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Saturday, February 2, 2013

Galaxy cluster among biggest structures ever

A glowing cosmic structure millions of light-years long represents the aftermath of the impact of two merging galaxy clusters, researchers say.

"This is one of the biggest structures ever observed," study lead author Ettore Carretti told Space.com. "It is more than 100 times the size of our galaxy, the Milky Way, which already stretches for 100,000 light-years."

Carretti, an astrophysicist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia, and his colleagues used the Parkes Radio Telescope in New South Wales to analyze a cluster of galaxies known as Abell 3667. The cluster lies about 730 million light-years from Earth. (A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, about 5.9 trillion miles, or 9.5 trillion kilometers.)

"Clusters of galaxies are made of thousands of galaxies and are among the largest gravitationally bound structures," Carretti noted.

The researchers detected a diffuse radio glow in the gas and dust connecting the cluster's periphery to its core. The structure is about 13 million light-years long. [Biggest Structure in the Universe Explained (Infographic)]

Carretti said: "This is the first clear imaging of a huge impact between two merging clusters of galaxies. The overall structure we observe, part of which was already known, is a monster shock wave and its trailing wake caused by the cluster impact. The wake is the leftover after the passage of the shock, which leaves behind a turbulent 'shaken' medium."

The shock wave is expanding at a speed of about 2.6 million miles per hour (4.3 million kilometers per hour).

"This means that the overall structure we observe has taken some 2 billion years to form," Carretti said. "This is a long time, even compared to the age of the universe, which is 13.7 billion years. So what we observe has taken 15 percent of the age of the universe to form. These are huge structures and take cosmological times to form, and it is still expanding and evolving."

It remains uncertain how the merging clusters produced this glow. The researchers suggest the turbulence from the collision sent electrons zipping at near-light speeds, making them shine with radio waves in the process.

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This kind of structure was predicted by cosmological simulations of galaxy cluster formation "but was never clearly pictured before," Carretti said. "Our results seem to confirm what was predicted by the simulations and will help understand how galaxy clusters formed and evolve."

The researchers want to check other galaxy clusters for similar structures. "We want to understand how common such very large-scale structures are and what would be the implications in understanding the formation and the evolution of the galaxy clusters," Carretti said.

The scientists will detail their findings in an upcoming issue of the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Follow Space.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also onFacebook? and? Google+.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50667809/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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Why is Beckham sitting on the bench for nothing?

PARIS (AP) ? David Beckham has won league championships in three countries on two continents, earns millions of dollars in endorsements and his name is practically synonymous with celebrity itself. He has his own cologne, for goodness sake. So why is he even bothering to sit on the bench for the Paris Saint-Germain football club?

His royal highness of football doesn't need the money ? and he's said he'll donate his PSG salary to charity ? but he does need to start thinking about life after the game. At 37, Beckham is practically a dinosaur for the sport, and he acknowledged in his welcoming press conference on Thursday that he probably won't be in the team's starting lineup.

Instead, Beckham may be beginning to put in place a plan for life after the final whistle. Ellis Cashmore, a sociologist who writes about sports and media culture at Staffordshire University, said that prolonged exposure is always useful to celebrities building empires. In that way, the deal with PSG does double work: It keeps his name in lights for longer and also garners extra attention for the charitable contribution.

"When he does stop playing, which is going to be quite soon, his overall brand appeal will inevitably decline because we will inevitably forget about this guy," he said. "I think he's probably thinking, I want to stay in the shop window for a bit longer."

But Cashmore also cautioned against being too cynical in assessing Beckham's motives: "The guy is an athlete. He wants to do what he loves to do."

Bruno Satin, an independent players' agent who was with IMG for a decade, also said that the move to PSG ? even if it's to sit on the bench ? is a step up for Beckham.

"For him, to be on the PSG team, it's a higher level than being on the Los Angeles Galaxy," he said. "For the world of football, for real football, the Los Angeles Galaxy is nothing on the map of football."

Some wondered if Beckham was trying to avoid the notoriously sticky fingers of the French state with his plans to donate his salary.

But Sandra Hodzic, a tax lawyer with Salans, said the deduction an individual can take on such contributions is limited. Instead, it would be smarter for PSG to directly donate the salary ? and take a big tax break in the process.

Doing so would have an added benefit for the club: UEFA, the governing body for European football, mandates that clubs break even. The donation could allow PSG to essentially write off Beckham's entire salary ? a huge help for a team notorious for mega-contracts.

