LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, has suffered a stroke but is OK and resting in a Las Vegas hospital, a family friend said on Thursday. "He was doing well and says he's feeling OK," close family friend Brian Oxman told Reuters. Oxman, Michael Jackson's one-time attorney, said the 83-year-old patriarch of the pop music family started experiencing weakness on Wednesday while walking in a park near his home and was later admitted to a hospital. Jackson has a history of strokes, Oxman said. "He was talking fine," Oxman added. "He sounded excellent to me." A former ...
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Senate endorsed stringent new sanctions on Iran's energy and shipping sectors in a fresh attempt to hobble the Islamic Republic's economy and hamper its nuclear ambitions.
Ignoring White House opposition spelled out just hours before the vote, the Senate voted 94-0 on Friday for a package of punitive measures that would end sales and transactions with various Iranian domestic industries.
The sanctions build upon penalties that Congress has passed ? and President Barack Obama has implemented ? that target Tehran's financial and energy sectors.
Officials in Washington argue that the sanctions have undermined Tehran's economy and robust oil sales, thwarting its suspected pursuit of a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
The overwhelming bipartisan vote on an amendment to a sweeping, $631 billion defense bill reflected fears about the Iranian threat and the United States' unwavering support for its closest Mideast ally Israel.
Shortly before the vote, the powerful pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, urged senators to back the sanctions.
"We must continue to apply unremitting pressure on Tehran until it complies with its international obligations and ends its pursuit of nuclear weapons," AIPAC officials wrote in a letter.
Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., who have shepherded sanctions bills through Congress, sponsored the latest package that also would close a major loophole ? the ability of Iran to circumvent sanctions and barter oil for precious metals. Turkey has been bartering gold for oil.
"The most recent sanctions are working toward crippling Iran's economy but Iran hasn't quit trying," Menendez said on the Senate floor.
The sanctions would designate Iran's energy, port, shipping and ship-building sectors as "entities of proliferation" and sanction transactions with these areas. The legislation also would penalize individuals selling or supplying commodities such as graphite, aluminum and steel to Iran, all products that are crucial to Tehran's ship-building and nuclear operations.
In a memo from the National Security Council just hours before the vote, the administration argued that the new sanctions were unnecessary, duplicative and "threaten to confuse and undermine" provisions in current law.
Specifically, the administration complained about the omission of waivers that would give the president more flexibility, ambiguities that would make implementation difficult and requirements for congressional reports on thousands of small and mid-size vessels that dock at Iranian seaports that were too burdensome.
The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., acknowledged the administration's reservations and said he hoped lawmakers could address those concerns in crafting the final version of the bill.
The legislation also would designate Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and its president as human rights abusers for broadcasting forced televised confessions and show trials.
The president has 90 days from the legislation's enactment to act. The bill does include the authority to waive the sanctions based on national security.
The overall defense policy bill for next year authorizes money for weapons, ships, aircraft and a 1.7 percent pay raise for military personnel. The total is $4 billion less than the House-passed bill, and House-Senate negotiators will have to work out the difference in the closing days of this year.
Late Thursday, the Senate revived a divisive debate over civil liberties and the president's powers as commander in chief, voting that Americans citizens suspected of terrorism and seized on U.S. soil may not be held indefinitely.
A coalition of liberal Democrats and libertarian Republicans backed an amendment that said the government cannot detain a U.S. citizen or legal resident indefinitely without charge or trial even with the authorization to use military force or a declaration of war.
The Senate voted 67-29 in support of the measure sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Mike Lee, R-Utah. The strong bipartisan approval sets up a fight with the House, which rejected efforts to bar indefinite detention when it passed its bill in May.
Ignoring a White House veto threat, the Senate also voted Thursday to add to its restrictions on Obama's authority in dealing with terror suspects.
Lawmakers approved an amendment that would prevent the transfer of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to prisons in the United States. The vote was 54-41, with several Democrats vulnerable in the 2014 elections voting with Republicans.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., argued that the 166 terror suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-styled mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, should remain at the U.S. naval facility and not be transferred to any facility on American soil.
Responding to Ayotte, Feinstein said the United States not only can but has handled terrorist suspects, with 180 now languishing in super maximum prisons. Feinstein complained that the measure would erase the president's flexibility.
