Tuesday, June 14, 2005

A new Earth-like planet, called Gliese 876 d, has been discovered orbiting a star called Gliese 876 about 15 light years from Earth. It is the first rocky planet to be discovered orbiting a star, although three other rocky planets have in the past been discovered in orbit around a pulsar. There are two other gaseous, Jupiter-like planets in orbit around the same star.

“This is the smallest extrasolar planet yet detected and the first of a new class of rocky terrestrial planets,” said Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution, one of the teams that discovered the new planet. “It’s like Earth’s bigger cousin.”

The newly discovered world has about 7½ times the mass of Earth. Its orbital period, or “year”, is a mere 2 days in length and its path takes it 10 times closer to its star than the closest planet is to our Sun. The temperature on the surface is estimated between 400 to 750 degrees Fahrenheit (200 to 400 degrees Celsius), and is too hot for life forms that are similar to those found on Earth.

“A planet seven and a half times the mass of the Earth could easily hold onto an atmosphere,” explained Gregory Laughlin, an assistant professor of astronomy at the University of California in Santa Cruz. “It would still be considered a rocky planet, probably with an iron core and a silicate mantle. It could even have a dense steamy water layer. I think what we are seeing here is something that’s intermediate between a true terrestrial planet like the Earth and a hot version of the ice giants Uranus and Neptune.”

Astronomers are continuing to advance the science of detecting extrasolar worlds. “We are pushing a whole new regime at Keck [Observatory in Hawaii] to achieve one meter per second precision, triple our old precision, that should also allow us to see Earth-mass planets around sun-like stars within the next few years,” Butler said.

Friday, November 3, 2006

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Don Valley West (Ward 25). Three candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include John Blair, Robertson Boyle, Tony Dickins, Cliff Jenkins (incumbent), and Peter Kapsalis.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.

Friday, February 8, 2008

The United States House of Representatives has passed the bipartisan US$152 billion economic stimulus package that gives one-time rebates to United States citizens, US$600 for individuals or US$1,200 for couples plus US$300 for each child. US$300 checks would be sent to people on low-income including retirees on Social Security which was not included in the original bill backed by President George W. Bush. The plan would begin to decrease rebates for citizens with taxable incomes of US$75,000 for individuals and US$150,000 for couples. The checks would go out to more than a 130 million Americans according to Treasury secretary Henry Paulson.

The House overwhelmingly approved the more broad Senate amended bill which included the low-income portion mentioned above along with provisions that would keep illegal aliens from receiving a rebate check. Despite some opposition from some Congressmen, such as John B. T. Campbell III of California’s 48th congressional district, the plan passed overwhelmingly 380–34.

Campbell called the plan “wealth redistribution” and noted it did not have safeguards to prevent illegals from receiving these rebates and also claimed that stimulus plan would increase the deficit more and noted the cause of the looming recession was because of “credit problems.”

The United States Senate voted hours earlier on the bill which passed in the Senate, 81–16. after having to shed some incentives included by Senate Democrats which caused the bill to fail. Some of the incentives that were left out of the plan in a compromise to gain Republican support were demands for benefits for long-term unemployed workers and stipulation that would allow low-income citizens to pay off heating bills and let home builders pay off losses off the current year against previous tax years.

President Bush approved of the package, noting in a statement, “This plan is robust, broad-based, timely, and it will be effective, this bill will help to stimulate consumer spending and accelerate needed business investment.”

Friday, April 15, 2005

A Park City, Utah, nutritional supplement manufacturer won its appeal against the FDA on Wednesday as a Federal Judge lifted a ban and sent the case back to the agency for revised rulemaking in accordance with the court’s decision.

Judge Tena Campbell ruled that no further enforcement of the FDA action can take place until the FDA reviews its current regulation.

Neutraceutical claimed in its lawsuit that the product “has been safely consumed” for hundreds of years and is not harmful at low ephedrine product levels. The FDA had decided to ban the supplement based on a reverse logic that the product had to be proven safe. The lawsuit effectively argued that it is the FDA’s task to prove that all dosage levels of ephedrine were unsafe. The court agreed with the manufacturer that this assumption could not be proven and, when taken in low doses, less than 10 mg, that agree with the product labeling, ephedrine was not shown to be an “unreasonable or significant risk.”

A group of private researchers claimed that ephedra was the most dangerous herbal product on the market. They collected data from poison control centers. It was not considered to be a drug and could not be controlled the way pharmaceuticals were, and was sold over the counter.

The death in 2003 of 23-year old Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler brought a slew of negative reports on the product that foreshadowed a sharp drop in sales.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Lydia Playfoot, a 16 year old schoolgirl from West Sussex, England, has been faced with expulsion by her school, Millais School of Horsham, for wearing a purity ring that symbolises her dedication to chastity.

Her case, that she should be allowed to wear the ring as it is an “expression of [her] faith and should be exempt from the school’s rules on wearing jewelery”, was taken to the High Court on Friday. Judgement in the case was reserved for a future date.

This case echoes a decision in a case last year. The Law Lords rejected Shabina Begum‘s, former pupil of Denbigh High School, in Luton, Bedfordshire, appeal to wear a Muslim Jilbab to school.

Miss Playfoot spoke to BBC Radio regarding the case. She said “Muslims are allowed to wear headscarves and other faiths can wear bangles and other types of jewellery. It feels like Christians are being discriminated against.” Her lawyers have argued that her right to wear the ring as a symbol of faith is upheld by the Human Rights Act 1998