003. However, the object was so far away that its motion was not detected until they reanalyzed the data in January of 2005.
The search for new planets and other bodies in the Kuiper belt is funded by NASA. For more information on the program, see the Samuel Oschin Telescope's website at http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomarnew/sot.html.
For more information on Mike Brown's research, see http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown.
PASADENA, Calif.—Although the magnitude 8.7 Nias-Simeulue earthquake of March 28, 2005, was technically an aftershock, the temblor nevertheless killed more than 2,000 people in an area that had been devastated just three months earlier by the December 2004, magnitude 9.1 earthquake. Now, data returned from instruments in the field provide constraints on the behavior of dangerous faults in subduction zones, fueling a new understanding of basic mechanics controlling slip on faults, and in turn, improved estimates of regional seismic risk.
In the June 30 issue of the journal Science, a team including Ya-Ju Hsu, Mark Simons, and others of the California Institute of Technology's new Tectonics Observatory and the University of California, San Diego, report that their analysis of Global Positioning System (GPS) data taken at the time of the earthquake and during the following 11 months provide insights into how fault slippage and aftershock production are related.
"In general, the largest earthquakes occur in subduction zones, such as those offshore of Indonesia, Japan, Alaska, Cascadia, and South America," says Hsu, a postdoctoral researcher at the Tectonics Observatory and lead author of the paper. "Of course, these earthquakes can be extremely damaging either directly, or by the resulting tsunami.
"Therefore, understanding what causes the rate of production of aftershocks is clearly important to earthquake physics and disaster response," Hsu adds.
The study finds that the regions on the fault surrounding the area that slipped during the 8.7 earthquake experienced accelerated rates of slip following the March shock. The region dividing the area that slipped during the earthquake, and that which has slipped after the earthquake, is clearly demarcated by a band of intense aftershocks.
A primary conclusion of the paper is that there is a strong relationship between the production of aftershocks and post-earthquake fault slip-in other words, the frequency and location of aftershocks in a subduction megathrust are related to the amount and location of fault slip in the months following the main earthquake. Hsu and her colleagues believe that the aftershocks are controlled by the rate of aseismic fault slip after the earthquake.
"One conjecture is that, if the aseismic fault slip occurs quickly, then lots of aftershocks are produced," says Simons, an associate professor of geophysics at Caltech. "But there are other arguments suggesting that both the aftershocks and the post-earthquake aseismic fault slip are caused by some third underlying process."
In any case, Simons and Hsu say that the study demonstrates that the placing of additional remote sensors in subduction zones leads to better modeling of earthquake hazards. In particular, the study shows that the rheology, or mechanical properties, of the region can be inferred from the accumulation of postseismic data.
A map of the region constructed from the GPS data reveals that certain areas slip in different manners than others because some parts of the fault seem to be more "sticky." Because of the nature of seismic waves, the manner in which the fault slips in the months following a large earthquake has huge implications for human habitation.
"An important question is how slip on a fault varies as a function of time," Simons explains. "The extent to which an area slips is related to the risk, because you have a finite budget. Whether all the stress is released during earthquakes or whether it creeps is important for us to know. We would be very happy if all faults slipped as a slow creep, although I guess seismologists would be out of work."
The fact that the Nias-Simeulue's postseismic slip following the December 28, 2004, earthquake can be modeled so intricately shows that other subduction zones can also be modeled, Hsu says. "In general, understanding the whole seismic cycle is very important. Most of the expected hazards of earthquakes occur in subduction zones."
The Tectonics Observatory is establishing a network of sensors in areas of active plate-boundary deformation such as Chile and Peru, the Kuril Islands off Japan, and Nepal. The observatory is supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
The other authors of the paper are Jean-Philippe Avouac, a professor of geology at Caltech and director of the Tectonics Observatory; Kerry Sieh, the Sharp Professor of Geology at Caltech; John Galetzka, a professional staff member at Caltech; Mohamed Chlieh, a postdoctoral scholar at Caltech; Danny Natawidjaja of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences; and Linette Prawfrodirdjo and Yehuda Bock, both of the University of California at San Diego's Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences.
PASADENA, Calif.—To paraphrase a certain young lady from literature, the tenth planet Xena is getting curiouser and curiouser. Data released today by the Space Telescope Science Institute reveals that Xena is about 5 percent larger than Pluto, which means that it must be the most reflective planet in the solar system.
According to Mike Brown, a California Institute of Technology planetary scientist who codiscovered Xena last year, the Hubble Space Telescope measurement shows that Xena is about 2,400 kilometers in diameter, give or take 100 kilometers. The planet's smaller-than-expected size, together with its distance from Earth and its brightness, mean that Xena must reflect 86 percent of all light.
"This makes it more reflective than the nine known planets, and more reflective than everything else other than Enceladus," explains Brown. Enceladus is a moon orbiting Saturn.
Brown and his colleagues, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory and David Rabinowitz of Yale University, publicly announced the discovery of Xena on July 29, 2005. Their argument from the beginning has been that Xena deserves to be formally declared the tenth planet because it is larger than Pluto. If the designation is approved by the International Astronomical Union, Xena will assume a formal new name that will presumably be taken from Greek or Roman mythology, and will become only the fourth planet to have been discovered in historical times.
Also designated as 2003 UB313, Xena was originally found by Brown, Trujillo, and Rabinowitz with the NASA-funded 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope at Caltech's Palomar Observatory. Like its nine siblings, Xena independently orbits the sun, and like Pluto, is a Kuiper-belt object.
Brown says the high reflectivity of Xena is surprising, but perhaps explainable. "I think what is going on, is that the temperature of Xena-which is about minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit-causes the atmosphere to be frozen to the surface. This frozen atmosphere would make a nice, bright layer a few inches thick.
"When Xena gets closer to the sun and heats up to a sultry 370 degrees below zero, the frozen atmosphere probably re-evaporates and the surface probably looks more like Pluto for a time. But Xena is currently 10 billion miles from the sun, and because of its distance is about as cold as it ever gets."
The situation will change, however, when Xena approaches closer to the sun on its 560-year elliptical orbit. Though we won't live to see it, Xena will eventually get within 38 astronomical units of Earth (in other words, 38 times the distance between the sun and Earth), and things will heat up significantly.
"Xena is about to undergo the worst case of global warming of any planet in the solar system," says Brown. "The change will be equivalent to Earth's heating up to an average temperature of 400 degrees! But then the cycle will repeat and Xena will get cold again."
Xena's closest planetary neighbor is Pluto, which Xena resembles in various ways. Pluto's own elliptical orbit takes it as far away as 50 astronomical units from the sun during its 250-year trip around the sun. This means that Xena is sometimes much closer to Earth than Pluto-although never closer than Neptune.
Since the discovery, Brown and his colleagues have intensely studied the planet with a variety of instruments, and have already learned many of its characteristics. In the course of their investigations, they have also discovered that the new planet has a small moon. This body, unofficially nicknamed "Gabrielle" after Xena's sidekick on the television show, will also be formally named at a later date. Gabrielle is about 250 kilometers in diameter and reflects only about 1 percent of the sunlight that its parent reflects. Because of its small size, Gabrielle may very well be oddly shaped.
Brown says that Gabrielle's orbit around Xena hasn't yet been fully determined. But once it is, the researchers will be able to derive the mass of the planet itself. That's because the entire mass of the system (planet and moon together) orbits a common center of gravity. Therefore, once the researchers figure out the distance between moon and planet, how fast the moon revolves around the planet, and how much the moon makes the planet wobble, then they'll know how much Xena weighs. And this information will lead to new insights on its composition.
Based on spectral data, the researchers think the planet is covered with a layer of methane that has seeped from the interior. As in the case of Pluto, the methane has undergone chemical transformations, probably due to the faint solar radiation that has caused the methane layer to redden. But the methane surface on Xena is somewhat more yellowish than the reddish-yellow surface of Pluto, perhaps because Xena is farther from the sun.
Brown and Trujillo first photographed the new planet with the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope on October 31, 2003. However, the object was so far away that its motion was not detected until they reanalyzed the data in January of last year.
The search for new planets and other bodies in the Kuiper belt is funded by NASA. For more information on the program, see the Samuel Oschin Telescope's Website at http://www.astro.caltech.edu/palomarnew/sot.html
Biofilms--and the bacteria that comprise them--"get a bad rap," says Dianne K. Newman, "but pathogenic bacteria are only a very minor fraction of those in nature. The vast majority of bacteria do really wonderful and important things."
