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Losing Arecibo’s giant dish leaves humans more vulnerable to space rocks, scientists say

November 30, 2020 [email protected]_84 Arecibos, Dish, giant, humans, leaves, Losing, rocks, Scientists, Space, vulnerable

Ignorance may feel like bliss, but preparedness offers better odds of surviving what is to come. And when it comes to planetary defense, ignorance just became a bit more inevitable.

Planetary defense is the art of identifying and mitigating threats to Earth from asteroid impacts. And among its tools is planetary radar, an unusual capability that can give scientists a much better look at a nearby object. Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was one of only a couple such systems on the planet, and that instrument’s long tenure is over now after two failed cables made the telescope so unstable that there was no way to even evaluate its status without risking workers’ lives, according to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), which owns the site. Instead, it will be decommissioned.

And when it comes to planetary defense, there’s nothing like it.

“There’s been statements in the media that, ‘Oh we have other systems that can kind of replace what Arecibo is doing,’ and I don’t think that’s true,” Anne Virkki, who leads the planetary radar team at Arecibo Observatory, told Space.com. “It’s not obsolete and it’s not easily replaceable by other existing facilities and instruments.”

Planetary defense begins with spotting as many near-Earth asteroids as possible — nearly 25,000 to date, according to NASA — and estimating their sizes and their orbits around the sun. Arecibo never played a role in discovering asteroids; that task is much more easily completed by a host of telescopes that see large swaths of the sky in visible and infrared light and are able to catch the sudden appearance of a bright, fast-moving dot between the stars, telescopes like the PanSTARRS observatory in Hawaii. With those first observations, the smallest asteroids and those that stay far from Earth can be safely labeled and more or less forgotten.

But larger asteroids with orbits that might bring them too close for comfort get additional study, and often, that work has been Arecibo Observatory’s. The facility sported a powerful radar transmitter that could bounce a beam of light off an object in Earth’s neighborhood. Then, the observatory’s massive radio dish could catch the echo of that signal, letting scientists decipher precise details about an asteroid’s location, size, shape and surface.

The same telescopes that identify asteroids in the first place can also give scientists the data they need to track a space rock’s orbit, but when planetary radar can spot the object, it completes the same work more quickly.

Sometimes that speed will matter, said Bruce Betts, chief scientist at the Planetary Society, a nonprofit space-exploration advocacy group that includes planetary defense among its key issues. “You want to define an orbit as quickly as you can to figure out whether the asteroid is going to hit Earth,” Betts told Space.com.

That’s because with enough warning, humans could theoretically do something to prevent the collision — likely by nudging

college

Pandemic leaves opening week of college hoops in disarray

November 25, 2020 [email protected]_84 college, disarray, hoops, leaves, Opening, pandemic, Week

AP
Published 5:56 p.m. ET Nov. 24, 2020

Wichita State landed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Monday afternoon, masked up and looking forward to tipping off the season in the Crossover Classic.

A few hours later, the Shockers announced they were out of the tournament after multiple positive COVID-19 tests. Event organizers said the tests came from two players who were re-tested before the final decision was made.

“The kids were excited because they were going to get to compete against someone,” said Wichita State interim coach Isaac Brown, whose team had been practicing since June. “Just to get here and find out that we’re not able to play in the tournament — they were disappointed.”

Eight months after the coronavirus shut down college basketball at tournament time, the sport returns this week with dozens of teams opening their seasons as early as Wednesday and the pandemic still raging. It has already forced cancellations and postponements across the country, leading to a chaotic scramble to schedule opponents willing to drop everything to play.

No. 2 Baylor, 9 Duke and the No. 3 UConn women have all canceled games because of COVID-19.

The Shockers were the sixth team to pull out of the South Dakota tournament alone — only West Virginia and Memphis are left from the original slate — though the event is going ahead with replacement teams and without fans.

“It’s been a wild ride,” said Lea Miller-Tooley, the tournament director. “We’ve learned a lot, but we’ve really been able to hang in there.”

