Thursday, June 23, 2011

NASA’s Cassini–Huygens spacecraft has discovered evidence for a large-scale saltwater reservoir beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The data came from the spacecraft’s direct analysis of salt-rich ice grains close to the jets ejected from the moon. The study has been published in this week’s edition of the journal Nature.

Data from Cassini’s cosmic dust analyzer show the grains expelled from fissures, known as tiger stripes, are relatively small and usually low in salt far away from the moon. Closer to the moon’s surface, Cassini found that relatively large grains rich with sodium and potassium dominate the plumes. The salt-rich particles have an “ocean-like” composition and indicate that most, if not all, of the expelled ice and water vapor comes from the evaporation of liquid salt-water. When water freezes, the salt is squeezed out, leaving pure water ice behind.

Cassini’s ultraviolet imaging spectrograph also recently obtained complementary results that support the presence of a subsurface ocean. A team of Cassini researchers led by Candice Hansen of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, measured gas shooting out of distinct jets originating in the moon’s south polar region at five to eight times the speed of sound, several times faster than previously measured. These observations of distinct jets, from a 2010 flyby, are consistent with results showing a difference in composition of ice grains close to the moon’s surface and those that made it out to the E ring, the outermost ring that gets its material primarily from Enceladean jets. If the plumes emanated from ice, they should have very little salt in them.

“There currently is no plausible way to produce a steady outflow of salt-rich grains from solid ice across all the tiger stripes other than salt water under Enceladus’s icy surface,” said Frank Postberg, a Cassini team scientist at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

The data suggests a layer of water between the moon’s rocky core and its icy mantle, possibly as deep as about 50 miles (80 kilometers) beneath the surface. As this water washes against the rocks, it dissolves salt compounds and rises through fractures in the overlying ice to form reserves nearer the surface. If the outermost layer cracks open, the decrease in pressure from these reserves to space causes a plume to shoot out. Roughly 400 pounds (200 kilograms) of water vapor is lost every second in the plumes, with smaller amounts being lost as ice grains. The team calculates the water reserves must have large evaporating surfaces, or they would freeze easily and stop the plumes.

“We imagine that between the ice and the ice core there is an ocean of depth and this is somehow connected to the surface reservoir,” added Postberg.

The Cassini mission discovered Enceladus’ water-vapor and ice jets in 2005. In 2009, scientists working with the cosmic dust analyzer examined some sodium salts found in ice grains of Saturn’s E ring but the link to subsurface salt water was not definitive. The new paper analyzes three Enceladus flybys in 2008 and 2009 with the same instrument, focusing on the composition of freshly ejected plume grains. In 2008, Cassini discovered a high “density of volatile gases, water vapor, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as organic materials, some 20 times denser than expected” in geysers erupting from the moon. The icy particles hit the detector target at speeds between 15,000 and 39,000 MPH (23,000 and 63,000 KPH), vaporizing instantly. Electrical fields inside the cosmic dust analyzer separated the various constituents of the impact cloud.

“Enceladus has got warmth, water and organic chemicals, some of the essential building blocks needed for life,” said Dennis Matson in 2008, Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

“This finding is a crucial new piece of evidence showing that environmental conditions favorable to the emergence of life can be sustained on icy bodies orbiting gas giant planets,” said Nicolas Altobelli, the European Space Agency’s project scientist for Cassini.

“If there is water in such an unexpected place, it leaves possibility for the rest of the universe,” said Postberg.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

On Monday, Texas police identified Rodris Webster, 25, as a person-of-interest in the recent disappearance of a 19 year-old woman. The woman, Alicia Benefield, of DeBerry, Texas, was reported missing on Friday.

Webster is described as Benefield’s boyfriend. He was arrested in January and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Benefield was the complainant in that charge according to media reports. Webster remained jailed until Benefield dropped the charge on March 5.

