Bizarre alien planets get cozy with each other (+video)

A duo of planets some 1,200 light years from earth have been spotted passing within 1.2 million miles of each other, closer than any other known pair of planets, a new study has found.?

By Mike Wall,?SPACE.com / June 21, 2012

An artist's conception shows the newfound alien planet Kepler-36c as it might look from the surface of Kepler-36b.

David Aguilar, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

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It is science fiction made fact: Astronomers have discovered two alien planets around the same star whose orbits come so close together that each rises in the night sky of its sister world like an exotic full moon.

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The newfound planets are 1,200 light-years from Earth and an unprecedented find, researchers said. They differ greatly in size and composition but come within just 1.2 million miles (1.9 million kilometers) of each other, closer than any other pair of planets known, according to a new study.

One of the newly discovered?alien planets, called Kepler-36b, appears to be a rocky "super-Earth" 4.5 times as massive as our planet. The other, Kepler-36c, is a gaseous, Neptune-size world about eight times as massive as Earth. The two planets meet up every 97 days in a conjunction that would make each dramatically visible in the other's sky.

?These two worlds are having close encounters,? said co-lead author Josh Carter, of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in a statement.

At their closest approach, the two planets are separated by five times the distance between the Earth and the moon. How such different bodies ended up in such similar orbits may be tough for current theories of?planet formation?and migration to explain, researchers said.

"This is unprecedented," co-lead author Eric Agol, of the University of Washington, told SPACE.com via email. "They are as different in density as Earth and Saturn (the highest and lowest density planets in our solar system), yet they are 30 times closer than any pair of planets in our solar system." [Gallery: The Strangest Alien Planets]

Strange neighbors

The two known planets in the Kepler-36 system ? which is located in the constellation Cygnus (The Swan) ? were detected by NASA's?Kepler Space Telescope.

Kepler is staring continuously at more than 150,000 stars, watching for telltale brightness dips caused when planets cross in front of the stars from the telescope's perspective. Since its March 2009 launch, Kepler has flagged more than 2,300 potential alien planets; while only a small fraction have been confirmed to date, mission scientists think more than 80 percent of them will end up being the real deal.

Kepler-36c, which is about 3.7 times wider than Earth, likely has a rocky core surrounded by a substantial atmosphere filled with lots of hydrogen and helium, researchers said.

Kepler-36b, on the other hand, is a?super-Earth?just 1.5 times wider than our planet. Iron likely constitutes about 30 percent of its mass, water around 15 percent and atmospheric hydrogen and helium less than 1 percent, researchers said.

Though they're very different in size and makeup, the two planets travel on surprisingly similar paths around their host star. Kepler-36c orbits once every 16 days, at an average distance of 12 million miles (19 million km). Kepler-36b orbits each 14 days and sits about 11 million miles (18 million km) from the star.

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Spain to seek bank aid as borrowing costs soar

LUXEMBOURG/MADRID (Reuters) - Independent auditors said Spanish banks may need up to 62 billion euros in extra capital, to be filled mostly by a euro zone bailout, after Spain's medium-term borrowing costs spiraled to a euro-era record on Thursday.

Euro zone finance ministers met in Luxembourg to discuss how to channel up to 100 billion euros ($126 billion) in aid to Spanish lenders weighed down by bad debts from a burst property bubble. Madrid's economy minister said a formal request would be made in days for the bailout, which was agreed two weeks ago.

Many in the markets see the package as a mere prelude to a full program for the Spanish state, which Madrid vehemently denies it will need.

Spain's financial plight took centre stage a week before a European Union summit tackles long-term plans for closer fiscal and banking union in a bid to strengthen the euro's foundations, after bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal failed to end a 2-1/2-year old debt crisis.

To pave the way, the leaders of Germany, Italy, France and Spain will meet in Rome on Friday.

"We are clearly seeing additional tension and acute stress applying to both banks and sovereigns in the euro area," International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde, who attended the Luxembourg meeting, told reporters.

"With that in mind, the IMF believes that a determined and forceful move towards complete European monetary union should be reaffirmed."

Two independent audits by consultants Roland Berger and Oliver Wyman found that Spanish banks would need between 51 and 62 billion euros in extra capital to weather a serious downturn in the economy and new losses on their books.

The Bank of Spain said the 100 billion euros offered to Madrid two weeks ago would give a wide margin of error. Spain's three biggest banks would not need extra capital even in a stressed scenario, it said. The government said it did not expect to shut any banks and would restructure those in trouble.

In Luxembourg, the finance ministers decided Spain should initially apply to the euro zone's temporary rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, with the loan taken over by the permanent bailout fund the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) once it is up and running after July 9.

"The financial assistance will be provided by the EFSF until the ESM becomes available, and then it will be transferred to the ESM," Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the Eurogroup of finance ministers, told a news conference.

"We would expect the Spanish authorities to put forward a formal request for financial assistance by next Monday," he said.

Such a solution should avert a problem which had scared investors: debt issued by the ESM must be paid back first in case of a Spanish default, relegating private creditors lower in the pecking order. Because the new bailout debt will originate from the EFSF it will be issued without that requirement.

