Nature's Best Magnifying Glass Views an Early Spiral Galaxy

0 comments Monday, 30 May 2011

Astronomers in Hawaii have plucked unprecedented details from the life of an early galaxy using an unusually lucid gravitational lens coupled with the powerful 10-meter Keck II Telescope on Mauna Kea.

Gravitational lenses are Nature's largest telescopes, created by colossally massive clusters of thousands of galaxies that bend and magnify the light of more distant objects behind them in a way similar to a glass lens. But gravitational lenses are far from perfect. Though they make very distant galaxies from the early universe visible to telescopes, they also put the images through a cosmic blender. As a result, the smeared and distorted images don't offer much in the way of direct information about what the earliest galaxies looked like.
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CET results today: Karnataka Examination Authority

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Results of Common Entrance Test(CET) will be announced on Monday. CET is the qualifying examination for entry to professional engineering, medical and dental degree courses in the state.

The Karnataka Examination Authority said the results will be released after 11am and will be published in all the 235 centres across the state where the test was conducted. Students can also check for results by logging on to the official websites: www.cet.kar.nic, www.karresults.nic.in and www.kea.kar.nic.in. However, the websites will publish results only after 1pm. Other websites that will publish the results are www.indiaresults.com, www.examresults.net, www.karnatakaeducation.net and www.educationgateway.co.in, www.schools9.com, www.educhoice.or, www.results.karnatakaeducation.net and www.bangaloreeducation.com.

To check results via SMS, send 'RESULT CET registration number to 56263. BSNL users can obtain their rank through IVRS by calling 1255596. Those on other networks can call 505101096.
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Another ‘Extreme Makeover’ Family Leaves Home

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The “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” television show is back in the news – and the big re
veal doesn’t have a happy ending.In what is being dubbed an “Extreme scheme,”  a Las Vegas couple is accused of seeking excessive medical care for their daughters.Chuck and Terri Cerda appeared in a March 2009 episode showing the precautions their two children, Molly and Maggie, have to take because of a rare immunodeficiency disease. They received a McMansion equipped with air filtration systems and a solar-heated swimming pool. (Extreme recipients also receive other goodies, including cash. In this story, there were also two oboes, a flute and $2,000 worth of music lessons.)But, according to news reports, the family struggled financially the supersized bills and sold the house. They relocated to Oregon, where doctors questioned how often the girls truly needed to visit the doctor.
The Cerda family couldn’t be reached for comment. Mikel Miller, the Oregon attorney who represents the family, said the Oregon doctors overreacted and his clients received a proper amount of care.
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Extreme makeunder

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Home at 405 Vine Ave. is high above ground while it gets a new foundation
Motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists going up Vine Avenue after their trip along Fountain Lake this week noticed a spectacle that had them doing double takes.
The big, red house at 405 Vine has been up on stilts without a basement since Tuesday. More correctly stated, it was resting on I-beams supported by cribbing.
It is the home of Tim and Roberta Grahn. They bought it in 2003, believing the foundation was good. However, it merely had been covered by walls on the inside and by stucco on the outside. The decorative-block foundation for the 1895 structure was in terrible condition.
Cribbing and I-beams support the home at 405 Vine Ave. Wayne Spencer Movers, of Blue Earth, supported the home with jacks, then built the cribbing. -- Tim Engstrom/Albert Lea Tribune
“The cement had broken down in the blocks and the blocks then were turning to sand,” Tim said in an interview Friday inside another Vine Avenue home.
Meanwhile, crews from City Concrete out of Austin were pouring the footings.
All week long, motorists have slowed to take a look at the house, which is about 12 or 13 feet above the dirt and mud and equipment. Pedestrians have stopped to marvel. People have been taking pictures, some even sending them to this newspaper.
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'Extreme Makeover': Up for auction edition

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Oh, admit it: Lots of times you go to open houses just to get a glimpse of how your neighbors live. Curiosity was a big motivating factor Sunday for about 250 people who toured a Douglass home built in 2005 by the crew at ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" that's now on the auction block.
Saying it's time to downsize, Kevin and Cathy Nutsch are selling the house the TV show built for them after their previous home exploded on Aug. 6, 2005, while they were on vacation. Swenson Real Estate and Auction Service opened the house to the public Sunday for a tour, drawing many people who admitted they just wanted to see the nearly 4,400-square-foot, five-bedroom, 4 1/2-bathroom home in person.
From extravagantly themed bedrooms to luxurious soaker tubs with rainfall showerheads, the home features the kind of touches made famous by show host Ty Pennington and his design crew.
Open the French front doors, and you find yourself in an expansive, warm-hued great room with still-shiny wood floors and a stone fireplace, above which hangs a photograph of the Nutsches' five daughters.
The dining room and kitchen open to the living area. The kitchen features custom cabinets, granite countertops and pricey appliances. On Sunday, the built-in wine cooler chilled a more everyman bottle of Boone's Farm Country Kwencher as well as a bottle of Delicato wine.
Several women oohed and aahed at the vast walk-in pantry.
The master bedroom is downstairs with his and hers closets and a bath with a soaker tub and walk-in shower.
A visitor accidentally turned on the rainfall showerhead above the soaker tub on Sunday, drawing laughs from her friends. She was confused at first about why water was coming from the ceiling.

