3/01/2012

Identical Strangers by Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein

From the Publisher:
Elyse Schein had always known she was adopted, but it wasn't until her mid-thirties while living in Paris that she searched for her biological mother. When Elyse contacted her adoption agency, she was not prepared for the shocking, life-changing news she received: She had an identical twin sister. Elyse was then hit with another bombshell: she and her sister had been separated as infants, and for a time, had been part of a secret study on separated twins.

Paula Bernstein, a married writer and mother living in New York, also knew she was adopted, but had no inclination to find her birth mother. When she answered a call from the adoption agency one spring afternoon, Paula's life suddenly divided into two starkly different periods: the time before and the time after she learned the truth.

As they reunite and take their tentative first steps from strangers to sisters, Paula and Elyse are also left with haunting questions surrounding their origins and their separation. They learn that the study was conducted by a pair of influential psychiatrists associated with a prestigious adoption agency. As they investigate their birth mother's past, Paula and Elyse move closer toward solving the puzzle of their lives.

In alternating voices, Paula and Elyse write with emotional honesty about the immediate intimacy they share as twins and the wide chasm that divides them as two complete strangers. Interweaving eye-opening studies and statistics on twin science into their narrative, they offer an intelligent and heartfelt glimpse into human nature.

Identical Strangers is the amazing story of two women coming to terms with the strange and unbelievable hand fate has dealt them, an account that broadens the definition of family and provides insight into our own DNA and the singularly exceptional imprint it leaves on our lives.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. It features disturbing, violent images, facilitating its social commentary on psychiatry, youth gangs, and other social, political, and economic subjects in a dystopian, future Britain.

Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the main character, is a charismatic, psychopathic delinquent whose interests include classical music (especially Beethoven), rape, and what is termed "ultra-violence". He leads a small gang of thugs (Pete, Georgie, and Dim), whom he calls his droogs (from the Russian друг, "friend", "buddy"). The film chronicles the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture, and attempted rehabilitation via controversial psychological conditioning. Alex narrates most of the film in Nadsat, a fractured adolescent slang comprising Slavic (especially Russian), English, and Cockney rhyming slang.

A Clockwork Orange features a soundtrack comprising mostly classical music selections and Moog synthesizer compositions by Wendy Carlos (then known as "Walter Carlos"). The now-iconic poster of A Clockwork Orange was created by designer Bill Gold.

Giorgio Armani's Cleaned Up Androgyny

Giorgio Armani kept things streamlined this season in one of his most lovingly understated collections, and a timely lesson in the art of romantic tailoring and sophisticated draping.

Where the over-ridding message on many Milan runways was exotic glamor, on Armani's this season it was lean and clean chic. That much was clear from the opening salvos - some perfectly cut mannish suits, whose sharp-shouldered jackets and pleated pants had both authority and allure.

Composed in combinations of chalk stripe, Prince of Wales check or pink satins, and seen on models wearing flat patent, pointy loafers and cocky fedora hats, the look was androgynous without ever being even faintly perverse.

"I think there was a time when fashion had to provide certain women, cabinet ministers, CEOs or icons, with clothes that had a certain serieta," said Armani, using the Italian word for seriousness. "Now I believe we can be a little more casual."

In this fall 2012 collection, unveiled in the designer's south Milan headquarters on Monday, Feb. 27, Armani wants to see women in swirling skirts and dresses - finished just above the knee, and smartly dissected with huge horizontal bows - or faille coats cut with an assured flare.

Practically every model was wearing a hat in this show - from berets to mousquetaire hats to angled trilbies. All of them looked great.

Armani remains the most assured Italian colorist, most charmingly in a final sequined cocktail trio whose rosy hues recalled the remote pink beaches of Sardinia. Though for his finale, one model stood in statuesque black profile and enormous hat - just like the seductive spy version that was featured on the show invitation.