On Wednesday, April 12, Newman, professor of geobiology at the California Institute of Technology and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, will discuss how biofilms and bacteria in general are essential for our health and how they have sustained and shaped our environment throughout Earth's history. "I hope that people come to appreciate that bacteria are more than just germs and are, in fact, remarkably metabolically sophisticated," she says. Her talk, "Bacterial Biofilms: Far More Than a Collection of Germs," is the second program of the Winter/Spring 2006 Earnest C. Watson Lecture Series.
The lecture will take place at 8 p.m. in Beckman Auditorium, 332 S. Michigan Avenue, south of Del Mar Boulevard, on the Caltech campus in Pasadena. Seating is available on a free, no-ticket-required, first-come, first-served basis. Caltech has offered the Watson Lecture Series since 1922, when it was conceived by the late Caltech physicist Earnest Watson as a way to explain science to the local community.
For more information, call 1(888) 2CALTECH (1-888-222-5832) or (626) 395-4652. ###
Contact: Kathy Svitil (626) 395-8022 email@example.com Visit the Caltech Media Relations website at: http://pr.caltech.edu/media
PASADENA, Calif.—A mere three months after the giant Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and tsunami of December 2004, tragedy struck again when another great earthquake shook the area just to the south, killing over 2,000 Indonesians. Although technically an aftershock of the 2004 event, the 8.7-magnitude Nias-Simeulue earthquake just over a year ago was itself one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. Only six others have had greater magnitudes.
In the March 31 issue of the journal Science, a team of researchers led by Richard Briggs and Kerry Sieh of the California Institute of Technology reconstruct the fault rupture that caused the March 28, 2005, event from detailed measurements of ground displacements. Their analysis shows that the fault broke along a 400-kilometer length, and that the length of the break was limited by unstrained sections of the fault on either end.
The researchers continue to express concern that another section of the great fault, south of the 2005 rupture, is likely to cause a third great earthquake in the not-too-distant future. The surface deformation they observed in the 2005 rupture area may well be similar to what will occur when the section to the south ruptures.
Briggs, a postdoctoral scholar in Caltech's new Tectonics Observatory, and his colleagues determined the vertical displacements of the Sumatran islands that are directly over the deeply buried fault whose rupture generated the 2005 earthquake. The main technique they used was the examination of coral heads growing near the shore. The tops of these heads stay just at the waterline, so if they move higher or lower, it indicates that there has been uplift or subsidence.
The researchers also obtained data on ground displacements from GPS stations that they had rushed into place after the 2004 earthquake. "We were fortunate to have installed the geodetic instruments right above the part that broke," says Kerry Sieh, who leads the Sumatran project of Caltech's Tectonics Observatory. "This is the closest we've ever gotten to such a large earthquake with continuously recording GPS instruments."
From the coral and GPS measurements, the researchers found that the 2005 earthquake was associated with uplift of up to three meters over a 400-kilometer stretch of the Sunda megathrust, the giant fault where Southeast Asia is overriding the Indian and Australian plates. This stretch lies to the south of the 1600-kilometer section of the fault that ruptured in 2004.
Actual slippage on the megathrust surface (about 25 kilometers below the islands) was over 11 meters. The data permitted calculation of the earthquake's magnitude at 8.6, nearly the same as estimates based on seismological recordings.
Most of the deaths in the 2005 earthquake were the direct result of shaking and the collapse of buildings. The earthquake did not trigger a disastrous tsunami comparable to the one that followed the 2004 event. In part, this was because the 2005 rupture was smaller-about one-quarter the length and one-half the slip.
In addition, the largest uplift lay under offshore islands, where there was no water to be displaced. Finally, by rising during the earthquake, the islands gained some instant, extra protection for when the tsunami reached them tens of minutes later.
The scientists were surprised to find that the southern end of the 2004 rupture and the northern end of the 2005 rupture did not quite abut each other, but were separated by a short segment under the island of Simeulue on which the amount of slip was nearly zero. They infer that this segment had not accumulated enough strain to rupture during either event-perhaps, they speculate, because it slips frequently and therefore relieves strain without generating large earthquakes.
Thus, this segment might act as a barrier to rupture propagation. A similar 170-kilometer "creeping" section of the San Andreas fault, between San Francisco and Los Angeles, separates the long section that produced Northern California's great 1906 earthquake from the long section that ruptured during Southern California's great 1857 earthquake.
The southern end of the 2005 rupture was at another short "creeping" segment or weak patch. "Both ends of the 2005 rupture seem to have been at the edges of a weak patch," Sieh explains. The 2005 event therefore probably represents a "characteristic earthquake" that has recurred often over geological time. In fact, old historical records suggest that a very similar earthquake was caused by a rupture of this segment in 1861.
Sieh suggests that installation of GPS instruments along the world's other subduction megathrusts could help more clearly to define those sections that creep stably versus the segments that are locked and thus more likely to break in infrequent, but potentially devastating, ruptures.
Previous work by the Caltech group and their Indonesian colleagues has shown that south of the southern creeping segment lies another locked segment, about 600 kilometers long, which has not broken since a magnitude 9.0 earthquake in 1833. Corals and coastlines along the southern segment record decades of continual, pronounced subsidence, similar to the behavior of the northern region prior to its abrupt uplift during the 2005 fault rupture.
"This southern part is very likely about ready to go again," Sieh says. "It could devastate the coastal communities of southwestern Sumatra, including the cities of Padang and Bengkulu, with a combined population of well over a million people. It could happen tomorrow, or it could happen 30 years from now, but I'd be surprised if it were delayed much beyond that."
Sieh and his colleagues are engaged in efforts to increase public awareness and preparedness for future great earthquakes and tsunamis in Sumatra.
The Science paper is titled "Deformation and slip along the Sunda megathrust in the great 2005 Nias-Simeulue earthquake." The other authors are Aron Meltzner, John Galetzka, Ya-ju Hsu, Mark Simons, and Jean-Philippe Avouac, all at Caltech's Tectonics Observatory; Danny Natawidjaja, Bambang Suwargadi, Nugroho Hananto, and Dudi Prayudi, all at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences; Imam Suprihanto of Jakarta; and Linette Prawirodirdjo and Yehuda Bock at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The research was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and NASA.
PASADENA, Calif.—The Sumatra-Andaman earthquake of December 26, 2004, was one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory, mostly on account of the devastating tsunami that followed it. A group of geologists and geophysicists, including scientists at the California Institute of Technology, has delineated the full dimensions of the fault rupture that caused the earthquake.
Their findings, reported in the March 2 issue of the journal Nature, suggest that previous ideas about where giant earthquakes are likely to occur need to be revised. Regions of the earth previously thought to be immune to such events may actually be at high risk of experiencing them.
Like all giant earthquakes, the 2004 event occurred on a subduction megathrust-in this case, the Sunda megathrust, a giant earthquake fault, along which the Indian and Australian tectonic plates are diving beneath the margin of southeast Asia. The fault surface that ruptured cannot be seen directly because it lies several kilometers deep in the Earth's crust, largely beneath the sea.
Nevertheless, the rupture of the fault caused movements at the surface as long-accumulating elastic strain was suddenly released. The researchers measured these surface motions by three different techniques. In one, they measured the shift in position of GPS stations whose locations had been accurately determined prior to the earthquake.
In the second method, they studied giant coral heads on island reefs: the top surfaces of these corals normally lie right at the water surface, so the presence of corals with tops above or below the water level indicated that the Earth's crust rose or fell by that amount during the earthquake.
Finally, the researchers compared satellite images of island lagoons and reefs taken before and after the earthquake: changes in the color of the seawater or reefs indicated a change in the water's depth and hence a rise or fall of the crust at that location.
On the basis of these measurements the researchers found that the 2004 earthquake was caused by rupture of a 1,600-kilometer-long stretch of the megathrust-by far the longest of any recorded earthquake. The breadth of the contact surface that ruptured ranged up to 150 kilometers. Over this huge contact area, the surfaces of the two plates slid against each other by up to 18 meters.
On the basis of these data, the researchers calculated that the so-called moment-magnitude of the earthquake (a measure of the total energy released) was 9.15, making it the third largest earthquake of the past 100 years and the largest yet recorded in the few decades of modern instrumentation.
"This earthquake didn't just break all the records, it also broke some of the rules," says Kerry Sieh, who is the Sharp Professor of Geology at Caltech and one of the authors of the Nature paper.
