Satellite Photographs 'Black Hole' on Earth

A Korean satellite has caught an eye-catching view of an Island in Mexico  known for a deep , rocky hole and waters so dark that they earned it the name  Holbox , a name  that means "black hole."

The photo was taken by the Korea Mulit-purpose Satellite 2 , or Kompsat-2 , and shows Holbox  Island and its lagoon at the northeast corner of  Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula .

Holbox Island is a 26-mile-long strip of land separated  from the mainland by the lagoon.

"The freshwater lagoon has a deep rocky hole that surrounds the island , making the water appear black ," officials with the Eurpoan Space Agency , which is a partner in the

Kompast-2 mission , explained  "it is thought that Holbox , which in Mayan translates as 'black hole,' was named after the dark laggon  water."

Holbox Island is situated at an b oceanic meeting points of sorts where the  Atlantic Ocean ,  Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean   converge .The mixing of three waters creates a nutrient rich environmrnt  that supports an abundant  array of marine life , ESA officials said .[The world's biggest Oceans and Seas ] At Caboe Catoche , a cape at the eastern tip of the Island , the mixing of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico creates a veritable Kaleid oscope of watery turquoise and emerald colors .

Because of its hosts of marine life , Holbox Island and its surrounding Waters are protected  as part of the Yum Balam Bisophere Reserve .  The Islands beaches of white coralline  sand serve as a vital home for turtle nests and more than 500 species of birds , while dolphins , manta rays and several shark species swimmoff shore. The region is also home to the worlds largest known gathering of whale sharks , the largest fish on the planet ... for five months of the year , ESA officials said .

The Kompsat-2 satellite has been snapping photos of Earth from orbit since it luanched into space in 2006 . The Satellite was built for the Korea Areospace Rearch Institute to provide uninterrupted Earth  observation coverage following it's prodecessor  , Kompsat-1. 

ESA serves as  a third party  partner in the mission  and uses ground-based infrastructure  to receive , process and distribute the image from Kompsat-2.

How Does Radiation Affect the Body?

This week Japan raised the severity of the Fukushima meltdown to a 7, the highest on the international scale, and admitted that the total amount of radiation emitted from the still-leaking reactors could ultimately surpass that of Chernobyl. They also disclosed the news that 28 plant workers were exposed to high radiation doses.

Four different types of radiation are emitted during a nuclear accident like the Fukushima meltdown: iodine, cesium, strontium, and potassium. Physicist Michio Kaku, spoke this week about these different types of radiation and the effect each one has on the human body. Like Chernobyl, he said, the main problem has been radioactive iodine: "That’s why people have been taking potassium iodide pills—to flood the thyroid glands." But potassium iodide pills are not "radiation pills," he added. They protect against just one byproduct—iodine 131—not against cesium, strontium, or the extremely dangerous plutonium.
Below are these four different radioactive isotopes, their half-lives, and the types of cancer with which they are most often associated.

Iodine-131:
-Half Life: 8 Days
-Site of concentration: Thyroid Gland
-Linked to: Thyroid Cancer
Strontium-90:
-Half Life: 29 years
-Site of concentration: Bone marrow (including, teeth)
-Linked to: Bone cancer and leukemia
Cesium-137:
-Half Life: 30 years
-Site of Concentration: Equal distribution throughout body, though eliminated fairly rapidly through the urine
-Linked to: Solid tumors, i.e. liver, kidney, and pancreas cancers.
Plutonium-239:
-Half Life: 24,000 years
-Site of Concentration: Lungs and other organs
-Linked to: Lung cancer

You already have a bit of Chernobyl in you, and soon you'll probably have some of Fukushima in you as well. "When the Chernobyl accident happened some of the iodine went around the world several times," says Kaku. "In fact, you, I, everyone—we all have a piece of Chernobyl in our body, but it’s microscopic, therefore, not dangerous." People in North America probably have little to fear from Fukushima, but some experts forecast that up to 200,000 in the surrounding areas may die from an increase in cancer over the next 50 years.
 People of Earth, what did we learn from  this tragedy???

Energies of the Future

Michio Kaku
Professor of Theoretical Physics, CUNY
By 2030 the physicist expects that we will have hot fusion reactors.

Tepco to Compensate Japan's Nuclear Plant Victims

 

Residents close to the Fukushima plant have been living in evacuation centres for more than a month.  The Japanese government has ordered the operator of the nuclear plant damaged by last month's quake and tsunami to pay compensation to affected families.  About 48,000 families who lived within 30km (18 miles) of the Fukushima Daiichi plant will be eligible. The compensation is described as provisional, with more details to be announced later in the day.

