Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign has rekindled debate within the Catholic Church and worldwide speculation about the possibility that the church will reach beyond the European clergy who have long held power in the Vatican to choose the next pope.
With an eye to vibrant Catholic communities in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, the Sacred College of Cardinals may weigh the pros and cons of selecting the next pope from another continent.
His story is the American story — values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others. (from whitehouse.gov)
With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, President Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He was raised with help from his grandfather, who served in Patton’s army, and his grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management at a bank.
After working his way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, President Obama moved to Chicago, where he worked with a group of churches to help rebuild communities devastated by the closure of local steel plants.
He went on to attend law school, where he became the first African—American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he returned to Chicago to help lead a voter registration drive, teach constitutional law at the University of Chicago, and remain active in his community.
President Obama’s years of public service are based around his unwavering belief in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose.
Before the vote, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the General Assembly that it “is being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine.”
Of the 193 countries in the General Assembly 138 voted to recognize Palestine. Only nine, including the U.S., voted against it. Another 41 countries abstained.
In the West Bank, Palestinians erupted in a roar of cheers, horn honking and fireworks as crowds thronged the main square of Ramallah to celebrate the world’s recognition of their state.
The historic vote recognizes Palestine as a state and gives Palestine the right to join U.N. agencies. It opens the door for Palestine to become a party to the International Criminal Court, allowing them to bring cases against Israel.
Israel and the U.S. argued that the vote is purely symbolic, would change nothing on the ground, would hurt peace talks and could affect U.S. funding.
Most European countries were expected to side with the Palestinians in this dispute. The only countries voting against the resolution besides the United States and Israel were Canada, the Czech Republic and some Pacific Island states. U.S. allies France, Sweden and Italy all voted for the resolution, as did countries where the U.S. is expected to hold sway like Mexico, Afghanistan, India and Iraq. Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom all stayed out of the fray, preferring to abstain.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice downplayed the significance of the victorious resolution. “Today’s grand pronouncement will soon fade and the Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed, save that the prospects of a durable peace have only receded,” Rice said.
The vote today falls short of triggering the law in Congress that automatically cuts all U.S. aid to Palestinian Authority and any programs in the Palestinian Territories, as well as aid to any organizations that recognize Palestine as a state. Non-member observer status falls short of being as being accepted as a “member state,” which would allow Palestine to have full voting rights in the U.N. General Assembly, something Congress is vehemently opposed to if done outside of talks with Israel.
Though it doesn’t reach that automatic trigger, Congress could still act against the Palestinians. The U.S. gives an average of $200 million of aid a year to support the administration of the Palestinian Authority and other programs, but Congress has not yet released the money for this year.
European and North African governments have ushered in a new implementation phase of an ambitious green energy project called Desertec. It hopes to bring renewable energy from Africa to Europe. (from dw.de)
A number of governments in Europe and North Africa have redoubled their efforts to finally get an ambitious green energy project off the ground, Germany’s daily “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported on Wednesday.
France and Germany, whose Desertec Industry Initiative aims to source future European energy supplies from solar and wind power produced in the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, have been important financial supporters in the initial phase.
The two nations have been joined by Spain, Italy and Morocco for intensive talks on letting the project finally take shape. According to newspaper reports, negotiations are under way on building a 600-million-euro ($778 million) solar power station in Morocco which is to transport energy to the European mainland.
Pilot project
The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” said a corresponding declaration of intent would be signed as early as November this year. It added that a government-level multinational agreement would be inked in the first half of 2013, quoting Morocco’s Industry Minister, Abdelkader Amara.
Desertec Chief Paul van Son stated the solar power plant in question would be built between 2014 and 2016 and would eventually have a capacity of 150 Megawatts.
The project will be co-financed by industry, national governments and international energy organizations. Nations other than those already involved in the scheme would be welcome to join in the process, the industry initiative said.
The biggest stars in the Universe are the monster red hypergiants, measuring up to 1,500 times the size of the Sun. But what are the smallest stars in the Universe? (from universetoday.com)
The smallest stars around are the tiny red dwarfs. These are stars with 50% the mass of the Sun and smaller. In fact, the least massive red dwarf has 7.5% the mass of the Sun. Even at this smallest size, a star has the temperature and pressures in its core so that nuclear fusion reactions can take place.
Remove this ad
One example of red dwarf star is the closest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri, located just 4.2 light-years away. Proxima Centauri has 12% the mass of the Sun, and it’s estimated to be just 14.5% the size of the Sun. The diameter of Proxima Centauri is about 200,000 km. Just for comparison, the diameter of Jupiter is 143,000 km, so Proxima Centauri is only a little larger than Jupiter.
But that’s not the smallest star ever discovered.
The smallest known star right now is OGLE-TR-122b, a red dwarf star that’s part of a binary stellar system. This red dwarf the smallest star to ever have its radius accurately measured; 0.12 solar radii. This works out to be 167,000 km. That’s only 20% larger than Jupiter. You might be surprised to know that OGLE-TR-122b has 100 times the mass of Jupiter, but it’s only a little larger.
And that is the smallest known star. But there are certainly smaller stars out there. The smallest theoretical mass for a star to support nuclear fusion is 0.07 or 0.08 solar masses, so smaller stars are out there.