In fact, the administration, in threatening to veto the bill, strongly objected to a provision restricting the president's authority to transfer terror suspects from Guantanamo to foreign countries. The provision is in current law.
Last year, Congress' approach to handling terror suspects divided Republicans and Democrats, pitted the White House against lawmakers and drew fierce opposition from civil liberties groups.
Current law denies suspected terrorists, including U.S. citizens seized within the nation's borders, the right to trial and subjects them to the possibility they would be held indefinitely. It reaffirms the post-Sept. 11 authorization for the use of military force that allows indefinite detention of enemy combatants.
Situated within the 12-hectare garden condominium development of Serendra in the emerging business district of Bonifacio Global City, One Serendra offers a unique living proposition: a gracious suburban lifestyle within the conveniences of the city.
One Serendra provides gracious suburban living in the city ? combining the comforts of larger, more thoughtfully- planned living spaces, gardens and open spaces traditionally found in subdivisions with the conveniences of access only an urban location provides. With 65% of its hectares dedicated to open space and landscaped gardens, exclusive country-club-like amenities, and unmatched access to urban necessities, One Serendra provides homeowners both a sense of unparalleled convenience as well as immediate escape ?- truly the best of both worlds.
The project is a distinctive, sprawling, human-scaled development consisting of low-to-mid-rise terraced sections in the first few phases, gradually spiraling to taller section in later phases, all set within landscaped tropical gardens. It combines a European-inspired masterplan with Filipino architecture patterned after the distinctive ?bahay na bato? design. And within this private enclave, residents are able to enjoy exclusive amenities such as a dedicated spa, underground badminton, volleyball and basketball courts, multiple swimming pools, gyms and many others. With the addition of the Towers, additional facilities will be added which will only serve to enhance the living experience of those currently residing in the One Serendra community.
Artist Render of One-Serendra East and West Tower, BGC
CITY WITHIN REACH ? One Serendra is conveniently located within Bonifacio Global City (BGC) ? a bustling commercial and residential district that is the home of passionate minds. Over the years, BGC has become a destination of choice for those who enjoy its wide open roads, green spaces, unique restaurants, art installations as well as those who patronize its leading health and educational institutions. Nestled seamlessly within the Serendra Development is the Shops at Serendra. Quaint multi-cultural restaurants, trendy boutiques, art galleries, home stores and unique service establishments are just a few steps away. At the heart of the City Center masterplan of Bonifacio Global City, Bonifacio High Street offers the central work-play experience in the business district, with its ground level of shops and second level of office spaces. And, just across the road is Market! Market! which provides the best regional delicacies, fresh fruits and flowers and all your basic necessities. Whether you are searching for delicacies from various Philippines provinces or haggling with your suki for the ?best price? for that perfect plant for your terrace ? the possibilities at Market! Market! are endless.
LIVING AMONG GREENS: One Serendra prides itself in being the lowest density project within Bonifacio Global City today and is considered the pioneering residential development of its kind in the market, with approximately 65% of its area dedicated to open spaces and landscaped greenery and various amenities and facilities. From Nicaraguan Jasmine trees, flowering trellises filled with thunbergia, swaying bamboo clusters to a pond filled with koi, One Serendra provides a unique garden environment that provides the spirit with an overwhelming sense of calm. All this, at the heart of the city ? is truly a rare find.
ENGAGING PASSIONS: No other development offers similarly scaled amenities that One Serendra provides. With more than a half a hectare of fitness and wellness facilities, One Serendra residents will always find avenues to engage in their passion. In addition, One Serendra provides venues for social gatherings and indoor and outdoor play for children of all ages.
THRIVING COMMUNITY: Not only has One Serendra continued to grow as a development, but has also evolved into being a home to a dynamic community. Earlier phases such as the Palm, Bamboo, Mahogany and Narra sections have since been turned over to unit owners with approximately 500 families calling One Serendra a home. They have organized among themselves several social events to jointly celebrate various occasions to further strengthen neighborhood ties. Residents have also shown tremendous interest in sustaining the grandeur of the One Serendra development as it was delivered. In fact, the Serendra Condominium Corporation has been turned over to a resident-controlled board ? thereby allowing residents to take an even more active role towards the maintenance and upkeep of the landscaped areas, amenities and facilities.