The plant operator, Tepco, is still trying to stabilize the nuclear facility.  "Tokyo Electric Company (Tepco) is to make an urgent and speedy payment in order to compensate for the losses incurred by evacuation and orders to stay indoors," said chief government spokesman Yukio Edano. "The basic idea is that one household will receive 1 million yen ($12,000, £7,331). We think that such an amount is necessary as a provisional payment," he said. The BBC's correspondent in Tokyo, Roland Buerk, says the payments are the first of what is likely to be a massive compensation bill. JP Morgan has estimated Tepco may face claims of up to 2 trillion yen, nearly $24bn (£15bn) by the end of this year.

Tepco and the Japanese government have faced criticism for not offering compensation earlier.  People forced to leave the area near the nuclear plant have been living in evacuation centres for more than a month.
With businesses shut, fields untended and fishing abandoned many have lost their livelihoods as well as their homes, our correspondent says. There have been protests outside the headquarters of the plant's operator, with some protesters travelling long distances to make their feelings known.

"There are around 150 evacuation centres alone. It will take some time until everyone gets money. But we want the company to quickly do this to support people's lives," Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said at a news conference. The ministry said the government's approach to Tepco was a request, not an order. Tepco's president, Masataka Shimizu, was expected to formally announce the plan later on Friday.

"This is just a beginning. The accident has not ended. We will continue to ask the government and Tepco to fully compensate evacuees," said the governor of Fukushima, Yuhei Sato.

Search continues
Work to stabilize the nuclear plant is continuing. Engineers are pumping water into three reactors to cool fuel rods after cooling systems were knocked out by the quake and tsunami. They have discharged waste water with low levels of radioactivity into the sea to make room to store more highly contaminated waste water on site.  Water needs to be removed from the basements of reactors 1, 2, and 3 before vital work on the cooling systems can begin.  On Thursday Tepco said that water levels in the basement of reactor 2 were continuing to rise, even as some was being pumped to storage.

Meanwhile, Japanese police are continuing their search for victims of the 11 March disasters within a 10km zone around the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. Up to 1,000 bodies are thought to be in the area, but their retrieval has been delayed because of radiation fears.
The earthquake and tsunami left 13,538 people dead and another 14,589 are still missing. More than 150,000 have been made homeless.

Libya: Obama, Cameron and Sarkozy Vow....Gaddafi Must Go

US, British and French leaders have said in a joint letter there can be no peace in Libya while Muammar Gaddafi stays in power. Nato and its partners, they say, must maintain military operations to protect civilians and maintain pressure on Colonel Gaddafi's government. To allow him to remain in power, they argue, would be a betrayal of the Libyan people.
Col Gaddafi's daughter accused the leaders of "insulting" Libyans. "To speak of Gaddafi's resignation is a humiliation for all Libyans," Aisha Gaddafi told young loyalists at a rally in Tripoli.

Nato has been struggling to find additional warplanes for its mission. Only a few of its 28 members - including France, the UK, Canada, Belgium, Norway and Denmark - are conducting air strikes.
The alliance's Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told foreign ministers in Berlin he had received no offers from any ally to supply the extra jets but remained hopeful.
Nato pilots are enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians in Libya, which is split between forces for and against Col Gaddafi since a revolt against his rule began in mid-February.Fighting on the ground, as well as Nato bombing missions, continued on Thursday.

The letter comes at a time of growing unease at the failure of Western military action to dislodge Mr Gaddafi and tensions within Nato over the reluctance of certain members to do more.  The three leaders clearly feel that this is an important moment to present a united front and they are saying that it is not enough simply to protect Libyan civilians. As long as Muammar Gaddafi is in power, they write, Nato and its coalition partners must maintain their operations, and the colonel must go, and go for good.

It is an uncompromising message at a time of rising frustration at the way the military operation is going. At the meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Berlin, there were calls for some members, including Spain, to do more. And France's Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had resisted his plea for American warplanes to resume air strikes.

Apart from a handful of raids in recent days, the US has allowed British and French warplanes to take the lead, concentrating instead on a variety of support roles. President Obama would prefer to keep it that way, and the latest opinion polls suggest that an overwhelming majority of Americans agree.

