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A duo of electrical engineers (or mad scientists, if you prefer) at the California Institute of Technology have developed chips that could very well end up in the next James Bond movie. Or, you know, real life. The newfangled chips are capable of generating and radiating "high-frequency electromagnetic waves, called terahertz (THz) waves, that fall into a largely untapped region of the electromagnetic spectrum." They can penetrate a host of materials without the ionizing damage of X-rays, and apparently, can be integrated into small, handheld devices. The university is already dreaming of potential applications -- everything from homeland security to wireless communications to health care, and even touchless gaming. In theory, this kind of work would eventually lead to noninvasive cancer diagnosis as well. The technobabble can be seen in full at the source link.
Sir Patrick Moore's contribution to the world of astronomy
British astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore has died, aged 89.
He "passed away peacefully at 12:25 this afternoon" at his home in Selsey, West Sussex, friends and colleagues said in a statement.
Sir Patrick presented the BBC programme The Sky At Night for over 50 years, making him the longest-running host of the same television show ever.
He wrote dozens of books on astronomy and his research was used by the US and the Russians in their space programmes.
Described by one of his close friends as "fearlessly eccentric", Sir Patrick was notable for his habit of wearing a monocle on screen and his idiosyncratic style.
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Through his regular monthly programmes he was telling us what to look for and what was out there and that was a real inspiration?
End QuoteMaggie Aderin-PocockSpace scientist
Sir Patrick presented the first edition of The Sky at Night on 24 April 1957. He last appeared in an episode broadcast on Monday.
A statement by his friends and staff said: "After a short spell in hospital last week, it was determined that no further treatment would benefit him, and it was his wish to spend his last days in his own home, Farthings, where he today passed on, in the company of close friends and carers and his cat Ptolemy.
"Over the past few years, Patrick, an inspiration to generations of astronomers, fought his way back from many serious spells of illness and continued to work and write at a great rate, but this time his body was too weak to overcome the infection which set in, a few weeks ago.
"He was able to perform on his world record-holding TV programme The Sky at Night right up until the most recent episode .
"His executors and close friends plan to fulfil his wishes for a quiet ceremony of interment, but a farewell event is planned for what would have been Patrick's 90th birthday in March 2013."
'Father figure'
Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore was born at Pinner, Middlesex on 4 Mar 1923.
Heart problems meant he spent much of his childhood being educated at home and he became an avid reader. His mother gave him a copy of GF Chambers' book, The Story of the Solar System, and this sparked his lifelong passion for astronomy.
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Sir Patrick Moore was the voice of the space age.
I recall as a child not following every detail of that famously rapid patter but I never minded - because like everyone who watched his broadcasts I was swept along by his extraordinary energy and excitement.
Here was someone who could catch the mood of a world enthralled by a heady mix of discovery and achievement.
With rockets launching satellites and then astronauts above Earth and beyond, there was no greater enthusiast to chronicle and illuminate an exhilarating new era of exploration.
Generations grew up with Patrick Moore as their guide and he proved hugely influential. Astronomy was no longer a niche activity.
The man with the monocle had touched people who had never even thought of stargazing.
When war came he turned down a place at Cambridge and lied about his age to join the RAF, serving as a navigator with Bomber Command and rising to the rank of Flight Lieutenant.
But the war brought him a personal tragedy after his fiancee, Lorna, was killed when an ambulance she was driving was hit by a bomb. He never married.
Sir Patrick, who had a pacemaker fitted in 2006 and received a knighthood in 2001, won a Bafta for services to television and was a honorary fellow of the Royal Society.
He was a member of the UK Independence party and, briefly, the finance minister for the Monster Raving Loony Party, and attracted some controversy for his outspoken views on Europe and immigration.
Fellow scientists speak of how Sir Patrick inspired a generation
His other TV credits include the role of Gamesmaster in the 1990s computer games show of the same name.
BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh said Sir Patrick's appearance sometimes aroused as much comment as his astronomy: "He was six-foot-three, and was once described as having 'an air of donnish dishevelment', with his raised eyebrow, scarcely-brushed hair and poorly-fitting suits.
"His enthusiasm was unstoppable, and on occasions he would talk at 300 words a minute."
Queen guitarist Brian May, who published a book on astronomy written with Sir Patrick, described him as a "dear friend, and a kind of father figure to me".
He said: "Patrick will be mourned by the many to whom he was a caring uncle, and by all who loved the delightful wit and clarity of his writings, or enjoyed his fearlessly eccentric persona in public life.
"Patrick is irreplaceable. There will never be another Patrick Moore. But we were lucky enough to get one."
Television presenter and physicist Professor Brian Cox posted a message on Twitter saying: "Very sad news about Sir Patrick. Helped inspire my love of astronomy. I will miss him!"
The acting director general of the BBC, Tim Davie, said his achievements at the corporation "were unmatched", adding that Sir Patrick will be missed by his "countless fans".
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: "Since I first met Sir Patrick when he dominated a UKIP stage in 1999, he has been a friend and an inspiration - not only to us in UKIP, but across the country and around the world. Today we have seen the passing of a true great, and a true Englishman."
The Sky At Night through the years
And Dr Marek Kakula, public astronomer at Royal Observatory in Greenwich, described him as a "very charming and hospitable man".
"When you came to his home he would always make sure you had enough to eat and drink. He was full of really entertaining and amusing stories.
"There are many many professional astronomers like me who can actually date their interest in astronomy to watching Patrick on TV, so his impact on the world of professional astronomy as well as amateur is hard to overstate."
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JERUSALEM/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Israel moved ahead with plans to build 3,000 settler homes in one of the most sensitive areas of the West Bank, as the European Union summoned Israel's envoy to add its voice to a storm of international protest.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday the global condemnation, some of it from the Jewish state's closest traditional allies, would not deter it from defending its "vital interests".
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday declared the housing project, which could divide the West Bank and make the creation of a contiguous future Palestinian state almost impossible, to be an uncrossable "red line".
An Israeli Defence Ministry official said architects and contractors appeared before a subcommittee of the military-run Civil Administration in the West Bank and registered their plans for construction in the E1 corridor near Jerusalem, a preliminary step before building permits are issued.
Angered by the U.N. General Assembly's de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood on Thursday, Israel announced the next day it would build the new dwellings for settlers, on land near Jerusalem that Palestinians seek for a future state.
BARREN HILLS
The decision by Netanyahu's pro-settler government to build houses on the E1 corridor's barren hills could bisect the West Bank, cut off Palestinians from Jerusalem and further dim their hopes for an independent state on contiguous territory.
"E1 is a red line that cannot be crossed," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The subcommittee convened hours before Netanyahu was due to visit Germany, where he faces a dressing down from Chancellor Angela Merkel over the settlement project.
The Israeli prime minister, for his part, is still smarting from what he considers Berlin's betrayal after Germany abstained in the U.N. vote upgrading the Palestinians' status to non-member state at the world body.
Netanyahu, stopping in Prague to thank the Czech Republic for voting against, reiterated that he remained committed to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.
Peace should entail "a demilitarized Palestinian state (that) recognizes the one and only Jewish state of Israel", he said, citing two Israeli conditions Palestinians have balked at.
Netanyahu, favored to win a January 22 general election with the backing of right-wing voters, has rejected calls by the United States and Europe to reverse course over settlements, which most countries consider illegal.
"Israel will not sacrifice its vital interests for the sake of obtaining the world's applause," he said in Prague.
Israel's housing minister has said construction work in E1 will not begin for at least a year. Commenting on the subcommittee's session, the defence official said it was a "procedural, preliminary stage".
ENVOYS SUMMONED
The European Union summoned Israel's ambassador.
"The Israeli ambassador has been invited by the Executive Secretary General of the EEAS (European External Action Service) to meet to set out the depth of our concerns," a spokeswoman said.