Seconds later, a tanned and bright-eyed Armani, sporting a small diamond cross under his open-necked shirt, took his bow, looking the healthiest he has been in many years.

Asked by FWD if the cross meant he was entering into a more spiritual moment, the 77-year-old designer laughed: "Do you mean growing closer to the church? It's a little soon, isn't it?

(Source: Godfrey Deeny | Fashion Wire Daily)

VisitBritain woos Japanese outbound tourism market

VisitBritain is reinforcing its increased investment and commitment to the world’s seventh most valuable source market for international tourism by taking a trade delegation to Japan this week, where it will introduce British tourism businesses to key Japanese travel buyers.

The trip follows earlier visits to India and Russia.

Taking place in Tokyo, the Japan Mission will see a series of meetings and seminars looking to secure business from Japan’s quickly recovering outbound travel sector.

The delegation includes regional tourist boards, city and tourist attraction organisations, hotel groups, transportation and specialist tour operators.
Earlier this month VisitBritain rolled out a series of advertisements in Tokyo, showcasing the best of British culture, countryside and heritage.
The ads form part of a £25m GREAT image campaign, which has included GREAT branded trains running on the JR Yamanote Line and billboards and digital screen commercials at Tokyo Metro Underground.
Japan remains an important market for Britain and is one of the world’s largest source markets for tourism expenditure, with an outbound traffic of 16.63 million tourists.
Britain ranks as one of the top European destination for Japanese travellers - in 2011, the UK welcomed a six per cent increase in arrivals from Japan compared to the previous year.

VisitBritain research shows Japanese visitors also come back to Britain more times than to any other European destination, with 26 per cent of visitors having been to Britain more than four times.

As part of the mission, VisitBritain is to launch its highly successful global online training programme BritAgent.

The programme, designed to equip Japanese travel agents with a deeper understanding of the UK, will see agents who complete the training awarded BritAgent certification. BritAgent is currently running in more than 20 countries around the world.

Head of the mission and VisitBritain’s overseas network director, Keith Beecham, said: “Our commitment to the Japanese outbound sector is stronger than ever, highlighted by the fact that we are bringing a strong delegation of British tourism businesses to meet with Japanese trade in this special year for Britain.
“We have increased our marketing investment in Japan and millions of commuters here in Tokyo will have seen our GREAT images that we hope will inspire them to choose Britain for their next holiday.”

(source: breakingtravelnews.com)

Lady Gaga at Harvard, launches youth foundation

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Pop star Lady Gaga descended on Harvard University with some powerful friends Wednesday to launch her new foundation aimed at empowering young people.

The singer was joined by Oprah Winfrey, spiritual leader Deepak Chopra, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to kick off the Born This Way Foundation that Gaga's mother and inspiration will help steer.

Gaga spoke to more than 1,100 students from several states, faculty and invited guests at Harvard, urging the young audience to "challenge meanness and cruelty."

"I believe that if you have revolutionary potential, you must make the world a better place and use it," she said.

She reminded them that there is no law to make people be kind to one another and added: "I wish there was because, you know, I'd be chained naked to a fence somewhere trying to pass it."

Late Wednesday, Gaga's representative said the singer has made a $1.2 million personal contribution to the foundation, named after her 2011 album and hit song. The song promotes self-empowerment and has become an anthem for gay pride.

(source: yahoo.com)

Open the Windows... 8: Free trial around the world today as Microsoft revs up to battle Apple and Google

Microsoft is offering the public a free trial of its upcoming Windows 8 operating system from today.
The new operating system will run on tablets as well as desktops and laptops - and is a sea-change for Windows that is seen as a make-or-break opportunity for Microsoft.

Tablets and cloud computing have made Bill Gates' vision of ‘a computer on every desk and in every home’ seem quaint - Windows 8 aims to adapt the iconic operating system for life in the mobile world of tablets.
Windows 8 will come in two variations - one that works on desktops and laptops, and a new version for the ARM microprocessors in tablets, smartphones and other portable devices.
There is no set release date, but it's widely expected to be available in autumn - offering Microsoft Office free on tablets, which could be a 'killer app' that puts Windows 8 machines ahead of Apple devices.