THREATENING YIELDS

Earlier on Thursday, Madrid sold 2.2 billion euros in medium-term bonds, drawing strong demand almost entirely from domestic banks. Yields on 5-year paper rose to a 15-year high of 6.07 percent, a level regarded by analysts as unaffordable for any prolonged period.

"They raised 2.2 billion versus a 2 billion target, so they can raise the money," said Achilleas Georgolopoulos, a strategist at Lloyds in London.

"Then the (question is), are the yields threatening for the medium term? And yes, clearly they are much higher than the previous auction ... But still they can continue for a few months to fund at these levels."

The finance ministers also signaled there may be some leeway for Greece, following the formation of a coalition of mainstream parties committed to the country's 130 billion euro EU/IMF bailout but determined to renegotiate some of its terms.

Athens will ask lenders for two more years to hit fiscal targets and an extension to unemployment benefits as it seeks to soften the punishing terms of the bailout that saved the country from bankruptcy.

Greece's euro zone partners, in particular paymaster Germany, have offered modifications but no radical re-write of the conditions attached to the lifeline agreed in March.

Juncker said nothing would be decided until the troika of EU, IMF and European Central Bankers had returned to Athens for a look at the books, starting on Monday.

"We will have a look into the findings of the troika and then we will discuss in detail the different means and instruments which can be used," he said. "It doesn't make sense for the time being to give more precise indications on the content of the program."

RESCUE FUND TO THE RESCUE?

The German government and opposition reached a deal that will allow parliament to approve the ESM next week, but Germany's top court may delay the rescue fund's start date, saying it needed time to study the treaty.

The ESM cannot come into effect without approval by Europe's biggest economy. Ratification also requires the signature of the president and a nod from the constitutional court in Karlsruhe.

The parliamentary floor leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives appeared to dash French and southern European hopes of nudging Berlin towards common euro area debt issuance, saying there would be no mutualisation of debt in Europe.

Italy disclosed that it was missing its target to lower the budget deficit to 1.7 percent of gross domestic product and will have to cut spending by a further four billion euros to meet the goal.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti suggested, on the sidelines of this week's G20 summit, using the euro zone's rescue funds to buy the bonds of Spain and Italy in the secondary market to bring down their borrowing costs.

Monti hosts Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy, Germany's Merkel and French President Francois Hollande in Rome on Friday and is also expected to raise the idea there. Merkel has played down the proposal, which investors said might be counter-productive unless the ECB stepped in decisively in support.

Any European bond-buying would come with strings attached, equivalent to the sort of bailout programs that Rome and Madrid are trying to avoid because of the stigma attached.

Given the limited capacity of the temporary EFSF and planned permanent ESM rescue funds, with at most 500 billion euros available, a senior EU source said such intervention would make sense only if the ESM had a banking license enabling it to borrow from the ECB. Germany has so far opposed that idea.

(Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas in Paris, Nigel Davies and Paul Day, John O'Donnell in Brussels, Annika Breidthardt, Robin Emmott, Charlie Dunmore and Axel Threlfall in Luxembourg. Writing by Paul Taylor and Mike Peacock Editing by Peter Graff)

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NFL denies witness retractions in bounty probe

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? The NFL denies accusations it covered up retractions made by key witnesses in its bounty investigation, or that Commissioner Roger Goodell has placed gag orders on Saints employees and others who could help punished players clear their names.

Lawyer Peter Ginsberg, who represents suspended Saints player Jonathan Vilma, made the accusations when punished players appeared earlier this week for an appeal hearing, a full transcript of which has been obtained by The Associated Press.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello says claims of a gag order are "completely untrue," and that no potential witnesses were instructed by the league to stay away from Monday's hearing.

The transcript also shows that the NFL Players Association formally asked Goodell to recuse himself from ongoing appeal proceedings, contending that he is incapable of ruling "without the appearance of bias."

"The commissioner has publicly appeared on television and in other (forums) defending the discipline," NFLPA attorney Jeffrey Kessler said. "We would ask that the commissioner step down, to the extent that these proceedings continue, as the decision maker and that a neutral decision maker be appointed in his place."

The early portions of the transcript detail a series of verbal jousts that Ginsberg sought to deliver to the commissioner before leaving the appeal hearing early in protest.

In discussing witnesses he has been unable to speak with, Ginsberg told Goodell, "You have made threats to keep them from talking to us. You have refused to have them even participate in today's proceedings."

Ginsberg and the NFLPA had asked the NFL to compel several witnesses to appear at the appeal hearing, including Saints head coach Sean Payton, assistant head coach Joe Vitt, general manager Mickey Loomis, former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, and former defensive assistant Mike Cerullo.

While the NFL declined to require anyone to attend the hearing, Aiello said the players and their representatives "were free to bring any witnesses of their choosing, including any coaches if they agreed to appear."

Ginsberg further asserted that Williams and Cerullo offered retractions of some of their initial statements to the NFL in the investigation, and that the league has neglected to share that information. Aiello denied such retractions were ever made.

