Aust plays part in comet rendezvous

IN the fields of human achievement, landing a washing machine sized probe onto a speeding comet millions of kilometres from earth must rank up there with man's first steps on the moon.

THE stunning rendezvous occurred late last year when the Rosetta orbiter released its Philae lander to touch down on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko half a billion kilometres from earth - and Australia played its part.

Dr Paolo Ferri, head of mission operations for the European Space Agency, said aspects of this mission had never been encountered before and were extremely challenging."What I found most difficult of this mission was the rendezvous and flying around the comet. It has very little to do with normal space flight," he said.Dr Ferri, in Australia to deliver a presentation on the Rosetta mission, said ESA operated the small Gnangara antenna outside Perth which tracked initial progress of Rosetta following launch from French Guyana, South America, in 2004.Subsequently the larger deep space tracking station at New Norcia, north of Perth, tracked Rosetta to the comet.Rosetta's probe Philae landed on the comet surface but failed to anchor properly.It now lies on an angle in the shadow of a cliff or crater wall, its battery depleted. Scientists hope to revive Philae next month as the comet approaches the sun and extra light falls on its solar panels.The mission produced the first images from the surface of a comet plus a huge amount of scientific data on comet composition.The US journal Science billed this as the top scientific achievement for 2014.Australia is a significant user of space services, launching satellites through both ESA and NASA.But once Australia hosted space facilities and even launched a satellite in 1967, the third nation on earth to launch a satellite from its own territory.Now the federal government has commissioned another report into the future of Australia's space industry.That will be completed by the end of October, assessing what Australia is doing in terms of civil space-related technology.Dr Ferri said the future of space was in international co-operation and an increasing role could only be good for Australia."Globally I think it makes a lot of sense not to replicate capabilities everywhere," he said."Co-operating in space is a vehicle for many things which are not strictly related to space - science, technology, development, outreach and education. - it's inspirational."

23.09 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tribute at UK parliament to French victims

HUNDREDS of British MPs, peers, parliamentary staff and journalists have gathered in Westminster Hall in London for a two minute silence in memory of the 12 people killed in the Paris terror attack.

SPEAKER John Bercow led the vigil as the Big Ben bells tolled twelve noon over the Parliamentary estate and as the event ended said: "Colleagues, thank you for supporting the people of France."

Politicians from all sides united to hold pens in the air and with many holding banners reading "Je suis Charlie".Debates continued in both the Commons and Lords during the silence but those not speaking flooded to Westminster Hall.Labour MP Chris Bryant announced the event in the Commons and afterwards said: "It's a delight to see politicians from the Lords and the Commons, staff, police officers, everybody, standing still to commemorate the people who died in France yesterday."Frankly, that solidarity extends not just to the journalists and the police officers killed in France but also to journalists everywhere where freedom of the press is not enjoyed."Among the politicians taking part were Commons leader William Hague and Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman.

23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Early weight gain 'ups asthma risk'

BABIES who rapidly gain weight in the first three months of life are more likely to develop asthma, a study has found.

RESEARCHERS at the University of Bristol analysed information on height, weight and asthma symptoms in almost 10,000 people from birth to age 17.

They found rapid weight gain from birth to age three months was consistently associated with asthma in eight and 17-year-olds.It was also linked with lower lung function and increased responsiveness of the airways, which are both signs of asthma.In contrast, fast weight gain in children aged between three and seven years was associated with higher lung function at 15 years old.Asthma is one of the world's most common chronic diseases in childhood, affecting 1.1 million children and 4.3 million adults in the UK.Britain has some of the highest asthma rates in Europe, with three people dying from the condition each day, according to Asthma UK.Dr Agnes Sonnenschein-van der Voort, lead researcher on the study, said: "It is clear from our research that there is a connection between babies gaining weight quickly in the first three months of life and the risk of them developing asthma later on."We are not sure exactly what causes this, but it may be that rapid weight gain leads to abnormal development of the lungs or the immune system. Further studies will be required to confirm these findings."We would recommend that GPs check a child's personal growth curve if they come to them with asthma-related symptoms and take this into account in their decision to start medication."The research, which used data from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol, analysed records for 9723 people.Current asthma was reported for 13.9 per cent of those aged eight, 13.2 per cent at age 14 and 15.3 per cent at age 17.Many factors are associated with an increased risk of asthma but the cause of the condition is still not known.It is now widely accepted that events in early childhood could be critical for asthma development, with rate of foetal growth and low birth weight both associated with the condition.The study is published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

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Japanese whalers return, without harpoons

JAPANESE whalers are heading back to the Antarctic Ocean to carry out non-lethal research on whales after a UN court decision.