Texas A&M, Creighton and Wichita State are the most recent programs to drop out or be removed from the Crossover Classic field. Utah, Ohio State and Dayton already had backed out. South Dakota State, Utah State, St. Mary’s, Northern Iowa, Western Kentucky and Virginia Commonwealth have stepped in as replacement teams. VCU was quickly added after Wichita State was removed. The Rams had been scheduled to play in the Volunteer Classic this week, but that event was canceled.

A day after UConn announced it was pausing its women’s season for 14 days following a positive coronavirus test, organizers of the Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge tournament canceled this weekend’s event, which was to feature the Huskies and No. 6 Mississippi State.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma said he was not sure his program can make up those games or a scheduled Dec. 4 showdown with No. 5 Louisville that also has been canceled. He said he has been spending a lot of time reassuring players that things are going to be fine.

“I’m sure there was a guy on the Titanic who was in charge of saying that,” he said. “I just hope I’m not that guy.”

Jeff Walz, the coach of the No. 5 Louisville women’s team, saw the issues coming. He set up a group chat that has grown to 25 coaches to help them work through schedule changes. It came in handy when several of his team’s early games were canceled.

Walz

university

IS attack on Afghan university leaves 22 dead

November 3, 2020 [email protected]_84 Afghan, attack, Dead, leaves, university

KABUL, Afghanistan — Islamic State militants in Afghanistan stormed Kabul University on Monday as it hosted a book fair attended by the Iranian ambassador, sparking an hours-long gunbattle and leaving at least 22 dead and 22 wounded at the war-torn country’s largest school.

Most of the casualties were students and there were fears the death toll could climb further with some of the wounded said to be in critical condition.

It was the second attack on an educational institution in Kabul in as many weeks.

The Taliban promptly issued a statement denying they took part in the assault, which came as the insurgents continue peace talks with representatives of Kabul’s U.S.-backed government, with the aim to help the United States finally withdraw from Afghanistan. Later in the day, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

As the attack unfolded, students and teachers were seen fleeing the part of the campus where law and journalism schools are located, while hand grenades exploded and automatic rifle fire could be heard. Scores of Afghan special forces surrounded the campus, shepherding teachers and students to safety.

The chaos subsided as the sun set over the Afghan capital and the Interior Ministry’s spokesman, Tariq Arian, said all three attackers involved in the assault were killed.

The Islamic State group said it targeted newly graduated “judges and investigators belonging to the apostate Afghan government” gathered at the campus, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terror online messaging.

The IS statement claimed only two of its fighters were involved, and posted their photographs, which conflicted with the Afghan authorities’ report of three attackers. The claim did not indicate the IS intended to target the Iranian envoy or the book fair.

Last week, IS also claimed a brutal assault on a tutoring center in the Afghan capital’s mostly Shiite neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi that killed at least 24 students and wounded more than 100 others on Oct. 24.

The peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Kabul government, known as intra-Afghan talks, were part of a deal Washington signed with the insurgents in February. They are taking place in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, and are seen as Afghanistan’s best chance at peace – though daily bloodshed has continued.

Five hours into the fighting on Monday, sporadic grenade explosions and automatic weapons fire still echoed down the empty streets surrounding the university’s fenced compound. Afghan troops stood guard.

Ahmad Samim, a university student, told journalists he saw militants armed with pistols and Kalashnikov assault rifles firing at the school, the country’s oldest with some 17,000 students. He said the attack happened at the university’s eastern side, where its law and journalism faculty teach.

Afghan media reported that a book exhibition was being held at the university and attended by a number of dignitaries at the time of the shooting. None of the dignitaries were reported hurt.

While Afghan officials declined to discuss the bookfair, Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency reported Sunday that Iranian Ambassador

university

ISIS attack on Afghan university leaves 22 dead, 22 wounded

November 3, 2020 [email protected]_84 Afghan, attack, Dead, ISIS, leaves, university, wounded

Most of the casualties were students and there were fears the death toll could climb further with some of the wounded said to be in critical condition.

It was the second attack on an educational institution in Kabul in as many weeks.