Ginsberg also accused the NFL of distorting evidence introduced at the appeals hearing, including an email from marketing agent Mike Ornstein to Williams, who the NFL says ran a bounty program from 2009 to 2011.

In the email, Ornstein tells Williams he gave him "1,500 last week, I will give you another 1,500 the next four game (sic) and the final 2,000 the last 4." Ginsberg asserts that the NFL included the email as evidence even after Ornstein told Goodell the email related to a Gregg Williams charity.

The NFL declined to comment beyond its assertion in Monday's hearing that the total amount of money the email discusses ? $5,000 ? matches the amount listed next to Ornstein's name on a note outlining pledges made as "seed money" to a performance incentive pool that rewarded big plays as well as injurious hits.

Ginsberg told the commissioner he imposed a "misplaced punishment" which "cast a shadow not only on Mr. Vilma personally and professionally, but, I dare say, on the NFL and on the office of the commissioner in engaging in these proceedings."

He then concluded his statement by urging Goodell to "rescind any punishment against Mr. Vilma and to apologize in public for what you have done."

Not long after making those statements on the record, Ginsberg, who is also representing Vilma in a separate defamation lawsuit against Goodell in federal court in New Orleans, left the hearing with Vilma in protest, They did not return for an afternoon session.

Later in the hearing, Kessler said the remaining three punished players ? Saints defensive end Will Smith, Green Bay defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, and linebacker Scott Fujita ? would listen to the remainder of the hearing, but would decline to participate because they believed the proceeding lacked elements required to meet the standard of a "fair hearing" under the NFL's current labor agreement.

"The essence of that hearing contains certain matters that are being denied to the players here," Kessler said. "In particular, we're not being given the opportunity to confront and cross-examine the actual witnesses who have evidence on this."

Kessler made an additional point that the NFL has already stated publicly that Williams, the defensive coordinator, ran the Saints' incentive pool, and that punishing employees for something their employers instructed them to do is "contrary to established legal principles."

The NFL continued its portion of the hearing in which it reviewed evidence against the players.

Goodell did not recuse himself and it did not appear he would consider doing so after league attorney Adolpho Birch responded to Kessler that an arbitrator already ruled Goodell has the authority to hear the appeal.

Associated Press

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US denies safe passage scheme for Assad

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Observatory: In African Pottery, Evidence of Ancient Dairy Farmers

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Carbon isotope analysis of residues from excavated pottery indicated that people 7,000 years ago in what is now Libya had milk and other dairy products as part of their diet.

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Video: Travelers Emotionally Bonded to Mobile Devices: Survey

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Can Windows 8 tablets rekindle Microsoft's mojo?

Microsoft introduced its own pair of tablet computers running Windows 8 software.?

By Lisa Richwine,?Reuters / June 21, 2012

A Microsoft representative holds a new Surface tablet computer as it is unveiled by Microsoft in Los Angeles, Calif., June 18, 2012. Microsoft Corp introduced its own line of tablet computers on Monday at a media event in Los Angeles, marking a major strategic shift for the software giant as it struggles to compete with Apple Inc and re-invent its aging Windows franchise.

David McNew/REUTERS

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Microsoft Corp introduced its own line of tablet computers on Monday at a much-hyped press event in Los Angeles, marking a major strategic shift for the software giant as it struggles to compete with Apple Inc and re-invent its aging Windows franchise.

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The new tablet line, named Surface, includes a consumer device aimed directly at the Apple iPad, and another, larger machine designed to compete with lightweight laptops. Both include a keyboard that doubles as a cover, and both will be powered by versions of the new Windows 8 operating system.

The move breaks with Microsoft's operating model of the past 37 years, which has relied on computer manufacturers to make and market machines running Windows. It could throw the world's largest software company into direct competition with its closest hardware partners such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Hewlett-Packard Co.

However, the success of Apple in recent years has underscored the benefits of an integrated approach to hardware and software, and Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Monday that the company "didn't want to leave anything uncovered" as it rolled out Windows 8.

The new software is the biggest overhaul of Windows in years, and features a new touch-friendly interface dubbed "Metro". It is scheduled to be available for the Christmas shopping season.

The lighter, thinner version of the Surface tablet, built on an Nvidia Corp chip designed by ARM Holdings, will be the first to market at the same time as the general release of Windows 8, and will feature Microsoft's popular Office suite of applications.

It is comparable to Apple's new iPad, heavier but slightly thinner. It has a 10.6 inch screen and comes in 32GB and 64GB memory sizes.

A second, heavier tablet aimed at the new generation of lightweight laptops called "ultrabooks", running on traditional Intel Corp chips, will come in 64GB and 128GB models. That will be available about three months after the ARM version, Microsoft said.

The company gave no details on pricing, except that they would be competitive with comparable ARM tablets and Intel-powered Ultrabooks. They will be on sale online and in Microsoft's new brick-and-mortar stores in the United States.

Microsoft shares rose 0.8 percent in after-hours trading, making up for a 0.6 percent drop to $29.84 in the regular Nasdaq session.

Industry watchers were generally impressed by the devices' specifications, but doubted they were a sure-fire hit.

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