OTHER AMENITIES AND SERVICES
One Serendra also provides its residents a wide range of additional amenities and services to enhance the living experience.
Reputable Building Management
Full Concierge Service
Dedicated Administration Offices and Mailroom per phase
24 Hour Building Security
24 Hour Doorman
Personal Storage Spaces for individual purchases/lease (2011)
Exclusive Laundromat services for use of residents
The One Serendra high-rise towers comprise the latter phase of One Serendra?s development, complementing the initial and midrise phase in line with the whole Serendra masterplan. Situated along the property side fronting 32nd Street, the One Serendra towers will be composed of two high-rise structures connected by a scenic plaza and exclusive garden bridge units.
One Serendra -West Tower ? Availability Chart (as of December 1, 2012)
One Serendra Availability Chart as of December 1, 2012
For Inquiries, Please Call JP, Tony or Vicky Reyes at 930-7635, 211-1970, 453-8373, 425-2979 or 09178653689 or 09173138271 or 09173138273 or 09173138278 | APReyes Realty Investment | Feel free to ask us questions about Condo units for sale in West Tower at One Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, we will be happy to answer them for you. Please contact only the undersigned for viewing appointments or site tripping. Or INQUIRE NOW by CLICKING HERE
ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2012) ? Most people know when to be afraid and when it's okay to calm down.
But new research on autism shows that children with the diagnosis struggle to let go of old, outdated fears. Even more significantly, the Brigham Young University study found that this rigid fearfulness is linked to the severity of classic symptoms of autism, such as repeated movements and resistance to change.
For parents and others who work with children diagnosed with autism, the new research highlights the need to help children make emotional transitions -- particularly when dealing with their fears.
"People with autism likely don't experience or understand their world in the same way we do," said Mikle South, a psychology professor at BYU and lead author of the study. "Since they can't change the rules in their brain, and often don't know what to expect from their environment, we need to help them plan ahead for what to expect."
In their study, South and two of his undergraduate neuroscience students -- Tiffani Newton and Paul Chamberlain -- recruited 30 children diagnosed with autism and 29 without to participate in an experiment. After seeing a visual cue like a yellow card, the participants would feel a harmless but surprising puff of air under their chins.
Part-way through the experiment, the conditions changed so that a different color preceded the puff of air. The researchers measured participants' skin response to see if their nervous system noticed the switch and knew what was coming.
"Typical kids learn quickly to anticipate based on the new color instead of the old one," South said. "It takes a lot longer for children with autism to learn to make the change."
The amount of time it took to extinguish the original fear correlated with the severity of hallmark symptoms of autism.
"We see a strong connection between anxiety and the repetitive behaviors," South said. "We're linking symptoms used to diagnose autism with emotion difficulties not usually considered as a classic symptom of autism."
The persistence of needless fears is detrimental to physical health. The elevated hormone levels that aid us in an actual fight or flight scenario will cause damage to the brain and the body if sustained over time.
And the families who participate in social skills groups organized by South and his students can relate to the new findings.
"In talking to parents, we hear that living with classic symptoms of autism is one thing, but dealing with their children's worries all the time is the greater challenge," South said. "It may not be an entirely separate direction to study their anxiety because it now appears to be related."
The complete study appears in the journal Autism Research. The project began when Newton received a university grant to conduct research with a faculty mentor. After graduating with a degree in neuroscience, she began working at a clinic in Michigan. Chamberlain is finishing his senior year at BYU and is currently interviewing with medical schools.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Brigham Young University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Mikle South, Tiffani Newton, Paul D. Chamberlain. Delayed Reversal Learning and Association With Repetitive Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Autism Research, 2012; DOI: 10.1002/aur.1255
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.?? NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has completed its first soil analysis of the Red Planet with no sign of organic material, the U.S. space agency said on Thursday.
"Rumors and speculation that there are major new findings from the mission at this early stage are incorrect," NASA said in a statement. "At this point, the instruments on the rover have not detected any definitive evidence of Martian organics."
The $2 billion nuclear-powered rover landed inside a giant impact basin near the Martian equator in August to look for signs the planet most like Earth in the solar system has or ever had the ingredients to support life.
It is NASA's first astrobiology mission since the 1970s-era Viking probes.