In both versions, Windows 8 features a completely new interface, borrowed from what Microsoft calls the ‘Metro’ style of the current Windows Phone software.

The free trial version is available to download here.

It features blocks or 'tiles' that can be moved around the screen or tapped to go straight into an application.
The tiles update in real time, so you can see if you have emails, voice messages or Facebook notifications at a glance.
If PC and laptop users do not like the new format, they can revert to the old style with a click of the mouse.
The Windows 8 release has to be good, and soon, say industry experts.
More than 90 per cent of the world's PCs still run Windows, but while Microsoft remains profitable thanks to divisions such as Xbox, sales of Windows have slowed.
Rival Apple, with its command of the tablet market, has gained. Microsoft's market capitalisation is now $267 billion, less than half Apple's $535 billion.
‘Now that the tablet market is being defined by the iPad and the (Amazon) Kindle, if they come out with a buggy first version, they won't get a second chance,’ said Michael Cherry, a former Microsoft engineer who now works at independent research firm Directions on Microsoft. ‘They can't afford to disappoint customers.’
Microsoft has not put a timetable on the final release, but Windows unit head Steven Sinofsky has said new versions of Windows should be no more than three years apart, which would put a Windows 8 debut around October 2012.
Read more

Oldest Flea

(Livescience) The oldest fleas were five to 10 times larger than today's bloodsuckers, new research finds. But at least they couldn't jump.

These ancient bloodsuckers are the oldest fleas ever found, and the oldest example of bloodsucking parasites in the fossil record, study researcher André Nel of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris told LiveScience.

These early fleas lacked the strong hindlegs of modern fleas, Nel said.

"Their biology and behavior was certainly different, more like that of a louse creeping among the fur and feathers of the hosts," said Nel, who, along with his colleagues, analyzed nine fossil specimens of the fleas discovered in outcrops in China.

The fleas lived in the Mesozoic era, a chunk of geologic time extending from 250 million years ago to 65 million years ago and includes the Jurassic period. They were giant compared with today's fleas, with one female specimen's body longer than 0.8 inches (2 cm), said study researcher Diying Huang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science in Nanjing, China. Modern fleas don't get much larger than 0.1 inches, or 3 mm, in length. [Album: The Cutest Bugs]

The fleas' size and tough mouthparts would have made it easy for them to feast on large hosts — even dinosaurs.

"Their long siphonate dentate mouthparts may easily penetrate dinosaur skin," Huang told LiveScience.

The fossils, which reside in the collections of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, fill in some of the gaps of flea evolution, Nel said. The first fleas evolved from ancestors that fed on plant fluids. Some then evolved from plants to animals, becoming bloodsuckers. These parasites lost their wings and developed grasping legs to cling to fur and feathers.

At some point still not pinpointed in the fossil record, Nel said, fleas evolved amazingly strong hind legs, which can catapult them 50 to 100 times their body length.

Horse saves his owner in the mud

Geelong, Australia: A horse survived with only minor bruising after getting trapped in quicksand-like mud.
But saved his owner Nicole Graham who remained by 18-year-old Astro's side, holding its head above the mud as rescuers arrived at the scene.

In an interview with local media on Tuesday Graham said she knew she needed to stay with her horse.
"As we sank deeper and deeper into the mud and time went on I was really starting to get scared. I knew if I stayed with him he wouldn't panic either and him not panicking meant that we would both get out OK," she said.

Graham said she was riding on Avalon Beach with her daughter on Monday when both their horses started sinking in the muddy sand. The smaller horse managed to get out but Astro remained stuck in the mud.
With the tide rising, Nicole stayed with Astro until the local Emergency Services sedated the horse and pulled it out.