According to previous understanding, subduction megathrusts can only produce giant earthquakes if the oceanic plate is young and buoyant, so that it locks tightly against the overriding continental plate and resists rupture until an enormous amount of strain has accumulated.
Another commonly accepted idea is that the rate of relative motion between the colliding plates must be high for a giant earthquake to occur. Both these conditions are true off the southern coast of Chile, where the largest earthquake of the past century occurred in 1960. They are also true off the Pacific Northwest of the United States, where a giant earthquake occurred in 1700 and where another may occur before long.
But at the site of the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake the oceanic crust is old and dense, and the relative motion between the plates is quite slow. Yet another factor that should have lessened the likelihood of a giant earthquake in the Indian Ocean is the fact that the oceanic crust is being stretched by formation of a so-called back-arc basin off the continental margin.
"For all these reasons, received wisdom said that the giant 2004 earthquake should not have occurred," says Jean-Philippe Avouac, a Caltech professor of geology, who is also a contributor to the paper. "But it did, so received wisdom must be wrong. It may be, for example, that a slow rate of motion between the plates simply causes the giant earthquakes to occur less often, so we didn't happen to have seen any in recent times-until 2004."
Many subduction zones that were not considered to be at risk of causing giant earthquakes may need to be reassessed as a result of the 2004 disaster. "For example, the Ryukyu Islands between Taiwan and Japan are in an area where a large rupture would probably cause a tsunami that would kill a lot of people along the Chinese coast," says Sieh.
"And in the Caribbean, it could well be an error to assume that the entire subduction zone from Trinidad to Barbados and Puerto Rico is aseismic. The message of the 2004 earthquake to the world is that you shouldn't assume that your subduction zone, even though it's quiet, is incapable of generating great earthquakes."
According to Sieh, it's not that all subduction zones should now be assigned a high risk of giant earthquakes, but that better monitoring systems-networks of continuously recording GPS stations, for example-should be put in place to assess their seismic potential.
"For most subduction zones, a $1 million GPS system would be adequate," says Sieh. "This is a small price to pay to assess the level of hazard and to monitor subduction zones with the potential to produce a calamity like the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake and tsunami. Caltech's Tectonics Observatory has, for example, begun to monitor the northern coast of Chile, where a giant earthquake last occurred in 1877."
In addition to Sieh and Avouac, the other authors of the Nature paper are Cecep Subarya of the National Coordinating Agency for Surveys and Mapping in Cibinong, Indonesia; Mohamed Chlieh and Aron Meltzner, both of Caltech's Tectonics Observatory; Linette Prawirodirdjo and Yehuda Bock, both of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Danny Natawidjaja of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences; and Robert McCaffrey of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
The discovery of 2003 UB313 inspired "a new avalanche of scientific questions," says Brown, professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology. Perhaps more importantly for planetary science, it forced into the spotlight the lingering debate over what constitutes a planet.
On Wednesday, February 22, Brown will discuss the discovery of 2003 UB313 and the planet controversy. "By the end of the talk, listeners will know if 2003 UB313 is a planet, what a planet is and how to find one, and how many more planets might be hiding out there," he says. His talk, "Beyond Pluto: Discovery of the 10th Planet," is the first program of the Winter/Spring 2006 Earnest C. Watson Lecture Series.
The talk will take place at 8 p.m. in Beckman Auditorium, 332 S. Michigan Avenue south of Del Mar Boulevard, on the Caltech campus in Pasadena. Seating is available on a free, no-ticket-required, first-come, first-served basis. Caltech has offered the Watson Lecture Series since 1922, when it was conceived by the late Caltech physicist Earnest Watson as a way to explain science to the local community.
Upcoming lectures in the Winter/Spring 2006 series include
o Dianne K. Newman, associate professor of geobiology and environmental science and engineering, Caltech, and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, on "Bacterial Biofilms: Far More Than a Collection of Germs," April 12.
o R. Preston McAfee, J. Stanley Johnson Professor of Business Economics and Management and Executive Officer for the Social Sciences, Caltech, on "Why Are Prices So Bizarre?," May 3.
o Paul H. Patterson, Anne P. and Benjamin F. Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences, Caltech, on "Can One Make a Mouse Model of Mental Illness, and Why Try?," May 17.
For more information, call 1(888) 2CALTECH (1-888-222-5832) or (626) 395-4652.
Contact: Kathy Svitil (626) 395-8022 email@example.com
Visit the Caltech Media Relations website at: http://pr.caltech.edu/media
PASADENA, Calif.—In a new study that provides a novel way of looking at our solar system's past, a group of planetary scientists and geochemists announce that they have found evidence on Earth of an asteroid breakup or collision that occurred 8.2 million years ago.
Reporting in the January 19 issue of the journal Nature, scientists from the California Institute of Technology, the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and Charles University in the Czech Republic show that core samples from oceanic sediment are consistent with computer simulations of the breakup of a 100-mile-wide body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The larger fragments of this asteroid are still orbiting the asteroid belt, and their hypothetical source has been known for years as the asteroid "Veritas."
Ken Farley of Caltech discovered a spike in a rare isotope known as helium 3 that began 8.2 million years ago and gradually decreased over the next 1.5 million years. This information suggests that Earth must have been dusted with an extraterrestrial source.
"The helium 3 spike found in these sediments is the smoking gun that something quite dramatic happened to the interplanetary dust population 8.2 million years ago," says Farley, the Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry at Caltech and chair of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences. "It's one of the biggest dust events of the last 80 million years."
Interplanetary dust is composed of bits of rock from a few to several hundred microns in diameter produced by asteroid collisions or ejected from comets. Interplanetary dust migrates toward the sun, and en route some of this dust is captured by the Earth's gravitational field and deposited on its surface.
Presently, more than 20,000 tons of this material accumulates on Earth each year, but the accretion rate should fluctuate with the level of asteroid collisions and changes in the number of active comets. By looking at ancient sediments that include both interplanetary dust and ordinary terrestrial sediment, the researchers for the first time have been able to detect major dust-producing solar system events of the past.
Because interplanetary dust particles are so small and rare in sediment-significantly less than a part per million-they are difficult to detect using direct measurements. However, these particles are extremely rich in helium 3, in comparison with terrestrial materials. Over the last decade, Ken Farley has measured helium 3 concentrations in sediments formed over the last 80 million years to create a record of the interplanetary dust flux.
To assure that the peak was not a fluke present at only one site on the seafloor, Farley studied two different localities: one in the Indian Ocean and one in the Atlantic. The event is recorded clearly at both sites.
To find the source of these particles, William F. Bottke and David Nesvorny of the SwRI Space Studies Department in Boulder, Colorado, along with David Vokrouhlicky of Charles University, studied clusters of asteroid orbits that are likely the consequence of ancient asteroidal collisions.
"While asteroids are constantly crashing into one another in the main asteroid belt," says Bottke, "only once in a great while does an extremely large one shatter."
The scientists identified one cluster of asteroid fragments whose size, age, and remarkably similar orbits made it a likely candidate for the Earth-dusting event. Tracking the orbits of the cluster backwards in time using computer models, they found that, 8.2 million years ago, all of its fragments shared the same orbital orientation in space. This event defines when the 100-mile-wide asteroid called Veritas was blown apart by impact and coincides with the spike in the interplanetary seafloor sediments Farley had found.
"The Veritas disruption was extraordinary," says Nesvorny. "It was the largest asteroid collision to take place in the last 100 million years."
As a final check, the SwRI-Czech team used computer simulations to follow the evolution of dust particles produced by the 100-mile-wide Veritas breakup event. Their work shows that the Veritas event could produce the spike in extraterrestrial dust raining on the Earth 8.2 million years ago as well as a gradual decline in the dust flux.
"The match between our model results and the helium 3 deposits is very compelling," Vokrouhlicky says. "It makes us wonder whether other helium 3 peaks in oceanic cores can also be traced back to asteroid breakups."
This research was funded by NASA's Planetary Geology & Geophysics program and received additional financial support from Czech Republic grant agency and the National Science Foundation's COBASE program. The Nature paper is titled "A late Miocene dust shower from the breakup of an asteroid in the main belt."
PASADENA, Calif.—The beautiful valleys of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia exist for us to enjoy today because of glacial action in the past. Geologists know, for example, that a giant glacier carved a deep groove in the mountain range to form the present-day Klinaklini Valley. But how fast the cutting actually took place, and when, has hitherto been conjecture.