Beckham, meanwhile, would be better off trying to avoid becoming a French tax resident at all. So far, Hodzic said, he is making all the right moves: His family is staying in London, he plans to live only part-time in the country for less than six months, and his primary source of income ?whether or not he donates his salary ? isn't being earned in France.

Beckham's agent did not return calls for comment on specifics of the contract.

Still, the charitable contribution has raised the question about what Beckham is getting out of the deal. For one, he likely is still getting a cut of rights to his image. Jerseys with his name on them were already selling out at the PSG store on the Champs-Elysees on Friday.

Cashmore, who wrote a book called "Beckham," calls him a "marketing phenomenon" and estimates that about 70 percent of Beckham's income comes from endorsement deals ? with Adidas, for instance. That makes salary almost irrelevant ? especially for a man estimated by the Sunday Times Rich List to be worth 160 million pounds ($253 million).

But the football feeds the endorsements, Cashmore says.

"It makes an awful lot of business sense to perpetuate, to prolong his active competitive football career," he said, especially with a team that's doing fairly well this year. "It makes an awful lot of sense for him to showcase himself because it will generate more income from his various other sponsorship and licensing activities."

But certainly this move, as any at this late-stage in his playing career, is being made with an eye on what will come next. Cashmore said that when Beckham signed with the L.A. Galaxy, there was an understanding that he would eventually become an ambassador for American soccer. That plan clearly fell by the wayside ? perhaps because Major League Soccer decided it was just too expensive to keep on the star after his presence on American soil failed to generate more interest in the game.

It's possible, Cashmore said, that Beckham is looking for a similar deal after his stint at PSG, which is Qatari-owned. The tiny, wealthy nation is hosting the World Cup in 2022, and Beckham's contract with PSG will establish a relationship with it; from there, a role as, say, an ambassador for the tournament would seem more natural.

"For his after-career conversion, it's important to have links with major actors in the world of sports," said Satin. And Qatar is certainly one. It has poured money into PSG, drawing major names like striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. It also funds the satellite network Al Jazeera, which could provide Beckham with a platform. And then there's the World Cup.

In the end, though, Satin said the clue to Beckham's thinking may be as simple as the eternal draw of Paris.

"PSG has become a glamorous club, a pretty nice club in a beautiful city," said Bruno Satin, an agent. "It's just two hours on the Eurostar (train) from London."

____

AP Sports Writer Rob Harris contributed to this report from London.

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Follow Sarah DiLorenzo at http://www.twitter.com/sdilorenzo

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-beckham-sitting-bench-nothing-084418118--finance.html

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Friday, February 1, 2013

13 Things I've Learned About Writing | Wonder of Children Blog

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Lucy Calkins has long been a curriculum mentor of mine.? Her writing for teachers expanded from her work at Teachers? College and? reaches far beyond New York City.? Over the years, I?ve followed her work, wrestled with her curriculum and seen the amazing writing produced by students who are lucky enough to have teachers who guide and listen to them authentically, deeply, intently.? Lucy brings remarkable knowledge and compassion to the writing process for children.? The clarity of? her body of work guides legions of teachers to bring out the best in student writers.? When I first viewed her video Being a Good Writer: Writing tips and strategies from Lucy Calkins, I felt as if she was speaking to me; only in the final seconds was it clear that she was speaking to students.? Then again, writers are all students, walking similar paths, following a similar process with unique challenges and joys.

One year while I was teaching third grade, I put myself to the test.? The writing test, figuratively speaking.? During our daily writing workshop, I committed myself to spending part of each of those 50 minute blocks to my own writing. That brought on it?s own inherent conflict (How will I conference with writers? How will I assess their progress? How will I be able to observe their work to offer reminders and reinforcements?). Eventually, I admitted this was a lofty and unrealistic goal, so I revamped that to spending part of one writers? workshop writing AND? two personal blocks of writing outside school hours.? It wasn?t easy. It wasn?t always fun. But within a few weeks, was hooked.

Writing became a challenge I looked forward to but yet was still reluctant to share it with others.? I soon decided the only way to get over this fear wasn?t, in the words of Pema Chodron, to ?itch it? and let it grow larger, but to be with it and share it with others so I could witness where it would go.? By letting go of my attachment to ?it? (i.e., my writing), my blog audience grew and I learned many lessons.

Here are just 13 things I?ve learned from writing like we ask of children:

1. Writing is hard. Really hard sometimes.

2. Writing is messy at first, but then often brings great clarity.

3. Writing can bring up feelings of insecurity and fear, but also pride, joy, satisfaction and relief.

4. Writing can serve the writer, the audience or both.

5. Writing is a process. A time-consuming one. And sometimes an all-consuming one. It needs to be scheduled and that time revered so the process can unfold.