This Tiny Computer is the Size of a USB Flash Drive

What you see above isn’t a USB drive. It’s a full-fledged computer: 1.2Ghz processor, 1 GB of RAM, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, a Mali 400 GPU for HD video decoding and a microSD card slot that can support up to 64GB.

At Mobile World Congress, FXI Technologies debuted Cotton Candy, the computer in a thumb drive package. One end features USB, which it uses for power, while the other connects to displays with HDMI,CNET reports. In addition to the microSD slot, Cotton Candy includes a micro-USB port for peripherals. One thing it’s missing is an operating system. Users are directed to download either Android 4.0 or Ubuntu after purchasing and registering the product.

Cotton Candy is available for pre-order and expected to ship in the U.S. and Europe next month, retailing for $199.

Flat, Credit Card-Sized “Light Bulb” Fits in Your Wallet, Lights Up the Night

Photos: Discovery News

There’s no question flashlights are handy, but unless you’re a security guard wearing a utility belt, they’re just not that convenient to carry around. Unless you carry one in your wallet.

The Pocket Lamp Card from Doulex delivers the brightness of an LED light in a package about the same size as a credit card. Simply pop the bulb-shaped light into the up position and the light turns on. Press down flat, and it turns off.

Giving new meaning to the phrase, “a little light in the wallet,” the Pocket Lamp comes in a

variety of colors (should you need some pocket mood lighting), and is powered by an included, replaceable 3V battery.

So the next time you find yourself in a dark restaurant trying to make out the menu or fumbling around outside your house at night attempting to put your key in the lock, you can either look like every other iPhone user and break out your free Flashlight app, or show off your true gadget cred and slide this little wonder out of your wallet.

New section of Great Wall of China discovered by British researcher

A structure in the heart of Mongolia’s Gobi Desert – lost for a thousand years and marked on maps as ‘The Wall of Genghis Khan’ – has been revealed as still standing and part of the Great Wall.

British researcher William Lindesay, aided by Google Earth, GPS and several other experts, found the new section last Autumn in Ömnögovi Province, a sensitive region 25 miles north of the China-Mongolian border.

The Great Wall of China is in fact many different structures built over hundreds of years along different routes by various dynasties - this find is the first time a section has been discovered outside China.

‘We followed the Wall there for about 100 kilometres (60 miles), parallel to Mongolia’s southern border with China and made some unexpected discoveries in terms of both the Wall’s condition and its probable age,’ says Lindesay, who was joined on the expedition by China-Mongolia border region expert Dr.Tjalling Halbertsma and Mongolian geographer and desert specialist Professor Baasan Tudevin.

‘In one location we found the Wall preserved to a height of around 2.5 metres (eight feet) and made up of earth and branches of a desert shrub called saksaul.’

In another location about 15 miles away the team discovered that the same Wall detoured off its flat and straight course and went up and over an ancient volcanic cone.

‘Going over the mountain it was constructed from black blocks of basalt and stands around 1.5 metres (five feet) high as a prominent landscape feature,’ says Lindesay, who is one of the world’s leading authorities on the Wall, having spent 25 years studying it.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2108127/New-section-Great-Wall-China-discovered-British-researcher.html#ixzz1nmzugHfc

'She is unstoppable':

Two-year-old 'Robotot' fitted with titanium ribs to stop her own body from crushing her to death

A toddler born with a rare form of dwarfism has been fitted with titanium ribs to stop her body from suffocating her.

Jessie Plumpton, two, has Jeunes Thoracic Dystrophy, which has stopped her rib cage from developing properly and puts pressure on her lungs.

The youngster underwent two gruelling seven-hour operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to increase the size of her chest. She was then transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

During the operation a titanium bar was fitted vertically down the middle of both halves of Jessie's rib cage to pry the ribs apart in both directions. Surgeons have performed the pioneering surgery on around 200 children in the U.S.