Now, a 2005 graduate of the California Institute of Technology and his supervising professor have successfully employed a new technique for measuring erosion rates by determining how fast rocks cooled off after being churned up by the glacier. Reporting in the December 9 issue of the journal Science, David Shuster (now at Berkeley Geochronology Center) and Ken Farley, chair of the geological and planetary sciences division at Caltech, along with researchers from Occidental College and the University of Michigan, describe their success in determining how quickly the Klinaklini Valley came into being.
The results show that the two kilometers of overlying rock were removed by the glacier at a rate exceeding five millimeters per year, meaning that the glacial valley deepening occurred six times faster than the normal erosion rate before the glacier came along. The study experimentally confirms the hypothesis that glaciers erode material faster than rivers and are responsible for the topographic relief of mountains. According to Shuster, the study also provides an additional tool for the study of how global climate variations may have influenced mountainous topography.
"This study was possible because of a technique Ken and I developed called helium-helium thermochronometry," Shuster said in a phone interview. "It's an unwieldy name, but it gives us a new way to study the rate at which rocks approached Earth's surface in the past."
The new technique rests on three facts: one, that rocks on the surface have often come from beneath the surface; two, that the ground gets steadily warmer as depth increases; and three, that helium leaks out of a warm rock faster than a cold one. Therefore, if one can figure out how fast the helium leaked out of a rock, then it's also possible to determine how fast the rock cooled and, ultimately, how deeply it was buried, as well as when and how fast it got uncovered.
Helium-helium thermochronometry—or more specifically, 4He/3He thermochronometry—is a novel technique because it requires a rare isotope known as helium-3 to be artificially created in the sample. For this particular study, the researchers collected a calcium phosphate called apatite. As a natural consequence of the decay of uranium and thorium, which exist as trace minerals in apatite, the rock already contains helium-4, but no helium-3.
However, the helium-4 is not dispersed evenly throughout the rock. The dispersal would indeed be even if a rock could just sit for millions of years unheated and unperturbed, but such is not likely in the real world. Rather, the helium-4 tends to leak out during times when the rock is heated. As a consequence, the apatite specimens from the Klinaklini Valley have uneven distributions of helium-4 because the rocks themselves were once beneath the surface. In fact, the ground temperature in the region increases about 25 degrees Celsius for each kilometer of depth.
But while the helium-4 distribution in the apatite samples is a record of how fast the rocks cooled, the researchers cannot determine the rate by looking at helium-4 by itself. For the data necessary to arrive at the rate of cooling, the researchers took the apatite samples to a medical lab in Massachusetts that operates a cyclotron for treating cancer with proton bombardment. By hitting each 100-micron apatite crystal with energetic protons, the researchers managed to create an even dispersal of helium-3 in the samples. The helium-3 comes about as a natural consequence of the proton bombardment.
With both helium-4 and helium-3 now in each apatite sample, the researchers could then compare the ratio of the two isotopes by heating each sample at progressively higher temperatures, making more and more helium leak out, and measuring how much of each isotope was released at each temperature. This allowed them to figure out how the helium-4 was dispersed in each sample and, thus, how fast the rocks had cooled.
"Our technique is for temperatures between about 30 and 70 degrees Celsius," says Farley. "This is the last cooling before a rock comes to the surface, and no other technique accesses this information."
As a result, the team showed that the cooling of the rock happened very quickly about 1.8 million years ago, that the entire valley was carved out in about 300,000 years, and that the total lowering of the area by glacial action was about two kilometers.
"We can say that the glacier was ripping out a huge amount of material and dumping it into the ocean," adds Farley, who is also the Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry. "And rather than taking evidence from a single instant, we can for the first time see an integral of hundreds of thousands of years. So this is a new way to get at the rate at which glaciers do their work."
"Why this intense erosion occurred 1.8 million years ago is not well understood, but it seems to coincide with some very interesting changes that took place in Earth's climate system at that time," says Shuster.
According to Shuster, various minerals can be used in the proton-bombardment procedure, although apatite was ideal for the study of the Coast Mountains.
In addition to Shuster and Farley, the other authors are Todd Ehlers, a former postdoctoral researcher at Caltech who is now a member of the University of Michigan faculty, and Margaret Rusmore, a geology professor at Occidental College.
The title of the paper is "Rapid Glacial Erosion at 1.8 Ma Revealed by 4He/3He Thermochronometry."
The Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences' new Geosciences Computational Facility will feature a 2,048-processor supercomputer, housed in the basement of the Seeley G. Mudd Building of Geophysics and Planetary Science on campus.
Computer hardware fills long rows of black racks in the facility, each contains about 35 compute nodes. Massive air conditioning units line an entire wall of the 20-by-80-foot room to re-circulate and chill the air. Miles of optical-fiber cables tie the processors together into a working cluster that went online in September.
The $5.8 million parallel computing project was made possible by gifts from Dell, Myricom, Intel, and the National Science Foundation.
According to Jeroen Tromp, McMillan Professor of Geophysics and director of the Institute's Seismology Lab, who spearheaded the project, "The other crucial ingredient was Caltech's investment in the infrastructure necessary to house the new machine," he says. Some 500 kilowatts of power and 90 tons of air conditioning are needed to operate and cool the hardware.
David Kewley, the project's systems administrator, explained that's enough kilowatts to power 350 average households.
Tromp's research group will share use of the cluster with other division professors and their research groups, while a job-scheduling system will make sure the facility runs at maximum possible capacity. Tromp, who came to Caltech in 2000 from Harvard, is known as one of the world's leading theoretical seismologists. Until now, he and his Institute colleagues have used a smaller version of the machine, popularly known as a Beowulf cluster. Helping revolutionize the field of earthquake study, Tromp has created 3-D simulations of seismic events. He and former Caltech postdoctoral scholar Dimitri Komatitsch designed a computer model that divides the earth into millions of elements. Each element can be divided into slices that represent the earth's geological features.
In simulations involving tens of millions of operations per second, the seismic waves are propagated from one slice to the next, as they speed up, slow down, and change direction according to the earth's characteristics. The model is analogous to a CAT scan of the earth, allowing scientists to track seismic wave paths. "Much like a medical doctor uses a CAT scan to make an image of the brain, seismologists use earthquake-generated waves to image the earth's interior," Tromp says, adding that the earthquake's location, origin time, and characteristics must also be determined.
Tromp will now be able to deliver better, more accurate models in less time. "We hope to use the new machine to do much more detailed mapping. In addition to improving the resolution of our images of the earth's interior, we will also quantitatively assess the devastating effects associated with earthquakes based upon numerical simulations of strong ground motion generated by hypothetical earthquakes."
"One novel way in which we are planning to use the new machine is for near real-time seismology," Tromp adds. "Every time an earthquake over magnitude 3.5 occurs anywhere in California we will routinely simulate the motions associated with the event. Scientific products that result from these simulations are 'synthetic' seismograms that can be compared to actual seismograms."
The "real" seismograms are recorded by the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN), operated by the Seismo Lab in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey. Of interest to the general public, Tromp expects that the collaboration will produce synthetic ShakeMovies of recent quakes, and synthetic ShakeMaps which can be compared to real ShakeMaps derived from the data. "These products should be available within an hour after the earthquake," he says. The Seismology Lab Media Center will be renovated with a large video wall on which scientists can show the results of simulations and analysis.
The new generation of seismic knowledge may also help scientists, engineers, and others lessen the potentially catastrophic effects of earthquakes.
"Intel is proud to be a sponsor of this premier system for seismic research which will be used by researchers and scientists," said Les Karr, Intel Corporate Business Development Manager. "The project reflects Caltech's growing commitment, in both research and teaching, to a broadening range of problems in computational geoscience. It is also a reflection of the growing use of commercial, commodity computing systems to solve some of the world's toughest problems."
The Dell equipment consists of 1,024 dual Dell PowerEdge 1850 servers that were pre-assembled for easy implementation. Dell Services representatives came to campus to complete the installation.
"CITerra, as this new research tool is known on the TOP500 Supercomputer list, is a proud accomplishment both for Caltech and for Myricom," said Charles Seitz, founder and CEO of Myricom, and a former professor of computer science at Caltech. "The talented technical team of Myricom about half of whom are Caltech alumni/ae, are eager for people to know that the architecture, programming methods, and technology of cluster computing was pioneered at Caltech 20 years ago. Those of us at Myricom who have drawn so much inspiration from our Caltech years are delighted to give some of the results of our efforts back to Caltech."
