Mission Statement of CG Network
Say No Drugs
Say No Unemployment
CG Network is a transnational organization that works to facilitate the creation of community enterprises to empower people who are unskilled or unemployed. This includes those from low-income or broken families. We provide training and guidance for them in hope that they will be able to earn a decent living and to eventually become social entrepreneurs themselves.
This artist's rendition provided by NASA shows Kepler-69c, a super-Earth-size planet in the habitable zone of a star like our sun, located about 2,700 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. Astronomers using NASA data calculate that in our galaxy alone there are at least 8.8 billion Earth-sized planets that are not too hot or not too cold circle stars that are just like our sun, according to a study published Monday, Nov. 4, 2013 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. For perspective, that’s far more Earth-like planets than there are people on Earth. (AP Photo/NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Space is vast, but it may not be so lonely after all: A study finds the Milky Way is teeming with billions of planets that are about the size of Earth, orbit stars just like our sun, and exist in the Goldilocks zone — not too hot and not too cold for life.
Astronomers using NASA data have calculated for the first time that in our galaxy alone, there are at least 8.8 billion stars with Earth-size planets in the habitable temperature zone.
The study was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
For perspective, that's more Earth-like planets than there are people on Earth.
As for what it says about the odds that there is life somewhere out there, it means "just in our Milky Way galaxy alone, that's 8.8 billion throws of the biological dice," said study co-author Geoff Marcy, a longtime planet hunter from the University of California at Berkeley.
The next step, scientists say, is to look for atmospheres on these planets with powerful space telescopes that have yet to be launched. That would yield further clues to whether any of these planets do, in fact, harbor life.
The findings also raise a blaring question, Marcy said: If we aren't alone, why is "there a deafening silence in our Milky Way galaxy from advanced civilizations?"
In the Milky Way, about 1 in 5 stars that are like our sun in size, color and age have planets that are roughly Earth's size and are in the habitable zone where life-crucial water can be liquid, according to intricate calculations based on four years of observations from NASA's now-crippled Kepler telescope.
If people on Earth could only travel in deep space, "you'd probably see a lot of traffic jams," Bill Borucki, NASA's chief Kepler scientist, joked Monday.
The Kepler telescope peered at 42,000 stars, examining just a tiny slice of our galaxy to see how many planets like Earth are out there. Scientists then extrapolated that figure to the rest of the galaxy, which has hundreds of billions of stars.
For the first time, scientists calculated — not estimated — what percent of stars that are just like our sun have planets similar to Earth: 22 percent, with a margin of error of plus or minus 8 percentage points.
Kepler scientist Natalie Batalha said there is still more data to pore over before this can be considered a final figure.
There are about 200 billion stars in our galaxy, with 40 billion of them like our sun, Marcy said. One of his co-authors put the number of sun-like stars closer to 50 billion, meaning there would be at least 11 billion planets like ours.
Based on the 1-in-5 estimate, the closest Earth-size planet that is in the habitable temperature zone and circles a sun-like star is probably within 70 trillion miles of Earth, Marcy said.
And the 8.8 billion Earth-size planets figure is only a start. That's because scientists were looking only at sun-like stars, which are not the most common stars.
An earlier study found that 15 percent of the more common red dwarf stars have Earth-size planets that are close-in enough to be in the not-too-hot, not-too-cold Goldilocks Zone.
Put those together and that's probably 40 billion right-size, right-place planets, Marcy said.
And that's just our galaxy. There are billions of other galaxies.
Scientists at a Kepler science conference Monday said they have found 833 new candidate planets with the space telescope, bringing the total of planets they've spotted to 3,538, but most aren't candidates for life.
Kepler has identified only 10 planets that are about Earth's size circling sun-like stars and are in the habitable zone, including one called Kepler 69-c.
Because there are probably hundreds of planets missed for every one found, the study did intricate extrapolations to come up with the 22 percent figure — a calculation that outside scientists say is fair.
"Everything they've done looks legitimate," said MIT astronomer Sara Seager.
___
Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears
Schumer gives Hillary Clinton an early endorsement
By CATHERINE LUCEY3 hours ago
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton says she isn't in a hurry to make a decision about running for president again. Her former Senate colleague, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, isn't waiting for her to make up her mind.
Schumer endorsed Clinton for president during a speech Saturday night at an Iowa Democratic Party dinner, more than two years before the state's presidential caucuses.
"Hillary's experience is unrivaled and her vision is unparalleled," Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said of the former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state.
"It's time for a woman to be president," Schumer said as the crowd of 750 rose to their feet with enthusiastic applause. "And so tonight, here in Iowa, and I won't get this opportunity again, I am urging Hillary Clinton to run for president and, when she does, she will have my full and unwavering support."
With Clinton, Schumer said, the party can "vanquish the Ted Cruz, tea party Republicans in 2016." Cruz is a Texas senator and tea party favorite.
A Clinton spokesman, Nick Merrill, noted that Schumer was an "old colleague and an even older friend" of Clinton, and "what he said about her is very flattering. Ultimately though this is a very personal decision that she hasn't made."
Polls suggest Clinton would be the leading contender for the Democratic nomination if she were to run. She told New York magazine in an article published in September that she was wrestling with whether to run again and offered no timeline for an announcement.
"I'm not in any hurry. I think it's a serious decision, not to be made lightly, but it's also not one that has to be made soon," Clinton told the magazine.
Clinton has been careful to remain close to key Democratic voters, speaking before students, black women and the gay and lesbian community in recent months. While she has given speeches around the country, she has not visited the early voting state of Iowa.
Many top Democrats have been urging Clinton to run. The Ready for Hillary super PAC, launched by her supporters, has received endorsements from Democrats such as Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Other potential Democratic candidates seeking the 2016 nomination include Vice President Joe Biden, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.