The Taliban promptly issued a statement denying it took part in the assault, which came as the insurgents continue peace talks with representatives of Kabul’s U.S.-backed government, with the aim to help the United States finally withdraw from Afghanistan. Later in the day, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The chaos subsided as the sun set over the Afghan capital and the Interior Ministry’s spokesman, Tariq Arian, said all three attackers involved in the assault were killed.

The ISIS statement claimed only two of its fighters were involved, and posted their photographs, which conflicted with the Afghan authorities’ report of three attackers. The claim did not indicate the IS intended to target the Iranian envoy or the book fair.

Last week, ISIS also claimed a brutal assault on a tutoring center in the Afghan capital’s mostly Shiite neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi that killed at least 24 students and wounded more than 100 others on Oct. 24.

Source Article …

university

IS attack on Afghan university leaves 22 dead, 22 wounded

November 2, 2020 [email protected]_84 Afghan, attack, Dead, leaves, university, wounded

Afghan police patrol at the site of an attack at Kabul University in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. The brazen attack by gunmen who stormed the Kabul University has left many dead and wounded in the Afghan capital. The assault sparked a hours-long gunbattle. less

Afghan police patrol at the site of an attack at Kabul University in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. The brazen attack by gunmen who stormed the Kabul University has left many dead and wounded in the … more

Photo: Rahmat Gul, AP

Afghan police patrol at the site of an attack at Kabul University in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020. The brazen attack by gunmen who stormed the Kabul University has left many dead and wounded in the Afghan capital. The assault sparked a hours-long gunbattle. less

Photo: Rahmat Gul, AP

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Islamic State militants in Afghanistan stormed the Kabul University on Monday as it hosted a book fair attended by the Iranian ambassador, sparking an hours-long gun battle and leaving at least 22 dead and 22 wounded at the war-torn country’s largest school.

Most of the casualties were students and there were fears the death toll could climb further with some of the wounded said to be in critical condition.

It was the second attack on an educational institution in Kabul in as many weeks.

The chaos subsided as the sun set over the Afghan capital and the Interior Ministry’s spokesman, Tariq Arian, said all three attackers involved in the assault were killed.

Last week, IS also claimed a brutal assault on a tutoring center in the Afghan capital’s mostly Shiite neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi that

university

Attack on Afghan university leaves 19 dead, 22 wounded

November 2, 2020 [email protected]_84 Afghan, attack, Dead, leaves, university, wounded

Gunmen stormed Kabul University in Afghanistan on Monday as the campus hosted a book fair attended by the Iranian ambassador, sparking an hours-long gun battle that left at least 19 people dead and 22 wounded. Most of the casualties were students.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack at Afghanistan’s largest school, but the Taliban issued a statement denying participation in the assault, which came as the insurgents continue peace talks with representatives of Kabul’s U.S.-backed government.

As the attack unfolded, students and teachers were seen fleeing the campus while hand grenades exploded and automatic rifle fire sounded. Scores of Afghan special forces surrounded the campus, shepherding teachers and students to safety.

Hours later, the chaos subsided as the sun set over the Afghan capital. The Interior Ministry’s spokesman, Tariq Arian, said three attackers were involved in the assault, all of whom were killed in the ensuing gun battle.

It was the second attack on an educational institution in Kabul in two weeks. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a brutal assault on a tutoring center in the city’s mostly Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Dasht-e-Barchi, which killed at least 24 students and wounded more than 100 others Oct. 24.

The peace negotiations between the Taliban and the Kabul government, known as intra-Afghan talks, were part of a deal Washington signed with the insurgents in February. The talks are taking place in Qatar and are seen as Afghanistan’s best chance at peace. But daily bloodshed has continued.

Five hours into the fighting Monday, sporadic grenade explosions and automatic-weapons fire still echoed down the empty streets surrounding the university’s fenced compound. Afghan troops stood guard.

Ahmad Samim, a university student, told journalists that he saw militants armed with pistols and Kalashnikov assault rifles firing at the school, the country’s oldest, with some 17,000 students. He said the attack happened on the university’s eastern side, where its law and journalism faculty teach.

Afghan media reported that a book exhibition was being held at the university and attended by a number of dignitaries at the time of the shooting. None of the dignitaries was reported hurt.