About Myricom: Founded in 1994, Myricom, Inc. created Myrinet, the high-performance computing (HPC) interconnect technology used in thousands of computing clusters in more than 50 countries worldwide. With its next-generation Myri-10G solutions, Myricom is bridging the gap between the rigorous demands of traditional HPC applications and the growing need for affordable computing speed in mainstream enterprises. Privately held, Myricom achieved and has sustained profitability since 1995 with 42 consecutive profitable quarters through September 2005. Based in Arcadia, California, Myricom solutions are sold direct and through channels. Myrinet clusters are supplied by OEM computer companies including IBM, HP, Dell, and Sun, and by other leading cluster integrators worldwide.
About Intel: Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking, and communications products. Intel processors, platform architectures, interconnects, networking technology, software tools, and services power some of the fastest computers in the world at price points that have expanded high performance computing beyond the confines of elite supercomputer centers and into the broad community of customers in mainstream industries. Those industries span automotive, aerospace, electronics manufacturing, energy and oil and gas in addition to scientific, research and academic organizations.
About the National Science Foundation: The NSF is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..." With an annual budget of about $5.5 billion, it is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science, and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.
Contact: Jill Perry (626) 395-3226 email@example.com Visit the Caltech Media Relations Web site at: http://pr.caltech.edu/media


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Why Residential Solar Is Exploding in the Intermountain West
What is ICSI, and why does it make our solar panels so affordable?
The Intermountain Community Solar Initiative or ICSI, is a program to help a group of states (UT, ID, CO, NV, & WY) significantly reduce or replace their power bills. Whether you are a home owner looking to replace your power bill or a business owner wanting to save money, our renewable energy experts can lead the way. As a reliable provider of next generation power solutions, we have adapted a strategy that allows us to pass savings on to our clients. By making a bulk purchase of solar panels, and filling our warehouse to the rafters, we are able to significantly cut costs on deliverables. The next Bulk Purchase Deadline is Oct. 16th, 2015.

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The club was formed in 1969 under the Lions International motto 'We Serve'. Currently there are around 30 members from all walks of life who work to raise money to help those in need in the community. All our meetings are held at 19.30 hrs in the Rembrandt Hotel,12-18 Dorchester Rd, Weymouth, Dorset DT4 7JU. We meet on the first Tuesday of each month for dinner and the third Tuesday for a business meeting. Most money is spent locally although the club does, in line with all Lions Clubs, contribute to the Lions International Fund which helps to support humanitarian projects throughout the world. Lions are members of Lions Clubs International, a community service organisation dedicated to the idea that the men and women who live in a community are in the best position to know who needs help and why. ************************************************************************ Please feel free to browse our 'in-house' magazine which covers the activities of Lions Clubs throughout the UK and Ireland by clicking on the ima...Read More About Weymouth & Portland Lions
Lions President Les Board hands over another refurbished laptop as part of a continuing project by the Lions Club, seen here with Katie Sansom from Westfield Arts College. Lisa Welford, Pupil and Parent Support Worker, said "Katie is absolutely thrilled with...Read More
Lions Youth Brass, from South Cheshire, entertained the crowds in Weymouth on Saturday by giving open air concerts in the town centre and on the Esplanade. These talented and impressionable young people did themselves credit and certainly endeared themselves...Read More
National Busking Day was well and truly celebrated this weekend in Weymouth town centre with Weymouth & Portland Lions Club holding their annual Street Busk raising £831 for the Lions Charity Fund. Funds raised by the Lions are mainly spent in the local...Read More


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I have reset my settings in the admin menu screen, but as soon as I try to remove anything at all from the Admin Menu, I lose Posts.
I have also deactivated and reactivated the plugin. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the plugin.
Is there anything else I can do? I like the plugin, but I need to be able to hide some of these menu bar items.


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Postcards, Posters, Canvas Prints & Framed Art
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St Joseph from 'Rest on the Flight into Egypt', 1805-06 (oil on canvas) (detail of 141645) appears in:
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text: More from SI Report: Dodgers release pitcher Freddy Garcia Report: Dodgers release pitcher Freddy Garcia Marshawn Lynch sports gold cleats for Super Bowl Marshawn Lynch sports gold cleats for Super Bowl Louisville vs. FIU: Game time, live stream, TV coverage Louisville vs. FIU: Game time, live stream, TV coverage Pittsburgh-area high school football player dies after... Pittsburgh-area high school football player dies after... Close Tweet0 Share0 Comment0 Share0 Share0 Stumble It0 Print0 More SI Wire Report: Phoenix Suns to make Eric Gordon a 'large offer' by Brett LoGiurato Email Posted: Sat Jun. 30, 2012 The Phoenix Suns are preparing an offer for restricted free agent Eric Gordon. (Harry How/Getty Images)The Phoenix Suns are preparing to make restricted free agent Eric Gordon a "large offer" with approximately $23 million in salary-cap space, The Arizona Republic's Paul Coro reported Saturday.The New Orleans Hornets, though, have already reportedly promised to match any offer for Gordon, even if it ends up being a maximum-level contract of five years and $80 million. If Gordon signed an offer sheet with the Suns, the Hornets would have three days to match it.Coro breaks down why an offer could make sense for the Suns. If Gordon signs and the Hornets don't match, the Suns would get a prolific wing scorer. If not, it would show fans they are committed to spending.If Gordon was the choice and it failed, the Suns could be satisfied with showing the fan base a willingness to spend. They would still conserve the cap space for a trade taking on money in the summer or during the season -- or 2013 free agency, when they would be interested in Oklahoma City shooting guard James Harden.The Hornets acquired Gordon from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Chris Paul trade last December. Gordon averaged 20.6 points per game on 45 percent shooting. But he only played in nine games while battling knee and back injuries. But despite his injury history, the Hornets see Gordon as a key part of their future core, along with recent Top 10 draft picks Anthony Davis and Austin Rivers. Promoted Stories Comments


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You may not be an aerobatic pilot or intend to fly at the edge of the envelope but sometimes situations happen that give you no choice. Are you ready for that? Come hear airshow performer, Will Allen of Flipside Aerobatics and Rainier Flight Service, talk about stalls/spins and unusual attitudes and the things you should know to recover, or better yet, prevent the situation from happening in the first place.
Please RSVP for this event by clicking HERE.
In celebration of the 90th anniversary of the first round-the-world flight, which originated from NAS Sand Point, and in conjunction with the NAS Sand Point Reunion, this public symposium looks into the storied history of one of the nation's first Naval Air Stations. This program will feature the following speakers:
Dan Hagedorn, Chief Curator, Museum of Flight, will speak about the first round-the-world flight, which departed NAS Sand Point in 1924
Museum Senior Curator Dan Hagedorn is joined by the test pilot on the very first 747 flight Brien Wygle, as well as the "Father" of the 747, Joe Sutter, for an in-depth and illuminating look into the history of this world-changing aircraft, recently brought back to its original factory-fresh appearance by Museum restorat
Fighter Ace Bud Anderson flew two tours of combat against the Luftwaffe in Europe while with the 363rd Fighter Squadron of the 357th Fighter Group, based at RAF Leiston, England, and was the group's third leading ace with 16¼ aerial victories. His P-51D Mustang, nicknamed Old Crow (after the whiskey of the same name), carried him safely through 116 missions without being hit by fire from enemy aircraft and without Anderson ever having to turn back for any reason. He returned to the United States in February 1945 as a Major.
On December 4th NASA will launch the first test flight of the successor to the Space Shuttle, the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The Museum of Flight will show the live feed of the mission, from start to finish, open to the public.
September marks the 70th anniversary of the first launches of the V-2 ballistic missile, one of Nazi Germany's most terrifying weapons and the first flying object ever to reach the fringes of space. Join military historian Dr. JD Wyneken as he discusses the historical background and context of this historic and controversial program and explores the heavy influence of the V2 and its developers on the postwar space programs of the United States and the Soviet Union.
Did you know the Museum has the largest aerospace library on the West Coast? Head Librarian Meredith Lowe Prather will showcase the many resources available in the Harl V. Brackin Library.
Museum Members are welcome to bring lunch to this program--coffee and cookies are on us!
--Please note: This event takes place in the Murdock Theater in the Museum's Great Gallery, not the Red Barn as previously stated.
The Museum of Flight welcomes author Sarah Rickman for a special program in our Stories of Courage series.