So far, Curiosity has found evidence of an ancient riverbed, monitored swirling dust storms, measured radiation levels and analyzed its first sample of Martian sand, the results of which will be released at an American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco next week.
Scientists also are expected to provide more details on how much radiation future visiting astronauts might be subjected to. Mars is a long-term goal of the U.S. human space program.
Space news from NBCNews.com
Eclipse dims the glow of the moon
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Did you catch the lunar eclipse? Skywatchers around the world documented the penumbral eclipse's subtle effect.
Space plane developer touts novel engine
It's the biggest black hole blast ever
Massive swirling Saturn vortex filmed
Curiosity last week left a patch of wind-blown sand called Rocknest, where it tested its soil scoop and onboard chemistry lab.
Scientists are scouting for a suitable rock to drill, the last piece of equipment to be tested.
Early next year, the rover is expected to drive to a 3-mile (5-km) mound of layered deposits rising from the floor of the Gale Crater impact basin.
During its two-year mission, the rover will look for organic materials and environments where they could have been preserved.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
Even brown dwarfs may grow rocky planetsPublic release date: 30-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Douglas Pierce-Price dpiercep@eso.org 49-893-200-6759 ESO
ALMA sizes up grains of cosmic dust around failed star
Rocky planets are thought to form through the random collision and sticking together of what are initially microscopic particles in the disc of material around a star. These tiny grains, known as cosmic dust, are similar to very fine soot or sand. However, in the outer regions around a brown dwarf -- a star-like object, but one too small to shine brightly like a star -- astronomers expected that grains could not grow because the discs were too sparse, and particles would be moving too fast to stick together after colliding. Also, prevailing theories say that any grains that manage to form should move quickly towards the central brown dwarf, disappearing from the outer parts of the disc where they could be detected.
"We were completely surprised to find millimetre-sized grains in this thin little disc," said Luca Ricci of the California Institute of Technology, USA, who led a team of astronomers based in the United States, Europe and Chile. "Solid grains of that size shouldn't be able to form in the cold outer regions of a disc around a brown dwarf, but it appears that they do. We can't be sure if a whole rocky planet could develop there, or already has, but we're seeing the first steps, so we're going to have to change our assumptions about conditions required for solids to grow," he said.
ALMA's increased resolution compared to previous telescopes also allowed the team to pinpoint carbon monoxide gas around the brown dwarf -- the first time that cold molecular gas has been detected in such a disc. This discovery, and that of the millimetre-size grains, suggest that the disc is much more similar to the ones around young stars than previously expected.
Ricci and his colleagues made their finding using the partially completed ALMA telescope in the high-altitude Chilean desert. ALMA is a growing collection of high precision, dish-shaped antennas that work together as one large telescope to observe the Universe with groundbreaking detail and sensitivity. ALMA "sees" the Universe in millimetre-wavelength light, which is invisible to human eyes. Construction of ALMA is scheduled to finish in 2013, but astronomers began observing with a partial array of ALMA dishes in 2011.
The astronomers pointed ALMA at the young brown dwarf ISO-Oph 102, also known as Rho-Oph 102, in the Rho Ophiuchi star-forming region in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer). With about 60 times the mass of Jupiter but only 0.06 times that of the Sun, the brown dwarf has too little mass to ignite the thermonuclear reactions by which ordinary stars shine. However, it emits heat released by its slow gravitational contraction and shines with a reddish colour, albeit much less brightly than a star.
ALMA collected light with wavelengths around a millimetre, emitted by disc material warmed by the brown dwarf. The grains in the disc do not emit much radiation at wavelengths longer than their own size, so a characteristic drop-off in the brightness can be measured at longer wavelengths. ALMA is an ideal instrument for measuring this drop-off and thus for sizing up the grains. The astronomers compared the brightness of the disc at wavelengths of 0.89 mm and 3.2 mm. The drop-off in brightness from 0.89 mm to 3.2 mm was not as steep as expected, showing that at least some of the grains are a millimetre or more in size.
"ALMA is a powerful new tool for solving mysteries of planetary system formation," commented Leonardo Testi from ESO, a member of the research team. "Trying this with previous generation telescopes would have needed almost a month of observing -- impossibly long in practice. But, using just a quarter of ALMA's final complement of antennas, we were able to do it in less than one hour!" he said.