Police investigators inspected a trash dumpster located in the nearby town of Waskom on Sunday morning. In it they reportedly found Webster’s wet, muddy hoodie with Benefield’s keys in the pocket. Police interviewed Webster for 5 hours on Sunday, but released him around 6pm. The woman, still missing on Tuesday morning, is described as petite size, about 110 pounds, with a nose piercing and a tattoo on one arm saying “Wanda Ree”. She was last seen wearing a white sweater and brown tights.

A police official told reporters Webster had not confessed to any criminal activity: “The story is out there that he has confessed and we do not have a confession”. Benefield’s mother told reporters she expects her daughter to call her. “She is going to call. I’m going to be the first one she calls, matter of fact. I don’t care how mad she think[s] I am. She’s going to call me.”

Saturday, August 25, 2007

The leading supplier of school uniforms in the United Kingdom, Lancashire-based manufacturer Trutex, has announced it is “seriously considering” including GPS tracking devices in future ranges of its uniform products after conducting an online survey of both parents and children.

“As a direct result of the survey, we are now seriously considering incorporating a [tracking] device into future ranges” said Trutex marketing director Clare Rix.

The survey questioned 809 parents and 444 children aged nine to 16. It showed that 44% of parents were worried about the safety of pre-teen children, and 59% wanted tracking devices installed in school apparel. 39% of children aged nine to 12 were prepared to wear clothing with tracking devices in them, while teenagers were notably less enthusiastic and more wary of what Trutex has admitted they see as a “big brother” concept.

However, Trutex has claimed the tracking devices would bring about worthwhile benefits, including being a valuable resource for parents who wanted to keep a close eye on where their children were at all times.

“As well as being a safety net for parents, there could be real benefits for schools who could keep a closer track on the whereabouts of their pupils, potentially reducing truancy levels” says Rix.

Each year, Trutex supplies 1 million blouses, 1.1 million shirts, 250,000 pairs of trousers, 20,000 blazers, 60,000 skirts and 110,000 pieces of knitwear to the UK.

It is not the first company to manufacture school uniforms with a central focus on child safety; last week Essex firm BladeRunner revealed it was selling stab-proof school blazers to parents concerned about violence against their children. The blazers were outfitted with Kevlar, a synthetic fibre used in body armour. It has already received orders internationally, including Australia.

If the Trutex tracking devices go ahead, it is unclear where in the uniform they will be located.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

While nearly all coverage of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, the race for the White House also includes independents and third party candidates. These parties represent a variety of views that may not be acknowledged by the major party platforms.

Wikinews has impartially reached out to these candidates, throughout the campaign. We now interview independent Presidential candidate Ruth Bryant White, an ordained Christian minister, author, and homemaker.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Prime Minister of Denmark, said on Tuesday that he will seek broad parliamentary support for a national referendum on joining the euro, the common currency of the Eurozone.

“I’m convinced that we need broad support in parliament to hold a referendum, because it’s about the Danish currency and about stability and safety,” he said, speaking at his weekly press conference. “Recent events have shown the necessity to give the population the opportunity to vote on Denmark joining the euro.”

Berlingske Tidende is reporting that Rasmussen is meeting with political leaders to negotiate support for the referendum.

In 1992, Danish voters rejected the Maastrict Treaty in a referendum. It was only able to pass the following year after the Edinburgh Agreement granted Denmark an opt-out of the third stage of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union (EMU).

In 2000, Denmark again rejected the common currency in a euro referendum. The current currency of the Scandinavian country is the Danish krone. As part of stage two of the EMU, the exchange rate of the krone is allowed to fluctuate within a ±2.25% range to the euro.

In order to maintain this peg Danmarks Nationalbank, the central bank, adjusts interest rates and performs foreign exchange operations by buying and selling currency. To do this, Danmarks Nationalbank has had to raise rates twice, even as other central banks, including the European Central Bank (ECB), were lowering rates to deal with the current economic crisis.