Sarah Byrn Rickman has been researching the WASP and following their activities for 22 years. In that time, she has published four books about these women who flew for the U.S. Army in WWII.
The Museum presents a day-long symposium featuring renowned WWI aviation experts, who will discuss the topic: What do we know now about military aviation in the First World War?
The speakers and schedule:
10:30 a.m. to noon: Javier Arango and Dr. John Morrow.
Rainier Flight Service and The Museum of Flight
Invite you to
2014 Mountain Flying: Lessons and Stories from America's most Rugged Terrain
The Pacific Northwest is home to some of the most diverse and beautiful natural landscape in North America. From sea to desert; rain forest to alpine wilderness; the opportunities to experience all of them are available to a certain demographic unlike any other: The Aviator.
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Harbor Isle Hat/Bag Set
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Plan for traffic delays around 4 local events in October
Sep 29, 2015 6:48 PM - Four upcoming events will impact vehicular travel in the village of Cary. On Saturday, Oct. 3, the Norge Ski Club will be hosting a concert from 5 to 11 p.m. following the ski jump competition. On Sunday, Oct. 4, starting at noon, Norge Ski Club will continue the ski jumping competition. Also, on Sunday, the 22nd annual Fox Chase 5K race will start at 9 a.m. at Stanger Park in Fox River Grove.


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First Mythic Kill in HFC…here's the screenshot. I've been lazy about updating the site. Sorry.
7/7 Mythic Highmaul!
Hans/Franz, Flamebender Ka'graz, Gruul…all Mythic
6/10 Mythic BRF
This post is going ahead of two other kills we had already…Hanz & Frans and Flamebender…those will be up shortly. I've just been lazy.
Were sitting at 6/10 Mythic. Can we all please get our shit together for these last four bosses so we can finish this tier before the next?
Kill Video
Mythic Oregorger
Kill Date: 3/23/2015
Good kill here. This boss went down decently quick from the time we started working on it to the kill. Phat and Totem both ranked in the top 5% for this kill. Hans'gar and Franzok is next…
Kill Video Coming Soon
First Mythic Blackrock Foundry Kill!
Kill Date: 3/12/2015
Server first Mythic Beastlord.
One down, nine to go. This boss was frustrating because it shouldn't have taken as long as it should have. But good work nonetheless. Kyle tanking, Decix healing, Fridgie healing, Jeks healing. If we learned anything here, we learned that our team can be as flexible as needed when others can't be here. Nice work to those who stepped out of their normal roles, and nice work to the rest of the team on finally getting this boss down.
Warcraft Logs
Video Coming Soon
Heroic Blackhand
Mythic Tectus
Kill Date: 1/28/2015
This post is long overdue and that's my bad. This kill came a week before Blackrock Foundry came out, but that doesn't mean were done in Mythic Highmaul. Progression is progression especially with a new raid in this split tier. This kill came a lot quicker than Brackenspore did so stay hungry for that next kill!
Mythic Brackenspore
Kill Date: 1/20/2015
This kill took longer than it should have but its finally done. It took three attempts on the night of the kill and once we were mid way through you kind of just knew it was finally gonna die. Decix, made some Pete Carroll type calls during the fight that definitely were definitely some make or break type stuff. Kaj and Ellz as always did work as they always do. And shout out to Goo for ranking in the 99th percentile on this fight. Great work all around but lets lock it down for the next bosses and get these kills quicker than Brackenspore took us.


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Skiing Adventure
Dress Up this young Skiing Adventure girl with plenty of fashionable costumes.
Eva Rescue Tom
Your little brother Tom has been kidnapped by a evil Witch. The only way to rescue Tom is to defeat the evil Witch. Good...
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Tags » Sports Information
Carr to Lead Boys Basketball
Former NBA player takes over behind the bench for the Skippers
Originally published by Minnetonka Public Schools on June 15, 2015
MINNETONKA — Former NBA player Chris Carr has been hired as head coach of the Minnetonka boys basketball program, Minnetonka High School Activities Director Ted Schultz announced Monday. 446 more words
Oregon Ducks CFP Championship
The Oregon Ducks refers to the sports teams of the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The Oregon Ducks are part of the Pacific-12 Conference in the Division 1 of the NCAA. 26 more words
Reserves help Solano power past Yuba
The Solano women's basketball team opened defense of its 2014 undefeated Bay Valley Conference title with a 72-37 win over Yuba College on Friday night. 187 more words
Solano captures third place at Gervasoni Memorial
Solano finished off its preseason schedule by taking third place in the Mike Gervasoni Memorial Classic at De Anza College in Cupertino.
The Falcons recorded a convincing 84-52 win over San Mateo on Tuesday in the third place game. 240 more words
Solano captures third place at Showdown
The Solano women's basketball team bounced back from its first home defeat in almost two calendar years to beat Sacramento City College 69-45 in the third place game of the Solano Showdown on Sunday. 170 more words
Solano falls hard to Chabot in Showdown semifinals
Solano fell in the semifinals 92-76 Saturday night to Chabot, despite leading at halftime and making a valiant effort in the first five minutes of the second half to maintain the lead. 168 more words


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Diva Dog Sequin Encrusted London Calling Dog T-Shirt
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A gorgeous designer dog t-shirt for your precious pooch.
Diva Dog's London Calling Dog T-Shirts offer a stylish update of the classic London Union Jack.
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Measure around your dog's neck and then measure length of your dog's back from the base of the neck to the base of the tail. If the measurements fall between two sizes or if your dog has a stout build, select one size up for a proper fit.
Sizing Guide
Measure length of your dog's back from the base of the neck to the base of the tail. If the measurement falls between two sizes or if your dog has a stout build, select one size up for a proper fit.
X-Small – up to 8 inches (Toy Poodle, Yorkie, Chihuahua)
Small – 8 – 12 inches (Silky Terrier, Boston Terrier, Maltese)
Medium – 12 – 16 inches (Cocker Spaniel, Scottie, Bichon, Beagle)
Large – 16 – 20 inches (Springer Spaniel, Brittany, Border Collie)
X-Large – 20 – 24 inches (Golden Retriever, German Shepherd, Labrador Retriever).


text:
The Washington Redskins ruined DeAngelo Williams' Sunday morning, so the Carolina Panthers running back was determined to ruin their afternoon.
Feeling pretty good before arriving at FedEx Field, Williams said his realization that this was the Redskins' "Homecoming" game provided all the motivation he needed.
"I'm looking at the Gameday [program] and I look on there and it says 'Homecoming,'" Williams said after the Panthers beat the Redskins 21-13. "And I'm thinking to myself like, 'This is the National Football League. Are you serious? Homecoming? Homecoming? It's not like you tried to hide it. You blatantly put it on the front of the Gameday.' You're talking about somebody fired up today. I was [ticked]."
Williams was referring to Washington honoring 10 new players into its "80 Greatest Redskins" group, which included calling this Homecoming weekend. LaVar Arrington, Clinton Portis, Jon Jansen, Joe Bugel, Richie Petitbon and Terry Hermeling were in attendance. The late Sean Taylor was represented by members of his family; Chris Samuels did not make it. About 160 alumni took part.
"It's a tremendous honor. As offensive linemen you don't get a lot of honors and notice for a lot of things," Jansen said. "But to have the fans and some that are on the [70 greatest Redskins] team vote for you and to be among those guys and have your name mentioned among those guys, it's one of the greatest honors I've ever had."
Being on the opposite sideline for these festivities was not anything of an honor to Williams.
"You don't say you're going to have a Homecoming in the National Football League," Williams said. "You do it in college; it's one of those teams that's just terrible. You don't book like a good team for Homecoming."
Williams brought it up to teammates before the game and ignored a reporter's question to sound off about the situation. He finished with six carries for 37 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown run. That touchdown included some question as whether an official blew the whistle. Asked on Twitter who blew the whistle, Williams responded: "the homecoming king and queen lol."
Said Williams: "I just know that you don't give a team extra motivation by putting that on your program or even just blatantly coming out saying you're our Homecoming game," he said.
Griffin has ribs X-rayed
Robert Griffin III had X-rays on his ribs following the game, and they came back showing no breaks. Coach Mike Shanahan said there never was a concern about finding broken ribs.
"That one shot, I think, when he was dropping back in the first quarter, he took a pretty good shot to the ribs," Shanahan said. "Anyway, hopefully it's not too bad. But he's sore right now."