Her mother Jane, 27, said: 'The chest expansion was very traumatic because it was a life or death operation.

'She could have died in surgery. As she gets older, she faces further surgery. Her life expectancy is unpredictable.

'We live every day like it could be our last. She is brilliant. She’s just plodded on and fought.

'Jessie has astonished doctors with her strength and resilience.'

Ms Plumpton, from Runcorn in Cheshire, said her daughter was diagnosed with Jeunes in January 2010, when she was two months old. Her older half-sister Jennie Leigh, 9, is not affected.

The genetic condition, which affects around one in 130,000 children, puts Jessie at risk from developing life-threatening respiratory infections and possible kidney failure.

Windows 8 Consumer View unveiled

Microsoft has unveiled the consumer preview of its upcoming Windows 8. It is as well on tablets as on traditional computers, and will replace Microsoft Windows 7, which has sold 525 million copies since it was released three years ago.

Windows 8 features an entirely new interface, called Metro, which borrows heavily from Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, as well as a slightly updated version of the conventional Windows 7 desktop version that runs in a separate mode.

Microsoft has also redesigned the traditional ‘Start’ button, replacing it with a much more angular design that changes colour depending on which theme a user chooses. The Start menu has become an entire homesecreen, and in desktop mode the Start button is no longer a permanent fixture.

The new Metro interface features ‘Live tiles’ which update users on their contacts social media feeds and show pictures from the device or photo galleries online. It also features a unique ‘semantic zoom’ technology which means that, say, a list of search results changes to give more detailed information as a user zooms in to show a selection of results.

Council that's £200m in debt to spend £30,000 on jubilee mugs for every primary school pupil

A debt-ridden council has come under fire after voting to spend nearly £30,000 on Diamond Jubilee mugs for all primary school children.

The decision to hand them out to almost 10,000 pupils was taken by Woking Borough Council to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June.

The bill is likely to come to around £30,000 if the council agree to spend £2.50 on each china mug and an extra 40p on a presentation box.

The Tory-run council - which has debts of around £200m - stated that the mugs were in ‘recognition’ of the Queen’s ‘outstanding service’ to the country and in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee.

It added: 'This council wishes to present a commemorative mug to all children of primary school age attending a school in the borough.'

The council, however, was rapped by locals and councillors, who say that the huge levels of debt meant the £30,000 should be spend elsewhere.

What's hard water? It's ice... Convert centimetre to metre? Take out centi... Teachers spill the beans on funniest exam answers EVER

For years, the 'Kung Fu' gland somehow escaped the attention of endocrinologists.

But one student has clearly found it... according to his hilarious answer to a biology exam question (complete with surreal sketch).

And what about the meaning of the term 'hermaphrodite'. That would, apparently, be 'Lady Gaga'.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Funnyexam.com - a website crammed with astonishingly bad answers given by students in both the UK and US.

Equally amusing are the comments made by exasperated teachers.

Take this 'feelings' study below - where 'Enough is enough Judy!' has been written on the naughty pupil's answer sheet. Well, they did call the poor boy ugly.

It is not clear whether all the exam answers are genuine.

Indeed, all references to the schools in question have been censored, so it would be impossible to authenticate them.

Schoolboy, 16, killed by cricket ball 'during mass brawl involving 40 pupils hurling chairs'

A 16-year-old schoolboy who died after he was hit in the head by a cricket ball was struck during a mass playground brawl involving up to 40 children, it was claimed today.

Police investigating the death of Kyle Rees who collapsed in the playground of his school in Bournemouth, Dorset, confirmed they are considering the huge fight as a 'line of inquiry'.

A pupil from the school said that the fight, involving '30-40 kids', broke out at around 2pm and footballs, tennis balls, shoes and chairs were thrown.

He told a local radio station he did not know what caused the incident and it was 'random copycat violence'.

Dorset police said the fight was 'one line of inquiry' in the investigation but stressed they had not yet received any other authoritative report of what happened during the fight.