While Afghan officials declined to discuss the book fair, Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency reported Sunday that Iranian Ambassador Bahador Aminian and cultural attache Mojtaba Noroozi were to inaugurate the fair, which was hosting about 40 Iranian publishers.

Iranian diplomats have been targeted previously in Afghanistan, incidents that dangerously escalated tensions between the two countries. In 1998, Iran held the Taliban responsible for the deaths of nine Iranian diplomats working in its consulate in northern Afghanistan, and sent reinforcements to its 580-mile-long border with Afghanistan.

With no claim of responsibility for Monday’s attack, suspicion immediately fell on Islamic State, which has declared war on Afghanistan’s minority Shiites and staged dozens of attacks since emerging in the region in 2014. A horrific attack earlier this year on a Kabul maternity hospital — also in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood — was blamed on the group. In that

career

Tampa Bay Rays’ Kevin Cash goes against trend, leaves Tyler Glasnow in to throw career-high 112 pitches

October 21, 2020 [email protected]_84 Bay, careerhigh, Cash, Glasnow, Kevin, leaves, pitches, Rays, Tampa, throw, trend, Tyler

ARLINGTON, Texas — Rays manager Kevin Cash defended his decision to stay with starter Tyler Glasnow in a crucial fifth inning in Tampa Bay’s 8-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday.

Glasnow ended up throwing a career-high 112 pitches, giving up six runs on six walks. Four of those runs came in the fifth.

“Just trust that he had plenty of stuff to keep us right there,” Cash said after the game. “The walks are definitely not ideal but we didn’t do a good job of holding the runners on. We can’t allow the double-steal right there.”

With the Dodgers leading just 2-1 at the time, Cash opted to let Glasnow keep pitching after he walked both Mookie Betts and Corey Seager. Betts stole second, then both runners pulled off a double-steal, opening up the inning for Los Angeles. Glasnow was at 99 pitches after the two walks — his fifth and sixth of the night — but kept going.

2 Related

“I felt relatively good,” Glasnow said. “Any pitcher at the end part of the [outing], you want to be left in. That’s the competitive nature … I think the adrenaline takes over. When I go to 100 pitches I don’t feel the fatigue that much.”

It was a curious move mostly because it went against the trend Cash had set all year. The Rays bullpen ranked third in innings pitched during the regular season and ranked first in stranding inherited runners. In fact, their 19% of inherited runners scored percentage was 14 points below league average.

After the double-steal, Cash figured Glasnow was his best bet against Max Muncy with a man on third and less than two outs.

“I felt like we needed a strikeout and there might not be anyone better equipped to get a strikeout right there than Glass,” Cash said.

Muncy grounded to first, scoring Betts from third, which was followed by a run-scoring single from Will Smith that finally ended Glasnow’s night. Reliever Ryan Yarbrough took over for him.

“If I could go back and strike [Muncy] out it would be great but it didn’t happen that way,” Glasnow said. “I felt a little weird at the beginning. Just too many walks, not executing enough.”

Glasnow is the first pitcher in World Series history to allow six earned runs and walk six batters, becoming just the third hurler to do so in the postseason. His 4.1 innings of 112 pitches were the fewest innings pitched by any pitcher in an outing of 110-plus pitches in any postseason game since pitches were first tracked in 1988. It was also the most pitches thrown by a Tampa Bay hurler this season.

The Rays insist he was fine to remain in the game in the critical inning.

“I thought he was throwing the ball extremely well,” catcher Mike Zunino said of the fifth inning. “Couple free passes but he landed the breaker, threw some great change-ups. He

science

Astronauts Plug Leak On The International Space Station With The Help Of Floating Tea Leaves

October 20, 2020 [email protected]_84 Astronauts, Floating, International, Leak, leaves, Plug, Space, Station, Tea

ISS orbiting Earth — The ISS has been continuously occupied in Earth orbit for nearly 20 years.

NASA

A worsening leak on the International Space Station (ISS) has been plugged thanks to an unusual method – using floating tea leaves to work out where it was.