With two weeks until the Redskins' next game, Griffin brushed off concern.
"I'm fine. I'll be ready to go," Griffin said. "No one's ever going to question the fight that I have inside of myself to be the greatest and to help lead this team to victory."
Robinson phased out


text:
No chance Netanyahu, Obama will heal their rift, says J Street
Deri poised to step down as MK Avraham Michaeli to take his place
Odeh: I do not put limits on the Palestinian struggle against 'occupation'
In light of tense situation, Netanyahu shortens trip to Germany
Acre Festival 2015 winners
Conversations with Simon Wiesenthal
A zest for life
Family flavors
Sinai says: Mac TA's Bender braces for added attention in next step en route to NBA
Natcho confirmed out for crucial clashes
Yellow-and-blue in upbeat mood despite Milano setback
Atzili leads Beitar to victory in Sakhnin
Protesters call for closure of nightclub where intoxicated woman filmed engaging in sex acts on bar
'PA instability adding to unrest'
The spirit of the intifada, with restraint on both sides
Netanyahu: Strong defense of roads best reaction to terror attacks
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators clash with police in Jaffa; 2 officers hurt
Bennett: The streets of Jerusalem should be peaceful like streets of Tel Aviv
Report: Russian Jewish leader endorses aid to Assad
Germans give Hitler actor a warm welcome
Jewish journalist jailed in Austria over restitution squabble
A glimpse inside some of the most beautiful synagogues around the globe
British Conservatives want to block local councils from BDS activity
Sources: US enforcement of Iran arms embargo slipped during nuclear talks
US measure for Iran victims to get paid before sanctions waived inspired by Shurat Hadin
Analysis: The best reason for Iran deal? The West will learn where to drop bombs
Iranians launch 'Sorry Syria' campaign to apologize for Iranian jingoism
ISIS vs. al-Qaida: Zawahiri says Baghdadi is not the leader of the Muslim world
'ISIS militants blow up ancient Arch of Triumph in Palmyra'
WATCH: Russian warplanes bomb ISIS targets in Syria
'Russia can't claim to fight ISIS terror, while supporting Assad's terror'
Thousands of refugees in Jordan return to Syria
Russia hits ISIS targets in Syria, says will consider air strikes in Iraq
40 Syrian insurgent groups call on regional states to form alliance against Russia, Iran
How to cope with holiday's excess calories and winter's illnesses
Health scan: Israeli physicians slowly warming to medical marijuana
Global space community to reach for the stars
Mazel Tov! Hebrew University places first in Israel in another school ranking
Ness Ziona residents threaten to sue Rehovot for raw sewage flow
Burgeoning alternative fuel firms in Israel grow fivefold in less than three years
IN PICTURES: 1,500 eagles pass over Israel on migration route
Green group demands swift action after sewage pollutes river, kills fish
Facebook pegs Israeli satellite to provide African Internet
Israel to host first international 'Under 30' Forbes Summit
Brewery producing craft beer made from Boston river water taps Israeli tech
El Al wins first place prize for startup program
Grapevine: Demos, kiddushes and videotape
Why is this Palestinian rioter wearing a Miri Regev t-shirt?
Breaking the Torah for Torah's sake
Women and the changing customs of Simhat Torah
IBA English News's departing chief reflects on 25 years behind and in front of the camera
Is the Western Wall rabbi above the law?
Ending the Oslo paradigm
BBC bias
October 7: Wave of violence
In My Own Write: Blind eye to reality
Who is a hero?
The diplomacy profession
Coexistence in a cone
2016 Budget: Not just numbers
Voice in service
Socialist sentimentality
Working for Hitler
Armed with a sense of humor
Jaunt through Mount Zion
Serving Israel with love
Down to earth- At the Castel Museum
Life in a bell jar
Grapevine: My MK
Living in a shoebox
Rhythmic gymnastics on the rise
Shalev Ad-El lights up
מִשִירֵי רָחֵל: גַן נָעוּל
הַמֵיטָב שֶל אֲרִיאֵל זִילְבֶּר
יָבוֹא גְדִי זָהָב
נְמַל חֵיפָה זָכָה בַּמָקוֹם הָרִאשוֹן
Building health in Rwanda
'The Sabbath is on Saturday not Sunday'
Born to dance
Sacrifice of Fools
We've Been Through Worse, Much Worse
Shmini Atzeret: Praying for Rain
Saul and Netanyahu
Inauguration of the Masonic Forest Square in Jerusalem
Free Schach Distribution in KKL-JNF Forests
Remembering the Victims of 9/11
600 Holocaust Survivors Enjoy Touring with KKL-JNF
greenXchange at EXPO Milano
First Tree after Shmita Year Planted by Bavarian Agriculture Minister
Prime Minister of Lithuania Plants Tree in Jerusalem
KKL-JNF International Expo Mission to Milan
An Ecological Festival at the Shafir Winter Pond
KKL-JNF Global Landscapes Seminar at Expo 2015
New Bio-filters Purify Surface Runoff Water for Reuse
Future Tour Guides Discover the Negev with KKL-JNF
Got Water Problems?
$100 Million JNF Boruchin Israel Education Advocacy Center Opens
JNF Canada Pays Tribute to the Honourable John Baird
From Sunny Israel to Cold Canada
Renewable Energies for the Future in the Arava
LDA Conference: Science and Technology for Forests
The Negev Conference on Agricultural Research and Development
Arava Open Day: Food Security for Israel and the Entire World
Melinda and Chelsea: The Inspiring Story of Aliyah Across the Ages
An Olah Reports From Nepal
How One Oleh is Helping to Transform the Way People Drink Water
From Think Tank to Environmental Consultant
Why People Love Volunteering in Israel
How Natalie Edwards Built a Successful Career in Israel's Startup Industry
5 Tips to Land a Job in Israel
Starting Your Own Business in Israel: Real Life Examples
Where Are They Now? The Olim of the July 2014 Charter Flight
36 Hours in Southern Israel
Food Shopping In Israel
How Women Can Have it All in Israel
Why Retirees are Thriving in Israel
Thanks to Aliyah video
6 Frequently Asked Questions about Israeli Healthcare
Starting Over in Israel
Spotted on Social: Moshe Somers' Activity List
Sam Eisenberg: From Nativ to Aliyah
WATCH: Why Olim #LiveLoveIsrael
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"WATCH: Highlights of 232 Olim Landing on the August 2015 Charter Flight"
Make yourself at home… in Israel
10.07.2015 | 24 Tishri, 5776
05/03/2012 16:19
Christians praying in Jerusalem 311.