Iowa state Sen. Liz Mathis, a Democrat from Robins, said she was excited by Schumer's announcement.
"It paves a way into her election," said Mathis, who was a caucus leader for Clinton in 2008. "Primarily women in the party have come out in support of her, so it's very good to see male leaders in the party, too. It's important that everyone in the Democratic Party come out."
___
Associated Press writer Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.
Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud (C) sits with other millitants in South Waziristan October …
By Mehreen Zahra-Malik and Jibran Ahmed
ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The head of the Pakistani Taliban was killed by a U.S. drone strike on Friday, security and Taliban sources said, in a blow to the fragmented movement fighting against the nuclear-armed South Asian nation.
Hakimullah Mehsud was one of the most wanted and feared men in Pakistan with a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head, leading an insurgency from a mountain hideout in North Waziristan, the Taliban's stronghold on the Afghan frontier.
"We confirm with great sorrow that our esteemed leader was martyred in a drone attack," a senior Taliban commander said.
In Washington, two U.S. officials confirmed Mehsud's death in a CIA drone strike. They spoke on condition of anonymity.
At the White House, a spokeswoman said officials had seen the reports Mehsud may have been killed in Pakistan. "We are not in a position to confirm those reports, but if true, this would be a serious loss" for the Pakistan Taliban, Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said in a statement.
She noted that the Pakistan Taliban had claimed responsibility for the failed bomb plot at New York's Times Square in 2010, and that Mehsud was wanted in connection with the killing of seven CIA employees in Afghanistan in 2009.
The killing of Mehsud was the latest setback for the Pakistani Taliban, a group aligned with its Afghan namesakes and which has staged attacks against Pakistani armed forces and civilians in its fight to topple the government.
His death is almost certain to scuttle the prospect of peace talks between the Taliban and the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who won a landslide election victory in May by promising to bring peace to the country.
Pakistan had informed the United States and Britain that peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban were imminent, said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA and White House official with extensive experience in the region.
"So the drone strike is very awkward and difficult for Sharif. Conspiracy theories in Pakistan will assume he agrees to the strike even as he proposed peace talks with Mehsud," Riedel said via email. "Another setback for U.S.-Pakistan relations ironically."
FUNERAL
The government never clarified which factions of the Taliban it was willing to talk to or whether it would comply with the Taliban's demands to release its prisoners and withdraw the army from Taliban strongholds in Pakistan's tribal areas.
The government, which officially condemns U.S. drone strikes, issued its usual statement denouncing the attack, but did not comment on reports of Mehsud's death.
Mehsud's funeral will be held on Saturday at 3 p.m. (1000 GMT) in Miranshah, the main regional city, the Taliban commander said, an event likely to stir tension in a region already suffering from an escalating insurgency.
Pakistan, a nation of 180 million people, has been plagued by violence, including the homegrown Taliban insurgency that has cost tens of thousands of lives.
But the Taliban has been weakened by a series of counter-attacks. In May, a U.S. drone strike killed Mehsud's second-in-command, and one of his most trusted lieutenants was captured in Afghanistan last month.
A senior Pakistani Taliban source said it held an emergency meeting after Mehsud's death and approved two commanders, Maulvi Omar Khalid and Maulana Fazlullah, to replace him.
"Among these men, one will replace our slain Ameer (leader). Maulvi Omar Khalid ... is most likely to replace Hakimullah Mehsud," said a senior Pakistani Taliban official.
He said the Taliban would hold a tribal meeting early on Saturday to decide on further actions. "You will see our reaction," he said.
YOUNG COMMANDER
The Pakistani Taliban acts as an umbrella for various jihadist groups operating in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt, which are separate, but allied to the Afghan Taliban.
Several intelligence, army and Taliban sources across Pakistan confirmed Mehsud, believed to be in his mid-30s, had been killed in the drone strike in North Waziristan.
His bodyguard and driver were also killed, they said.
The drones fired four missiles at a compound in Danda Darpa Khel, a village about 5 km (3 miles) from the regional capital of Miranshah, sources said. Mehsud had been attending a gathering of 25 Taliban leaders to discuss the government's offer of talks, they said.
The information could not be independently verified because journalists have no access to the affected areas.
Mehsud was brought into the insurgency by his cousin Qari Hussain, who was the Taliban's top trainer for suicide bombers until he was killed in a drone strike.
He lacked formal education or religious training, but Mehsud was a popular figure known for his jokes and interest in modern technology, said Reuters journalists who had met him.
He was the driver for the former head of the Pakistani Taliban, and then rose through the ranks to become the movement's spokesman, although he was known for his emotional outbursts during conversations.
Mehsud took over the Pakistani Taliban in August 2009 after a drone strike killed the previous leader, his mentor.
Mehsud had two wives and moved frequently because of his fear of U.S. drone strikes.
In recent months, analysts say rivalries with other Taliban commanders over revenues from extortion and kidnapping had sharpened, rising tension within the fragmented movement.
The United States offered $5 million for Mehsud's capture after he appeared in a farewell video with the Jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven CIA employees at a base in Afghanistan in 2009.
U.S. prosecutors have charged him with involvement in the attack. The Taliban is also accused of plotting to bomb Times Square in 2010.
Although Mehsud's death will bring calls for revenge, it may make negotiations with the militants easier in the long run, said Saifullah Mahsud, director of the Pakistani think tank FATA Research Center.
"Hakimullah Mehsud was a very controversial figure and he had very tough demands," he said.
But the strike did not signal the end of the Pakistani Taliban, he said.
"It's a very decentralized organization. They've lost leaders to drone strikes before."
(Additional reporting by Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar, and Hafiz Wazir in Wana and Mark Hosenball in Washington; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Maria Golovnina, Alison Williams and Peter Cooney)
Posts