6. Writing can offer quite solitude or feel like solitary confinement.

7. Writing can be enhanced by technology and it can also bring up a whole crop of new, technical issues.

8. Writing needs to be a commitment to be rich and meaningful (See # 5 above).

9. Writing often never feels like it?s over. There is almost always more (Again, see #5 above).

10. Writing offers so many ways to consolidate and synthesize experiences and information, and just as many ways to continue growing.

11. Writing is a goldmine. Keep digging, be persistent, and you?ll be rewarded.

12. Writers ? all of? us ? need support. Good organization and planning, a cheerleader to keep your spirits up and a mentor to ask you tough questions that move you forward when you?re stuck and validate your hard work.

13. Writing is to be shared. Somehow, someway, even if it?s something you read aloud to yourself and bow to yourself in gratitude and appreciation.

I?m writing a lot these days and I?m reading a lot of other writers.? I look to the work of Lucy Calkins for inspiration, along with other writers and observers of life and learning,? such as Caltha Crow, Chip Wood, Peter Bregman, Jonathan Fields, Jennifer Weinser, Maya Angelou, Malcolm Gladwell, Jonathan Kozol, Anne Lamott, Anna Quindlen and many, many others.

Who do you read for inspiration?

What have you learned from writing?

How have you learned to empathize with child-authors?

I?d love to read about either in the comments?

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Source: http://wonderofchildren.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/13-things-ive-learned-about-writing/

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Suicide bomber attacks Pakistani mosque, 22 dead

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ? A suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside a Shiite mosque in northwestern Pakistan as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers, killing 22 people and wounding over 30 in the latest apparent sectarian attack in the country, police said.

Shiite Muslims in Pakistan have increasingly been targeted by radical Sunnis who consider them heretics, and 2012 was the bloodiest year for the minority sect in the country's history.

The attack on the mosque took place in the town of Hangu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has experienced previous clashes between the Sunni and Shiite communities that live there.

The bomber staged his attack at one of the mosque's exits leading to a bazaar, said Hangu police chief Mian Mohammad Saeed.

The blast damaged several small shops and peppered a wall with shrapnel, leaving scores of pockmarks, according to local TV footage. Ambulances rushed in to pick up the dead and wounded, as police tried to keep back onlookers in the crowded bazaar.

The explosion killed 22 and wounded over 30 people, said another police officer, Naeem Khan. One policeman who was guarding the mosque was killed and another was injured. Most of the dead and wounded were Shiites, but some of the casualties were also from the country's majority sect since there is a Sunni mosque nearby, said Khan.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban or Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which have both carried out bombings against Shiites.

The worst sectarian violence in Pakistan in recent years has been in southwestern Baluchistan province, which has the largest concentration of Shiites in the country. A twin bombing last month at a billiards hall in the provincial capital, Quetta, killed 86 people, most of them Shiites.

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 400 Shiites were killed in targeted attacks in Pakistan in 2012, including over 120 in Baluchistan.

Sectarian militant groups, such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, have increased their strength through alliances with al-Qaida and the Pakistani Taliban, which has been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for the past several years.

Rights organizations have criticized the Pakistani government for not doing enough to crack down on the attacks against Shiites.

Pakistan's intelligence agencies helped nurture Sunni militant groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in the 1980s, to counter a perceived threat from neighboring Iran, which is mostly Shiite. Pakistan banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in 2001, but the group continues to operate fairly freely.

___

Associated Press writer Hussain Afzal contributed to this report from Parachinar, Pakistan.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-01-Pakistan/id-30d1bdbaa5ce4f2f9824580ba7acd503

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Introducing The Geomancer One Final Fantasy XI: Seekers Of Adoulin?s New Jobs

By Spencer . January 31, 2013 . 3:12am

The Geomancer job is leaving Final Fantasy V and coming to Final Fantasy XI as part of the Seekers of Adoulin expansion pack. Gemonacers use Geomancy to buff party members and debilitate monsters.

Introducing The Geomancer One Final Fantasy XI: Seekers Of Adoulins New Jobs ?

Geomancers have two kinds of geomancy magic. Indicolure spells are magical auras that affect party members and enemies nearby.

Here are some examples of Indicolure spells:

Indi-Voidance: Enhances evasion for party members near the caster.
Indi-Acumen: Enhances magic attack for party members near the caster.
Indi-Gravity: Weighs down enemies near the caster and lowers their movement speed.
Indi-Paralysis: Paralyzes enemies near the caster.
Indi-Regen: Gradually restores HP for party members near the caster.