In the near future, the completed ALMA telescope will be powerful enough to make detailed images of the discs around Rho-Oph 102 and other objects. Ricci explained, "We will soon be able to not only detect the presence of small particles in discs, but to map how they are spread across the circumstellar disc and how they interact with the gas that we've also detected in the disc. This will help us better understand how planets come to be."
###
More information
This research is presented in a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Ricci and Testi worked with Antonella Natta of the INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico de Arcetri, Aleks Scholz of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, and Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalvo of the Joint ALMA Observatory.
ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.
The year 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world's largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning the 39-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".
Links
Contacts
Luca Ricci
California Institute of Technology
Tel: +1 626 395 2460
Email: lricci@astro.caltech.edu
Douglas Pierce-Price
ESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei Mnchen, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6759
Email: dpiercep@eso.org
John Stoke
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)
Charlottesville, VA, USA
Tel: +1 434 244 6816
Email: jstoke@nrao.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Even brown dwarfs may grow rocky planetsPublic release date: 30-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Douglas Pierce-Price dpiercep@eso.org 49-893-200-6759 ESO
ALMA sizes up grains of cosmic dust around failed star
Rocky planets are thought to form through the random collision and sticking together of what are initially microscopic particles in the disc of material around a star. These tiny grains, known as cosmic dust, are similar to very fine soot or sand. However, in the outer regions around a brown dwarf -- a star-like object, but one too small to shine brightly like a star -- astronomers expected that grains could not grow because the discs were too sparse, and particles would be moving too fast to stick together after colliding. Also, prevailing theories say that any grains that manage to form should move quickly towards the central brown dwarf, disappearing from the outer parts of the disc where they could be detected.
"We were completely surprised to find millimetre-sized grains in this thin little disc," said Luca Ricci of the California Institute of Technology, USA, who led a team of astronomers based in the United States, Europe and Chile. "Solid grains of that size shouldn't be able to form in the cold outer regions of a disc around a brown dwarf, but it appears that they do. We can't be sure if a whole rocky planet could develop there, or already has, but we're seeing the first steps, so we're going to have to change our assumptions about conditions required for solids to grow," he said.
ALMA's increased resolution compared to previous telescopes also allowed the team to pinpoint carbon monoxide gas around the brown dwarf -- the first time that cold molecular gas has been detected in such a disc. This discovery, and that of the millimetre-size grains, suggest that the disc is much more similar to the ones around young stars than previously expected.
Ricci and his colleagues made their finding using the partially completed ALMA telescope in the high-altitude Chilean desert. ALMA is a growing collection of high precision, dish-shaped antennas that work together as one large telescope to observe the Universe with groundbreaking detail and sensitivity. ALMA "sees" the Universe in millimetre-wavelength light, which is invisible to human eyes. Construction of ALMA is scheduled to finish in 2013, but astronomers began observing with a partial array of ALMA dishes in 2011.
The astronomers pointed ALMA at the young brown dwarf ISO-Oph 102, also known as Rho-Oph 102, in the Rho Ophiuchi star-forming region in the constellation of Ophiuchus (The Serpent Bearer). With about 60 times the mass of Jupiter but only 0.06 times that of the Sun, the brown dwarf has too little mass to ignite the thermonuclear reactions by which ordinary stars shine. However, it emits heat released by its slow gravitational contraction and shines with a reddish colour, albeit much less brightly than a star.
ALMA collected light with wavelengths around a millimetre, emitted by disc material warmed by the brown dwarf. The grains in the disc do not emit much radiation at wavelengths longer than their own size, so a characteristic drop-off in the brightness can be measured at longer wavelengths. ALMA is an ideal instrument for measuring this drop-off and thus for sizing up the grains. The astronomers compared the brightness of the disc at wavelengths of 0.89 mm and 3.2 mm. The drop-off in brightness from 0.89 mm to 3.2 mm was not as steep as expected, showing that at least some of the grains are a millimetre or more in size.
"ALMA is a powerful new tool for solving mysteries of planetary system formation," commented Leonardo Testi from ESO, a member of the research team. "Trying this with previous generation telescopes would have needed almost a month of observing -- impossibly long in practice. But, using just a quarter of ALMA's final complement of antennas, we were able to do it in less than one hour!" he said.