The year 11 pupil collapsed and was taken to hospital unconscious, dying a day later with his mother, Tanya Cooper, by his side.

Immediately after the incident at lunchtime on Monday police cordoned off the school and interviewed potential witnesses.

'A 16-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the incident, initially for an offence of assault and subsequently on suspicion of manslaughter.

'He has been released on police bail while enquiries continue.

'A police cordon is currently in place at the school while officers investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.

'Teachers and children have been helping police with their enquiries throughout the day.' Read more

Tiffany Atwood named Youth of the Year by Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Holland

Shy second-grader Tiffany Atwood probably wouldn’t have expected that in 10 years, she’d be standing before a roomful of people, giving a speech.

But that’s exactly what the Holland High School junior did Tuesday night at the Midtown Center.

In fact, Atwood was recognized Tuesday for being a confident, outgoing role model — one of many her contributions to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Holland.

Atwood received the Youth of the Year award for her decade of involvement with the club.

During the ceremony, Atwood shared her story of how the club shaped her life.

“As a young child, I felt small and insecure,” Atwood said. “But I longed to be heard.”

A second-grade Atwood listened to an older girl speak about having dreams and setting goals, and decided she wanted to be as “special, confident and important” as that girl, she said.

So Atwood pushed herself to participate in as many Boys & Girls Club activities as she could. Her confidence grew, she said.

“I finally found a community where I was significant,” she said.

Atwood was one of three finalists for the 2012 Youth of the Year award. Runners-up were Keanu Marquez, a West Ottawa High School sophomore, and Diego Rivera, an eighth-grade student at Harbor Lights Middle School.

Human Resources Minister quietly axes student job centres

CANADA-The employment centres for students that have opened every spring for more than four decades in communities across Canada have been cancelled by the federal Human Resources department, which says it can offer the same services online.

The centres began as a Hire-a-Student pilot project in Moose Jaw, Sask. in 1968 and quickly spread to other regions. But the government says they have seen their attendance dwindle in recent years as increasing numbers of young people turn to their computers to find employment between April and September.

The Human Resources department is also under pressure to trim costs as the government grapples with a multi-billion-dollar deficit. The elimination of the centres will save Ottawa about $6.5-million a year.

Human Resources Minister Diane Finley did not actually announce the demise of the network of offices that are now known as Service Canada Centres for Youth. Rather, in a news release issued Jan. 27 , she said her department would be enhancing the tools that young people need to entre the workforce.

Canadian youth have asked for better online access to employment services and the government is responding by bolstering the websiteYouth.gc.ca with resources such as tips on writing résumés and cover letters, Ms. Finley explained. The site also includes a link to the online job bank for students.

Dinosaurs roamed among pine trees in the Arctic 100 million years ago, scientists reveal

Dinosaurs roamed among pine trees in the Arctic and 'weird monkey puzzle forests' were across much of their habitat, scientists have claimed.

Researchers have drawn up the first realistic picture of fauna in the Cretaceous period and revealed the bizarre lost world where dinosaurs roamed 100 million years ago.

Experts from the Royal Holloway University of London say that their research shows that during the age of the dinosaurs, polar-regions had a climate similar to Britain today.

Just before the extinction of dinosaurs the landscape changed again, with magnolia-type trees springing into life bringing blossom and scent to the world for the first time.

To build the maps, scientists created a database of every fossilised forest site ever discovered - several thousand in all - and plotted their position, reports journal Geology.Emiliano Peralta-Medina said: 'Our research shows that weird monkey puzzle forests covered most of the planet, especially in the steamy tropics.

'At mid-latitudes, there were dry cypress woodlands, and near the North Pole, it was mostly pines.

'Just before the dinosaurs became extinct, all that changed. Flowering trees similar to magnolias took off, bringing colour and scent to the world for the first time.'

