Mystery Roar from Faraway Space Detected

*All of this seems a bit surreal. What are they preparing us for??*

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Space is typically thought of as a very quiet place. But one team of astronomers has found a strange cosmic noise that booms six times louder than expected.

The roar is from the distant cosmos. Nobody knows what causes it.

Of course, sound waves can’t travel in a vacuum (which is what most of space is), or at least they can’t very efficiently. But radio waves can.

Radio waves are not sound waves, but they are still electromagnetic waves, situated on the low-frequency end of the light spectrum.

Many objects in the universe, including stars and quasars, emit radio waves. Even our home galaxy, the Milky Way, emits a static hiss (first detected in 1931 by physicist Karl Jansky). Other galaxies also send out a background radio hiss.

But the newly detected signal, described here today at the 213th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, is far louder than astronomers expected.

There is “something new and interesting going on in the universe,” said Alan Kogut of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

A team led by Kogut detected the signal with a balloon-borne instrument named ARCADE (Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission).

In July 2006, the instrument was launched from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, and reached an altitude of about 120,000 feet (36,500 meters), where the atmosphere thins into the vacuum of space.

ARCADE’s mission was to search the sky for faint signs of heat from the first generation of stars, but instead they heard a roar from the distant reaches of the universe.

“The universe really threw us a curve,” Kogut said. “Instead of the faint signal we hoped to find, here was this booming noise six times louder than anyone had predicted.”

Detailed analysis of the signal ruled out primordial stars or any known radio sources, including gas in the outermost halo of our own galaxy.

Other radio galaxies also can’t account for the noise – there just aren’t enough of them.

“You’d have to pack them into the universe like sardines,” said study team member Dale Fixsen of the University of Maryland. “There wouldn’t be any space left between one galaxy and the next.”

The signal is measured to be six times brighter than the combined emission of all known radio sources in the universe.

For now, the origin of the signal remains a mystery.

“We really don’t know what it is,”said team member Michael Seiffert of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

And not only has it presented astronomers with a new puzzle, it is obscuring the sought-for signal from the earliest stars. But the cosmic static may itself provide important clues to the development of galaxies when the universe was much younger, less than half its present age. Because the radio waves come from far away, traveling at the speed of light, they therefore represent an earlier time in the universe.

“This is what makes science so exciting,” Seiffert said. “You start out on a path to measure something – in this case, the heat from the very first stars – but run into something else entirely, some unexplained.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/mysteryroarfromfarawayspacedetected

Montreal activists serve eviction notice to Israeli Consulate

*You wonder why I love Montreal?*

Thursday, January 8th : In protest against the ongoing Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip activists in Montreal have taken action at the Israeli Consulate in Montreal.

Serving a detailed an eviction notice to the Israeli Consulate in Montreal demonstrators demanded “the eviction of the Consulate of Israel, the expulsion of the Consular General and an immediate end to the Israeli assault on Gaza.”

Effectively shutting down daily operations at the Israeli Consulate this morning activists severed an eviction notice and successfully shut-down the daily operations at the Consulate.

In solidarity with the 1.5 million people in Gaza demonstrators in Montreal are demanding an end to Israel’s military assault, the 18-month siege on the Gaza Strip and to allow humanitarian aid into the territory.

“Canada’s lack of response to recent war crimes in Gaza speaks volumes about their support for Israeli apartheid,” said Sophie Schoen, a spokesperson for the action.

Protesters are outraged at Israel’s latest assault on the Palestinian people and by the Canadian government’s refusal to condemn these massacres that have left 700 dead and over 3000 wounded since December 27, 2008.

In the past 24 hours Israeli has bombarded three U.N. schools in Gaza killing dozens of internally displaced refugees inside Gaza.

“We demand the Canadian government cut all ties with the apartheid regime of Israel,” said Mostafa Henaway of Tadamon! Montreal.

The action in Montreal comes on the heels of countless protests worldwide against Israeli war crimes, including an occupation of the Israeli Consulate in Toronto by Jewish women yesterday.

EVICTION NOTICE

DEFENDANT: Consulate of Israel in Montreal

WHEREBY the tenant of this premise is responsible for war crimes under the fourth Geneva Convention, including ;

* The bombing of the Islamic University in Gaza City, and other civilian infrastructure such as ambulances and mosques;

* The shelling of a U.N. school in the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza, killing over 40 people, including many children;

* The suffocation of the people of Gaza, through an imposed 18 month siege, effectively cutting-off access to fuel, cooking gas, flour, and other basic necessities;

* The killing of over 700 people, a significant portion who are civilians, during their offensive entitled “Operation Cast Lead” which began on December 27th, 2008.

THEREFORE, we as concerned resident of Montreal demand:

* The eviction of the Consulate of Israel, the expulsion of the Consular General, and an immediate end to the Israeli assault on Gaza.

http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20090108140410995

Pelicans fall out of sky from Mexico to Oregon

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Pelicans suffering from a mysterious malady are crashing into cars and boats, wandering along roadways and turning up dead by the hundreds across the West Coast, from southern Oregon to Baja California, Mexico, bird-rescue workers say.