In the near future, the completed ALMA telescope will be powerful enough to make detailed images of the discs around Rho-Oph 102 and other objects. Ricci explained, "We will soon be able to not only detect the presence of small particles in discs, but to map how they are spread across the circumstellar disc and how they interact with the gas that we've also detected in the disc. This will help us better understand how planets come to be."
###
More information
This research is presented in a paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Ricci and Testi worked with Antonella Natta of the INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico de Arcetri, Aleks Scholz of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, and Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalvo of the Joint ALMA Observatory.
ALMA, an international astronomy facility, is a partnership of Europe, North America and East Asia in cooperation with the Republic of Chile. ALMA construction and operations are led on behalf of Europe by ESO, on behalf of North America by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), and on behalf of East Asia by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). The Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO) provides the unified leadership and management of the construction, commissioning and operation of ALMA.
The year 2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world's most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world's largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is the European partner of a revolutionary astronomical telescope ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. ESO is currently planning the 39-metre European Extremely Large optical/near-infrared Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky".
Links
Contacts
Luca Ricci
California Institute of Technology
Tel: +1 626 395 2460
Email: lricci@astro.caltech.edu
Douglas Pierce-Price
ESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei Mnchen, Germany
Tel: +49 89 3200 6759
Email: dpiercep@eso.org
John Stoke
National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)
Charlottesville, VA, USA
Tel: +1 434 244 6816
Email: jstoke@nrao.edu
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Anti-Israel hackers, who the U.N. nuclear agency this week said had posted data online stolen from one of its servers, claimed in a new statement they had published confidential material obtained from the watchdog.
The statement - in the name of a group with an Iranian-sounding name - was put on a website hours after U.N. nuclear chief Yukiya Amano said on Thursday he did not believe sensitive nuclear "safeguards" information had been compromised.
The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), whose mission is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in the world and which is investigating Iran's disputed nuclear activities, declined to comment on the latest development on Friday.
The hackers published on Sunday scores of email addresses of experts who have been working with the U.N. agency on a website, and urged the IAEA to investigate Israel's nuclear activity.
On Thursday, Amano said this was "deeply regrettable" but he voiced confidence that no sensitive information regarding the agency's nuclear inspections had been stolen. He said the hacking happened several months ago.
The new hacker statement in the name of Parastoo (which in Farsi means swallow, a bird species, and can also be a girl's name) said that it was now publishing more data online "to prove our ability to gain access to highly sensitive information."
This included "confidential...documents, satellite images, official letters, presentations," it said in the statement dated November 29, with links to what it said was such information.
The authenticity of the material - posted on the same website as Sunday's statement - could not immediately be verified.
"It isn't obvious to me upon looking at the satellite imagery that the pictures contain sensitive and confidential IAEA data," nuclear expert Mark Hibbs, of the Carnegie Endowment think-tank, said.
Jeffrey Lewis, of the U.S.-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, suggested the hacked data concerned information related to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, rather than confidential information on IAEA inspections.
"Hacking the IAEA and interfering with efforts to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes doesn't get us any closer to a world in which Israel signs the NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty)," Lewis said in a blog.
The experts whose email addresses were hacked have nothing to do with "safeguards, nuclear weapons or Israel," he said.
"Safeguards" means activities conducted by IAEA inspectors in examining member states' nuclear activities, including Iran's, to make sure that no atomic material is diverted for military purposes. Such information is seen as top secret.
ACCESS TO "NEW SERVER"
The latest Parastoo statement again called for an IAEA investigation into the nuclear activities of Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed state.
That is a demand often voiced by Iran and Arab states.
The IAEA has not said who might be behind the hacking.
There has been an increase in suspected Iranian cyber attacks this year, coinciding with a deepening standoff with the West over Tehran's nuclear program.
Iranian officials have tended to deny involvement. But they say they have continued to come under cyber assault themselves, with systems at Iran's own oil facilities, communications and infrastructure firms suffering problems last month.
The IAEA earlier this week said the server which had been hacked had been closed down. Parastoo's latest statement said the information now posted online was "extracted from one of IAEA's new servers that we have access to."
Israel and the United States accuse Iran of seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Tehran denies this.
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Public release date: 30-Nov-2012
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