The Executive Secretary General - the senior diplomat in charge of policy for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton - is Pierre Vimont, former French ambassador to Washington.
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi summoned the Israeli envoy in Rome for a similar meeting on Wednesday, following Britain, France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark in such a move.
But EU states have been struggling to agree on a common response.
The spokeswoman said the EU reaction would depend on the extent to which they threatened the creation of a viable state of Palestine in the future.
After winning the U.N. status upgrade, the Palestinians can access the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which prosecutes people for genocide, war crimes and other major human rights violations and where it could complain about Israel.
The Palestinians have said they will not rush to sign up to the International Criminal Court, but have warned that seeking action against Israel in the court would remain an option if Israel continued to build illegal settlements.
They sent a letter of protest to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday.
"A clear message must be sent to Israel that all of its illegal policies must be ceased or that it will be held accountable and will have to bear the consequences if its violations and obstruction of peace efforts," Palestinian U.N. observer Riyad Mansour wrote.
UN RESOLUTION "ONE-SIDED"
Analysts said Netanyahu hoped to solidify right-wing support by promoting settlements in the run-up to the parliamentary election, even at the risk of diplomatic isolation.
U.S.-sponsored Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2010 in a dispute over settlement building, and Abbas pressed ahead with his unilateral move at the United Nations over U.S. and Israeli objections and calls to return to the negotiating table.
"Our conflict with the Palestinians will be resolved only through direct negotiations that address the needs of both Israelis and Palestinians," Netanyahu said in Prague.
"It will not be resolved through one-sided resolutions at the U.N. that ignore Israel's vital needs and undermine the basic foundations of peace."
The West Bank and East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, is home to some 500,000 Israelis and 2.5 million Palestinians.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Oakland on Wednesday sought to avert a rare federal court takeover of its police department, striking a proposed deal in a civil rights suit to give a new official sweeping power to force change but leaving day-to-day operations in city hands.
The northern California city, with a history of civil unrest and police violence, in 2003 settled a civil rights case in which police allegedly planted evidence and beat suspects.
But nearly a decade later, the city has failed to complete work on a list of promised reforms. Images of Oakland police in riot gear using tear gas to subdue members of the Occupy protest movement a year ago raised a global outcry.
Federal District Judge Thelton Henderson has been considering taking the police force into receivership, a first in recent U.S. memory. The deal between the city and plaintiffs, disclosed in a Wednesday court filing, would preclude that step.
The proposed order, which Henderson must approve, calls for the court appointment of a city "Compliance Director" who would report to Henderson and could order actions up to and including removing the police chief.
But the city would still run the police force and could appeal decisions to the federal judge.
Rockne Lucia Jr., an attorney representing the Oakland Police union, called the tentative deal a cross between the current system and federal receivership.
John Burris, an attorney for the plaintiffs, called the move "receivership-light" with no significant differences from a formal court-appointed receiver. City officials in a statement said the deal showed their commitment to reforms.
The proposed order also calls for a hearing on about June 1, 2013, for the court to review the police department's progress and possibly take new actions.
Under the 2003 settlement of what was known as the Riders case, the city agreed to reforms, including changes in the way officers are investigated and disciplined, along with measures designed to stop racial profiling.
Henderson told Reuters this year that reforms had stalled, and he cited a report that showed an unusually high number of internal affairs investigations were being closed as "unfounded," which clears an officer's record.
That issue is listed among the goals of the Compliance Director in the proposed agreement. The case is Allen vs. City of Oakland, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Case No. 00-4599.
Before taking out any bridging loan it is very important to be sure of your exit strategy, which is the method by which you are planning to repay the finance facility. Entering into any short term loan agreement without a suitable exit strategy can prove to be very costly. Bridging loans have their uses, but when compared to other finance facilities that provide large amounts of funds over longer terms, their higher monthly rates of interest can make them an expensive option. In addition many bridging or short term loan facilities are expected to be repaid by the due date and failing to do so can lead to considerable additional costs.