Weak, disoriented birds are huddling in people’s yards or being struck by cars. More than 100 have been rescued along the California coast, according to the International Bird Rescue Research Center in San Pedro.

Hundreds of birds, disoriented or dead, have been observed across the West Coast.

“One pelican actually hit a car in Los Angeles,” said Rebecca Dmytryk of Wildrescue, a bird-rescue operation. “One pelican hit a boat in Monterey.”

While some of the symptoms resemble those associated with domoic-acid poisoning — an ocean toxin that sometimes affects sea birds and mammals — other symptoms do not. Domoic acid also apparently has not been found in significant amounts offshore, although more tests are needed.

Rescuers are wondering whether the illness is caused by a virus, or even by contaminants washed into the ocean after recent fires across Southern California. Many of the birds also have swollen feet.

“These birds are on the freeway, getting run over,” said Jay Holcomb, executive director of the rescue center in San Pedro. “A bunch we’ve seen have been hit. They’ve been landing on yards five miles inland. When some of the people have captured them in parking lots, they just sit in the corner. They just go pick them up.”

“Maybe the weather has been particularly difficult on them,” said Heather Nevill, a veterinarian tracking the problem for the International Bird Rescue Research Center. “Maybe the fish stocks are particularly low. It might be more than one thing, all coming together at once.”

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008597545_pelicans07.html

Detroit School Lacks Toilet Paper, Light Bulbs

*Welcome to the new America. Hang the bailout supporters for the crime of treason. Maybe congress dems and reps can spare a roll? They did get a pay raise!*

DETROIT — A Detroit elementary school is asking for donations of toilet paper and light bulbs to keep their school functioning.

The principal of the Academy of Americas sent a letter to staff, parents and partners asking for donations of items “that are of the utmost importance for proper school functioning and most importantly for student health and safety.”

In the letter, Principal Naomi Khalil cited budget constraints within the district as the reason why the school could no longer stock the items.

The district is grappling with a more than $400 million budget deficit and is on the verge of being assigned an emergency financial manager by the state.

The letter asks for toilet paper, paper towel rolls, trash bags and 60, 100 or 150-watt light bulbs.

“We realize that the economic situation is stressful for our entire community, but we are asking for your collaboration,” wrote Khalil. “We thank you for your cooperation and we hope that as a school community we can pull together to guarantee the best possible educational environment for our children.”

Parents said a letter went out asking for supplies at the start of the school year.

“They sent out a letter for pencils, pens, they put Kleenex on there,” said parent Danny Huddleston.

A spokeswoman for the district said the school is not running out of supplies but instead is asking for them to ensure they have sufficient supplies to what they already have.

But at least one parent said he doesn’t mind helping out the school no matter the circumstance.

“I’m all about helping the school. If that’s what they need then that’s what we need to see what we can do to help the out,” said Juan Oroczo.

Donations are being accepted at the school’s front office, beginning Jan. 12.

The school is located at 5680 Konkel St. in Detroit.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/18430596/detail.html#-

Cops, Residents Puzzled By Bizarre Lights

MORRISTOWN, N.J. (CBS)

Strange, red, blinking lights could be seen across Morris County on Monday night, and officials thought they had figured out what caused them.

Now, they’re not so sure.

Between 8:30 and 9 p.m., the Hurley family in Whippany captured images of a bizarre object in the sky and contacted WCBSTV.com

“It was unsettling for sure,” said Cindy Hurley. “It was something you’ve never seen before, and a very strange pattern.”

Eleven-year-old Kristin was the first to spot them, a group of three lights together, and two lights together, seen in the horizon through the trees. “I looked up outside. I was really scared and saw five red lights,” she said.

The family all went out onto their deck to look at the strange sight. Paul Hurley, a pilot who works at Morristown Airport, said they weren’t planes.

“I’ve been in aviation for 20 years and never seen anything like it,” he told CBS 2.

Paul was one of several people who e-mailed WCBSTV.com after witnessing the lights.

“Red lights in the sky over the Morristown-Morris Township area, 5 red lights in a weird pattern over the area,” one viewer wrote.

“The formation of 5 lights were first noticed over Cedar Knolls and then as they approached the Madison/Morris Township border the rear half of the formation slowly faded and appeared to drop from the sky and then the front part of the formation went out one by one,” wrote another.

At 8:28, the Hanover Township police received the first of seven 911 calls.

“It looks like flares attached to balloons,” said a caller.

Paul Hurley, who called the Morristown Airport control tower, says the lights had also been spotted from there, and they caused no interference with flight operations. Between those officials and the Morristown Police, the best guess as to what the lights were: nothing more than a prank, roadside flares attached to helium balloons. Yet, they left rather quickly.

“It like, it took off, very strange,” said Paul.

There’s been no report of any recovered, and police don’t know who released them.

The Federal Aviation Administration tells CBS 2 news, with the exception of laser lights and weather balloons, there is no regulation on releasing balloons or lights into the sky.

http://wcbstv.com/watercooler/strange.lights.ufo.2.901376.html