(photo credit:Travelujah)
Bob Simon, veteran reporter for the prestigious CBS news program 60 Minutes, is
upset with us. Apparently, our ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, called
his producer to complain about Simon's unaired show on Christian Palestinians,
calling it "outrageous [and] completely incomprehensible" especially "when
Christians all over the Middle East's Muslim world were being oppressed and
massacred."It wasn't the criticism, but the timing that bothered
Simon."I've never gotten a reaction before from a story that hasn't been
broadcast yet," he said."There's a first time for everything, Bob," Oren
answered.Now that the segment has been broadcast, let me offer Oren my
congratulations. He was dead-on. The piece would have done credit to the
Palestinian Ministry of Propaganda.To be fair, fairer than Simon at
least, he does acknowledge right at the beginning of his program that "one place
where Christians are not suffering from violence is the Holy
Land." Nevertheless, Simon goes on to say, they are leaving in droves
because of the Israeli occupation, painting the alarming specter of Christian
holy places in Jerusalem and Bethlehem "without local Christians."While
one might argue, wrongly, that Simon is weighting responsibility for this
equally between Muslim extremists and the Israeli "occupation," even that would
be incorrect.As I vividly recollect, back in 2001-2 during the height of
the intifada I was receiving alarming email messages several times a day from
Christian organizations decrying the rape and kidnap of local Christian girls by
Palestinians as a means of converting them; the use of Christian homes in
Bethlehem by Tanzim sharpshooters who targeted homes in Gilo, in the hope that
Israeli fire would devastate Christian communities; the desecration of Christian
shrines and churches by Palestinian gunmen, including the repulsive siege of the
Church of the Nativity, in which dozens of priests and unarmed Palestinians were
held hostage by terrorist gunmen, while arguably the holiest shrine in
Christendom was trashed by Arafat's men.Oddly, none of this found its
way into the 60 Minutes segment, which was at pains to point out that "Bethlehem
is on the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Christian section of Jerusalem is also
under Israeli control." The numbers in Bethlehem are "bleak," Simon tells
us.Even that is deceptive.Uri Dan wrote in The Jerusalem Post on
January 11, 2002: "Altogether from 1994, when Arafat took power, 10,000
Christians emigrated from Gaza, Judea and Samaria." Once a Christian stronghold,
by 2002 Muslims outnumbered Christians in Bethlehem four to
one.Nevertheless, the mass exodus theory and the fear-mongering
statements of the survival of Christian culture in the Holy Land is not borne
out by statistics. Back in 2001, Dan reported that the entire Arab Christian
population was 61,000, about 2 percent of the entire Arab population. According
to 2009 statistics of the CIA world population handbook, Christians numbered
196,000, or 2.8% of the Arab population. Moreover, as Ambassador Oren pointed
out, the exodus of Christians is from PA-controlled West Bank. Arabs in the
Israeli town of Nazareth, for example, are thriving.Still, Oren freely
admitted Christian communities are living under duress.But that was not
enough for Simon. He has to point the finger of blame, otherwise what's the
point of his pointless rehashing of this non-story? Quote Simon: "And this
duress is coming from Muslims, not from the Israeli occupation?" Yes, Oren
confirms.In case viewers might find Oren's contention convincing, Simon
makes sure to nudge them in the "right" direction: Mitri Rahed says: "Great
selling point. Easy to sell to the American public."Giving a little more
credit to the American public, I'm sure they prefer Oren's goods to Simon's
shoddy alternative. After all, when was the last time a Christian church was
desecrated by Israelis? The last time Jews raped Christian girls to convert them
to Judaism? The last time the Israeli authorities shook down a Christian
businessman? As for Christians in east Jerusalem, I do not deny they are in a
difficult position, but the causes seem far different to me than Simon presents
them. In a recent article about an Arab from east Jerusalem who is among those
to be honored for distinguishing himself as an IDF soldier, the article pointed
out that he lived in fear that his Muslim neighbors might find out, was forced
to tell them he was away at school and to hide his uniform when he goes
home.ONE OF the most offensive segments is the heart-tugger interview
with Christie Anastas, a Christian Arab in Bethlehem. Already informing viewers
that Israel's security wall – (might I point out, since Simon does not, that the
security wall was put up by Israel after Israelis were forced to stop painting
doves and bury hundreds of dead in suicide bombings and other terror attacks)
has turned Bethlehem into an open-air prison, Simon's questions heavy-handedly
give her the answers.Simon: "How do you live with this?" But she fails
to take her cue: "It's not easy but you get used to it. Because you have
to."Too bad Simon didn't ask any Israelis what they were forced to get
used to for security reasons. I'm sure Ms. Anastas doesn't have her purse
checked every time she goes into a store, or have to look around her for bombs
when she gets on a bus.And it's so hard to leave Bethlehem to enter
Jerusalem, Simon says tiredly, bringing up the old bromide of the terrible
waiting at checkpoints, as if there never was an intifada or suicide bombers, or
snipers shooting at the roads from Jerusalem to Gush Etzion, threatening
residents' lives. As if my windshield hadn't been smashed by a rock while
passing into Bethlehem on the way home to Jerusalem from a wedding in
Efrat.Just listen to yourself, Mr. Simon! If you want to be critical, at
least come up with something original. The Palestinian propagandists and terror
supporters have beaten that horse to death. Worse than being false, it's
downright boring.But no. Simon is boring to the end. He brings up the
call by virulently anti-Jewish and anti-Israel Christians in 2009 in Kairos
which called Israeli occupation "A sin." It was endorsed by 13 Christian
denominations, including all those who called for divestment from Israel, and
many of whom embrace replacement theology which says the Christians are actually
now the chosen of God, and that unbaptized Jews have lost that
role.Michael Oren points this out to Simon, suggesting that these groups
have "gone beyond legitimate criticism....""What does that mean?" Simon
blusters, apparently flabbergasted at this perfectly reasonable statement. So
Oren spells it out for him: "Accusing us of crimes historically associated with
anti-Semitism."Duh.With a few more predictable interviews,
including with journalist Avi Shavit, brought in to no doubt counter the mostly
if not entirely anti-Israel stance he has taken, Simon gets to his big finale,
asking Shavit: "Do you think the Israeli government ever thinks of the fact that
if Christians aren't being treated well here, and America is an overwhelmingly
Christian country, that this could have consequences?" Why does that sound like
wishful thinking, Bob? But again, Shavit disappoints him, saying clearly:
"Israel is not persecuting Christians as Christians. The Christians in the Holy
Land suffer from Israeli policies that are a result of the overall tragic
situation... this has consequences for everyone."But Bob isn't
convinced. He warns that angry Christians who are a major source of tourism
could stop coming to Israel, conjecturing that this must be the reason that
Ambassador Oren phoned Jeff Fager, head of CBS News and executive producer of 60
Minutes, telling Jeff that Simon's story was a "hatchet job." Or perhaps
the reason could be... that it is. And done with a tired, rusty hatchet
at that, held by a tired, rusty journalist who might want to consider that the
time has come to put it down and delve into his real motivation for doing such
PA propaganda piece.In the manner of Mr. Simon, let me make a wild
allegation based on nothing but conjecture to answer that question.Years
ago, I filmed a 60 Minutes segment with Mr. Simon that was never aired. It
concerned a haredi (ultra-Orthodox) woman who was the basis for my play, Women's
Minyan.At that time, I believe he told me that he lived in Israel
year-round. Could that, if I've got it right, perhaps explain a
bend-over-backwards attempt to show the Palestinian point of view, lest he be
accused, God forbid, of liking Israel too much? Not to worry, Mr. Simon, with
this segment you have certainly put to rest any such shameful allegation.
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text:
The Pepperdine University Department of Athletics' 2015 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony is coming up on Sunday, October 18, in Firestone Fieldhouse. Levy Middlebrooks of men's basketball is profiled today.
M. Basketball - 9/24/2015
The Pepperdine men's basketball team's climb up the West Coast Conference standings has been rewarded as the Waves will make at least five appearances on the ESPN family of networks in 2015-16, the league office announced today.
M. Basketball - 9/3/2015
The Pepperdine men's basketball team's earliest-ever start to West Coast Conference play will begin with likely its biggest challenge, as the Waves will visit league favorite Gonzaga on Monday, December 21.
M. Basketball - 8/18/2015
PepperdineSports.com is rolling out a series of videos that will give fans a chance to get to know the newest members of the men's and women's basketball teams. Check back over the next couple of weeks as a new video will be released every few days.
M. Basketball - 8/6/2015
Video | A highly anticipated men's basketball season will be highlighted by five non-conference home games -- including two by 20-win teams that saw the postseason last year - as well as a visit to UCLA and the Gulf Coast Showcase, as Pepperdine Coach Marty Wilson announced the first portion of the Waves' schedule today.
M. Basketball - 7/29/2015
After leading the Pepperdine men's basketball team to its best season in more than a decade, head coach Marty Wilson has signed a five-year contract extension that will take him through the 2020-21 season.
M. Basketball - 6/4/2015


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The Inner City Outings Youth Program provided a variety of outdoor adventures from the mountains to the sea. Students were able to participate on spectacular hikes through Solstice Canyon affording views of never-before-seen native vistas, experience the excitement of actually seeing live whales along the California coast, and learning the art of sailing at the Long Beach Marina.
For many of the students who participate in the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Inner City Outings Youth Program, these trips provide their first experience of natural habitats. Our outings leaders often hear exclamations of amazement such as "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."
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Years Active: 1970–1984, 1989–1992, 1995–present
Genres: Rock, Progressive Rock, Hard Rock
Years Active: 1970–1984, 1989–1992, 1995–present
Genres: Rock, Progressive Rock, Hard Rock
Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums of the 1970s and 1980s. The Chicago band was known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and the flair of a Broadway musical. Over the years they have released 15 studio albums, 6 live albums, 14 compilation albums and 31 singles. They became known for their popular hit songs "Lady" (#6, 1975), "Come Sail Away" (#8, 1977), "Babe" (#1, 1979), "The Best of Times" (#3, 1981) and "Mr. Roboto" (#3, 1983). Other hits such as "Show Me the Way" (#3, 1991), "Don't Let It End" (#6, 1983) and "Renegade" (#16, 1978) are recognizable as well. In January 1981, Styx released "Paradise Theatr... Continue Bio >>
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