As a result, interest rates in Denmark are now 175 basis points higher than the ECB’s rates. As recently as May, the difference was only 25 basis points.

Rasmussen heads the Venstre party which leads a minority coalition government. The main opposition party, the Social Democrats, also support adopting the euro as the nation’s currency.

While there has long been support among the politicians, the euro has failed when it has been put before the voters. However, recent opinion polls have shown a growing support for the euro among Danes. The most recent of these have seen those in favor just topping the 50% level needed to pass a referendum.

Rasmussen has said he wants a referendum put before voters before 2011. His government had originally planned to hold a referendum this past September to abolish the EMU opt-outs, but that was scrapped when Ireland voted down the Treaty of Lisbon.

On October 30, while in Stockholm, Sweden, Rasmussen said: “The euro ensures political and economical stability in Europe and the current financial turmoil makes it evident that Denmark has to join the Euro.”

Analysts consulted by Berlingske Tidende have said that an endorsement from the Socialist People’s Party (SF) could prove to be the tide-turner.

“If there was a vote, then I would vote Yes. But I am of the opinion that it is stupid to hold a vote unless we first have a real debate. We haven’t had a debate in eight years and all arguments need to be tested,” said Margrete Auken of SF.

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Sunday, March 15, 2009

200,000 litres of oil leaked into waters off the coast of Brisbane from the Pacific Adventurer when their fuel tanks were damaged in rough seas on Wednesday. The figure is about ten times higher than the original estimate of twenty thousand litres of oil. The devastating diesel oil spill has spread along 60 kilometres (37 miles) of the Queensland coast. In addition, 31 containers with 620 tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser flew overboard during the violent storm.

Questions are being asked why the Hong Kong cargo ship was out in seas with nine meter waves caused by Cyclone Hamish, a Category 5 tropical cyclone, as well as why the fertiliser containers were not properly secured. One of the overboard containers ruptured the hull of the Pacific Adventurer, causing between 30 to 100 tonnes of oil to spew from the severely damaged ship.

If the ammonium nitrate mixes with the heavy oil, an explosion could occur. None of the containers have been recovered. Some of these may float, but it is believed that they may have sunk which then may cause algal blooms.

Disaster zones have been declared at Bribie and Moreton Islands, and along the Sunshine coast.

The vessel’s owner, Swire Shipping, reported that a second leak began on Friday, when the ship began listing after docking at Hamilton for repairs. “As full soundings of the vessel’s tanks were being taken at the port to determine how much oil had leaked from the vessel, a small quantity of fuel oil escaped from the Pacific Adventurer,” it stated. The ship was brought upright, and a recovery vessel was used to suck up the oil from the water. The leak produced a 500m-long oil slick down the Brisbane River. Booms were placed around this oil spill so that a skimmer could clean up the second spill.

Swire Shipping could face clean up costs of AU$100,000 a day as well as fines up to AU$1.5million (US$977,000; £703,000) if found guilty of environmental breaches or negligence.

Sunshine Coast beaches are slowly starting to be reopened. The beach of Mooloolaba was still closed following reports of burning sensations from swimmers. 12 beaches remain closed; however, 13 have been reopened.

Over 300 state government and council workers are using buckets, rakes and spades in the clean up effort. Sunshine Coast Mayor Bob Abbott says the majority will be gone by Sunday afternoon. The full environmental impact on wildlife is not yet known. One turtle and seven pelicans have been found covered in oil.

There are concerns that the drinking water of Moreton Island is at risk, as the island uses water from the underground water table near the oil spill site.

“Every bucketload of contaminated sand has to be removed from the island by barge, and each bucketload from a front-end loader weighs about one tonne. It’s just an impossible task,” said Mr Trevor Hassard of the Tangalooma Dolphin Education Centre.

The commercial fishing industry has suffered from the incident. Trawlers won’t resume operations until Sunday evening, and any catches will be tested for human consumption.