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European E.Coli Outbreak One of the Largest Ever as Death Toll Rises to 10

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It is thought contaminated organic cucumbers were imported from Spain, but further tests are being carried out. The vegetables have left hundreds ill with Hemolytic-uremic Syndrome (HUS), which causes kidney problems.
 With 10 people dead of infection and more than 400 cases reported, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said Sunday a bacterial outbreak in northern Germany was one of the largest of its kind ever reported worldwide.
Spanish vegetables suspected of contamination are being recalled from stores in Austria and the Czech Republic to prevent the spread.
It is thought contaminated organic cucumbers were imported from Spain, but further tests are being carried out. The vegetables have left hundreds ill with Hemolytic-uremic Syndrome (HUS), which causes kidney problems.
Cases have also been recorded in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK.
On Sunday, authorities in the Czech Republic and Austria took some Spanish-grown cucumbers off store shelves amid contamination fears. Czech officials said affected cucumbers may also have been exported to Hungary and Luxembourg.
The suspicion has fallen on organic cucumbers from Spain imported by Germany but then re-exported to other European countries, or exported directly by Spain.
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Germany finds deadly E. coli virus in Spanish cucumbers

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German health officials said Thursday that cucumbers imported from Spain was one source of a recent deadly E. coli outbreak in northern states that killed three people and made hundreds sick.
The Hamburg Institute for Hygiene and the Environment (HU) found that 
four cucumbers in a local market were contaminated by Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), and three of them were imported from two separate Spanish suppliers, Hamburg state health authorities said.The origin
of the fourth cucumber was still under investigation, officials added.German supermarkets began to pull Spanish cucumbers off shelves Thursday afternoon following the findings in Hamburg. The food- monitoring agencies in the northern states were launching investigations on vegetable markets, the federal agriculture ministry said in a statement
.Figures showed that Spain is Germany's second largest supplier of cucumbers within the European Union, accounting for some 40 percent of the country's cucumber imports.

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Scientists scramble to solve E. coli outbreak

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The outbreak is thought to be linked to contaminated cucumbers (AFP : Jorge Guerrero )
Hundreds of German scientists are working around the clock to try to pinpoint the source of a strain of E. coli which has already killed 10 people.The outbreak is thought to be linked to contaminated cucumbers, but there are also concerns about other vegetables.Consumers in Germany and Spain are being warned to cook all vegetables, and several governments are ordering produ
cts to be taken off the shelves while the investigation continues.The E. coli outbreak has left 10 people dead and hundreds sick, with the majority of the victims in northern Germany.Professor Rolf Stahl, who works at the main hospital in the northern city of Hamburg, says the death toll is likely to rise."We have been caught unaware by an epidemic on a scale which none of us has previously experienced," he said.
"We now have around 20 patients who are very, very ill. Most of them are in intensive care and everyone here is working around the clock to care for them."
Infectious diseases experts think the outbreak may be linked to cucumbers from Spain.The vegetables could have become contaminated with human or animal fecal matter either at their source, during transportation or in Germany.Scientists suspect tomatoes and lettuce may also be affected, and in northern Germany consumers are being advised to avoid those vegetables.The warnings have angered some German farmers, who say they will suffer unnecessarily.Spanish growers are not happy either; Fulgencio Torres, president of the producers' organisation Hortyfruta, says German authorities should not have named Spain as the possible source before investigations were complete.
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Sneak a Peek at Tony Romo & Candice Crawford's Wedding Registries!

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Tony Romo and Candice Crawford plan to get hitched this Saturday.
Tony Romo, Candice CrawfordAnd while the Texas twosome ties the knot at a private historic mansion in Dallas, it turns out their taste is a bit more down-home when it comes to wedding gift requests.
So where has the couple registered, and what's the big ticket item they're hoping for?
RELATED: Tony and Candice rent entire property for nuptials
The two have registries, at Macy's and Crate & Barrel.
The highest priced gift they're asking for isn't fancy crystal or china. It's actually a $550 Dyson vacuum cleaner, which someone has already purchased (Chace, possibly?).
If you'd like to get the happy couple a present, there's still some options left that are sure to suit your budget, no matter how big or small.
At Macy's, the Wusthof 8-piece knife set hasn't been bought yet for $399.99. If that's a bit pricey, the sharpener is only $19.99.
If you're really low on dough, a condiment cup at Crate & Barrel is only 95 cents.
The couple is also accepting gift cards.


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The 30 Funniest Names in Sports History

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ATLANTA - DECEMBER 27: Richie Incognito #62 of the Buffalo Bills against the Atlanta Falcons at Georgia Dome on December 27, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)"What's in a name?" the old saying asks. In sports, names carry with them instant recognition and gravitas, familiar to millions through the use of a single word.
Kobe. Shaq. Tiger. LeBron. Brady. Manning. A-Rod. Every single Brazilian soccer player.
But names in sports are also memorable for an entirely different reason—unintentional hilarity. From crazy nicknames to tragic given names, sports have given humanity some of the funniest names possible.
So in that tradition, I have compiled 30 of the most humorous names ever found in the world of sports. Some you may have seen, and others you will not believe. As always, leave your favorites in the comments.
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Jimmie Johnson: 5 Bold Predictions for the Rest of the NASCAR Season

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Having won the last five NASCAR Sprint Cup championships and currently sitting in third place in the 2011 standings, it wouldn't be a reach to say Jimmie Johnson is the favorite to win the championship for the sixth straight time this season.
Hendrick Motorsports' top driver has the early-season consistency and the late-season schedule edge that make him the surest thing in sports since Lance Armstrong. Unlike Armstrong, however, Johnson is as unassuming of a champion as you will find in the era of “me, myself and I” sports stars.
Following a 28th place finish in the Coca-Cola 600, the NASCAR season is one-third of the way complete and here are five bold predictions for the rest of Johnson's season.
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