By studying fossilised tree rings, the team discovered that trees were growing twice as fast as their modern-day counterparts, with the greatest effect closest to the poles.

Dr Howard Falcon-Lang said: 'Some of our fossil trees from Antarctica had rings more than two millimetres wide on average.

Prices for old iPads drop $50 as Apple gears up for launch of iPad 3 - but could the new HD tablet be more expensive?

American retailer Best Buy dropped the price of iPad 2 models by $50 this weekend - a move that tech insiders see as confirmation that a new model of Apple's best-selling tablet is just around the corner.
Analysts and technology sites expect a launch in early March, with invitations to a San Francisco launch event expected to be sent out this week.
The new iPad models are expected to offer a much higher resolution Full HD screen.

Bloomberg reports that iPad 3 processor will be a 'quad-core' device, a step that would put Apple's tablet ahead of competing devices such as Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 in terms of computing power, and enable a new generation of high-powered apps.
Tech site MacRumors claims that the new models will also be more expensive.
'The iPad 3 costs $80 more for the equivalent Wi-Fi models, and $70 more for the equivalent 3G models,' said MacRumors, reporting on leaks from Chinese factories.

It is 460ft wide and soaring through space - on a possible collision course with Earth.
Nasa has identified a new asteroid threat to our planet and calculated that it could potentially impact on February 5th 2040
The 2011 AG5 has already attracted the concern of the UN Action Team on near-Earth objects, which has begun discussing ways to divert it.
They have put the odds of it hitting us at one in 625, though that could change nearer the time.
Were the rock to land on a city it could cause millions of deaths, although mankind would live through it. The asteroid which wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was nine miles wide, compared to 460ft for the 2011 AG5. Able to observe it for half its orbit.
But between 2013 and 2016 they will be able to monitor from the ground and will make a more detailed assessment.
In 2023 the rock will make a ‘keyhole pass’ of Earth, which is an area it passes through on the orbit before it would hit Earth.
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, this will will be within a mere 0.02 astronomical units of our planet, or 1.86 million miles.

Sleeping Pills Tied To Higher Risk Of Death

Compared to never using sleeping pills, even using no more than 18 a year is tied to a more than threefold increased risk of death, according to researchers in the US who saw this result after controlling for every possible factor they could think of that might influence it. They also found a more than fourfold higher risk of death and a significant increase in cancer cases among regular pill users.

The findings are stark news for the growing number of people who rely on sleeping pills to get a good night's rest, especially as the results showed the link was the same for the newer, more popular sleeping pills such as zolpidem (Ambien) and temazepam (Restoril).

First author Dr Daniel F. Kripke, of the Viterbi Family Sleep Center at Scripps Health in San Diego, California, told the media:

"What our study shows is that sleeping pills are hazardous to your health and might cause death by contributing to the occurrence of cancer, heart disease and other ailments."...
Sometimes sleep disorder stems from depression and emotional problems. Kripke said in such cases, doctors should treat those underlying causes and avoid prescribing sleeping pills that could make things worse.
Read More on MNT

The taller penguins that roamed New Zealand 25million years ago

A tall and elegant race of penguins inhabited what is now New Zealand 25 million years ago, scientists have learned.
The bird stood over 4ft tall and was slimmer than modern penguins, with a long beak and flippers.
Researchers gave it the Maori name Kariuku, which loosely translated means 'diver who returns with food'.
A reconstruction of the penguin was made from two separate fossil skeletons.
Lead scientist Dr Dan Ksepka, from North Carolina State University in the U.S., said: 'Kairuku was an elegant bird by penguin standards, with a slender body and long flippers, but short, thick legs and feet.'
Kariuku was the largest of at least five penguin species that lived in New Zealand during the Oligocene period.
'The location was great for penguins in terms of both food and safety,' said Dr Ksepka.
'Most of New Zealand was underwater at that time, leaving isolated, rocky land masses that kept the penguins safe from potential predators and provided them with a plentiful food supply.'