Signed by US President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the letter says Libyans in cities like Misrata and Ajdabiya continue to suffer "terrible horrors at Gaddafi's hands". While the coalition has no mandate to remove Col Gaddafi by force, "it is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with Gaddafi in power", the leaders say. To allow him to remain in power "would be an unconscionable betrayal" of Libya's people, they argue, and would make Libya both "a pariah state [and] a failed state".

"So long as Gaddafi is in power, Nato and its coalition partners must maintain their operations so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on the regime builds," the letter continues.
"Then a genuine transition from dictatorship to an inclusive constitutional process can really begin, led by a new generation of leaders." The letter holds out the prospect of reconstruction for Libya with the help of the "UN and its members".

New Fighting:Mr Fogh Rasmussen said in Berlin that Nato would continue "day by day, strike by strike" to target Col Gaddafi's forces. Libyan state media reported new air strikes on the capital Tripoli on Thursday but a Nato official said the only strike he could confirm was against a surface-to-air missile battery 40km (25 miles) south of the city.
Reuters correspondents in Tripoli reported hearing four blasts and saw columns of smoke rising from the south-east of Tripoli. Heavy anti-aircraft fire was also heard, before and after the blasts.
Libyan TV broadcast pictures which appeared to show Col Gaddafi surrounded by cheering supporters as he stood through the sunroof of a car driving through Tripoli, pumping his fists in the air.

Fighting also continued in the rebel-held city of Misrata, western Libya, which has been besieged by pro-Gaddafi forces for nearly two months. Rebels said a rocket attack by pro-Gaddafi forces killed 23 people on Thursday morning but this could not be independently verified.
Earlier, the "Brics" group of five nations with emerging market economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - met in southern China and said "the use of force should be avoided" in Libya.

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Australian Zoo Releases Adorable Little Penguins

Yesterday, Sydney's Taronga Zoo released eight Little Penguins (the smallest species of penguin, also known as Blue, or Fairy Penguins) at Fishermans Beach. The birds had been treated at the zoo for a variety of reasons — malnourishment, man- and predator-inflicted injury and moulting — and were ready for re-entry into the wild. The penguins had been found in multiple locations along the coastline of the Australian state of New South Wales.

"Most of these birds were brought to us by people who saw them in difficulties and took action. The community's awareness of Little Penguins and other wildlife is increasing all the time and by acting, they give us the best chance to help the birds through difficult times," said Taronga Wildlife Hospital manager, Libby Hall, in a press release.

The zoo's official site explains that the penguins are especially vulnerable during their annual moult. The Little Penguins can't re-enter the water to fish until their new feathers have grown in. They often become emaciated or attacked by domestic pets on the beach during this period.

Mark Williams, Taronga Zoo's spokesperson, told The Manly Daily the penguins had each reached a healthy weight of 1 kg.The zoo is currently caring for another four birds not yet ready for release.

Ain't that cute? And Kudos to the coastal people of New South Wales for being concerned environmentalists.

Mubarak`s Sons Detained - Corruption Investigation

Egyptians widely believed that Gamal Mubarak was being groomed to replace his father. The sons of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak have been detained amid investigations into corruption and state violence, police and media say. The two sons, Alaa and Gamal, who had earlier been taken for questioning, are to be held for 15 days.  Gamal, the younger son, was once widely seen as a possible successor to his father as president.

Hosni Mubarak has also been questioned, but he was taken to hospital after reportedly suffering heart problems.  The former leader, 82, stood down on 11 February following an 18-day popular uprising against his rule.  State television said on Tuesday that he had suffered a heart attack, though other reports indicated that he was well enough to undergo further questioning.

Maj Gen Mohammed el-Khatib, head of provincial security in South Sinai, announced to a crowd gathered outside the courthouse where his sons were being questioned that they would be detained. "Brothers, whatever you wanted, you have got... 15 days."
As a police van drove the two brothers away, the crowd of about 2,000 pelted it with stones, bottles and flip-flops..


Prosecutors are investigating the killing of hundreds of protesters and allegations of corruption under Mr Mubarak's 30-year rule. Mr Mubarak has been banned from leaving the country, along with his sons and their wives, and the family's assets have been frozen.  He has been keeping a low profile in Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort, after fleeing to his holiday villa there when he was overthrown.

In a pre-recorded audio message on Sunday, he broke his silence of the last two months to say his reputation and that of his sons had been damaged and he would work to clear their names.
On Tuesday, Egyptian soldiers and police moved into Tahrir Square in Cairo and ended a sit-in by protesters demanding civilian rule and swifter prosecution of former officials. A military council has been ruling Egypt since Mr Mubarak stepped down.