Since September 2019, a small amount of air as been leaking from the ISS at a rate of 0.6 pounds of air per day – not much, but cause for some concern. However, by August 2020 the problem had increased five-fold, with the loss rate rising to 3.1 pounds per day.

Over the next several weeks, the crew began searching for the leak. This included closing hatches to isolate the leak, along with an ultrasonic leak detector. Ultimately the location of the leak was narrowed down to the Zvezda module, the location of Russia’s crew quarters on the station.

Finding the actual leak itself – which NASA noted posed “no immediate danger to the crew” – proved more difficult. But last week, the Russian space agency – Rocosmos – said the crew had successfully used floating tea leaves to work out where it was and plugged it, although the cause of the small hole still seems to be unknown.

Ivan Vagner on the ISS — The crew on the ISS (cosmonaut Ivan Vagner pictured) was not in any danger, said NASA.

NASA

“We believe that we have really identified the probable leakage area,” said Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, one of the crew of six on the ISS, reported the Russian news agency TASS. “We have distributed a tea bag before closing the transfer chamber.”

Ivanishin added: “We have several photos and videos of the direction of the tea bag’s flight or where it intended to fly and this precisely shows the direction the air is blowing from the possible air leak.”

The crew have now put tape over the crack, which will temporarily prevent a further loss of air. The plan now is to find a more permanent solution to seal the leak.

This could include using equipment brought up by the most recent Soyuz launch on October 14, with NASA astronaut Kate Rubins and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov on board.

Soyuz-2.1a rocket booster with Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft launched to ISS from Baikonur Cosmodrome — Three more astronauts launched to the ISS last week.

Roscosmos Press Office/TASS

“ISS crew sealed the airleak using temporary means available at the station,” Roscosmos said in a short statement on Twitter.

“Currently, [the] Chief Operating Control Group together with the [ISS] crew is working out a program of operations to permanently seal the leak location.”

This is not the first time a leak has been reported on the ISS. Back in 2018, a small hole was found in one of the Soyuz spacecraft docked with the space station, potentially due to human error on the ground. Russia later said that, while the cause of the leak had been found, it would not reveal what happened.

Source Article …

science

Barrett’s response on climate change leaves some unsettled

October 16, 2020 [email protected]_84 Barretts, change, climate, leaves, response, unsettled

Nominee calls policy issue ‘contentious’ (somewhere, Galileo is heard muttering)

In her confirmation hearings this week, Judge Amy Coney Barrett stated that she cannot express a view on climate change because it is a “very contentious matter of public policy.” As a science teacher and a graduate of Catholic school, I find this deeply troubling. What is contentious about climate change is not its reality but rather what to do about it. Barrett’s own religious leader, Pope Francis, knows this, as he called on people of faith to listen to scientists and take action in his 2015 ecological encyclical, Laudato Si.

I suspect Barrett was not consulting the pope but instead was revealing her lack of interest in scientific evidence that is inconvenient for conservatism. In that type of thinking, she is harking back to an earlier Catholic tradition, the Inquisition. The inquisitors famously took on Galileo for his heresy of writing that Earth moves around the sun.

Galileo is said to have muttered after his sentencing, “And yet it moves,” referring to Earth. Whatever Barrett may think, the science on climate change is clear. She cannot treat it like a legal problem with fascinating arguments on both sides. The science is settled, and as we ignore it, the earth not only moves, it burns.

Mary Memmott

Framingham

Much depends on court’s ability to respond to this existential threat

Judge Amy Coney Barrett is not a geographer, and would not be able to comment on the “contentious” question of whether the earth is flat. With luck, no flat-earth lawsuits will reach the Supreme Court during her tenure (if, as expected, she is confirmed). Cases involving climate change and greenhouse gas pollution are certain to arise, though. When that happens, will she recuse herself? Or will she join other conservative judges in effectively denying the settled science of climate change? Her evasive response to the Senate Judiciary Committee is not encouraging.

A great deal depends on the court’s ability to recognize and respond to this existential threat by embracing scientifically grounded policy solutions in the face of self-dealing denialists. Let’s hope Barrett studies up.

Brent Whelan

Allston

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