TWO Japanese whaling ships without harpoons left from Shimonoseki port in western Japan, and their research will not involve hunting whales, the Fisheries Agency said on Thursday.

Japan gave up what it said was "research whaling" this season after the International Court of Justice in The Hague halted the much-criticised program in March, ruling that it contravenes a 1986 moratorium on whale hunting.Tokyo has vowed to resume "research whaling" in the next financial year, starting in April, and submitted to the International Whaling Commission a revised plan that cuts the target number of minke whales for hunting by two-thirds from the previous target to 333.In 1987, Japan officially halted commercial whaling.However, since then the country has conducted "research whaling" under what critics say is a loophole in the IWC charter.

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Freed Pakistan blasphemy-accused killed

A 52-YEAR-OLD Muslim man arrested for blasphemy in Pakistan has been killed by gunmen after being released from jail, police say.

POLICE officer Mohammad Ayub said on Thursday that the bullet-riddled body of Aabid Mehmood was found the day before in Taxila, a town about 40 kilometres from the capital Islamabad.

He said Mehmood was arrested in 2011 after claiming to be Islam's prophet, but authorities freed him recently after concluding that he was not mentally stable.Ayub said relatives of the man buried him at the courtyard of his home after residents objected to his burial at a local graveyard.Under Pakistan's harsh blasphemy laws, anyone convicted of insulting Islam or the Prophet Muhammad can be sentenced to death.However, people often take the law into their own hands.

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Suicide attack kills 7 in Iraq

A SUICIDE bomber targeting a police checkpoint south of Baghdad has killed seven people, Iraqi officials say.

POLICE officials said the bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a police checkpoint in the town of Youssifiyah on Thursday, killing three police and four civilians, and wounding another 21 people.

Medical officials confirmed the casualty figures.All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to journalists.Iraq has near-daily bombings and other attacks targeting the Shi'ite majority and security forces.

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Pakistan cricket legend Khan marries

PAKISTAN'S legendary cricket star and politician, Imran Khan, has tied the knot, ending weeks of speculation about whether one of the country's most famous bachelors was getting married for a second time.

KHAN married Reham Khan, a former BBC journalist who now hosts a talk show on Pakistani television, during a ceremony on Thursday at his house on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad. Party officials said it was a simple ceremony.

"We hope that this marriage will be successful, and it will be a good omen for the nation," said Naeemul Haq, a senior official with Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political party.Khan, who led Pakistan to the World Cup in 1992, was previously married to British socialite Jemima Khan and has two sons.His new wife reportedly has three kids from a previous marriage. Khan's PTI is the third largest party in the parliament, and he has been one of the most vocal opponents to the current government.Pakistan has been abuzz for weeks about the remarriage and in a press conference earlier this week, Khan promised to share some good news with the country. His former wife, Jemima, with whom he had an amicable divorce, said on Twitter that she hoped Imran would be happy in the new phase of his life.Pakistani television showed photos of the couple in formal Pakistani wedding attire. Imran wore a gold-colored achkan, a knee-length coat for formal occasions, and white pants, called salwar. His bride wore a more elaborate, silver-colored wedding outfit.Little is known about their romance, although Reham Khan has interviewed the politician on her talk show. The two are not related, and Khan is a common family name in the country.Weddings in Pakistan are often elaborate affairs but PTI officials said only close friends and relatives were invited to the ceremony and that instead of a reception, food and clothes would be distributed to poor families.Even so, some opposition politicians slammed Khan for getting married at a time when the nation is still mourning last month's Taliban massacre at a Peshawar school.

23.08 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ukraine in 'punitive' war against rebels

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has branded Ukraine's attempt to crush a Moscow-backed separatist uprising in the east of the country a "punitive operation" and said Russia was fighting for its right to exist.

"IT is indeed a punitive operation. But it is being conducted by the current Kiev authorities," Putin told his annual end-of-the-year news conference, side-stepping a question from a Ukrainian journalist.

The reporter from Ukraine's UNIAN news agency stole the limelight at the news conference, accusing Putin of conducting a punitive operation in the east of Ukraine.The reporter also asked how many regular troops the Russian president had sent in to prop up the separatist insurgency there and what would he say to families of those sent to Ukraine.Putin conspicuously chose not to reply to the Ukrainian journalist's question on Russian regular troops, simply saying:"All people who perform their duty following the call of the heart or participate in the fighting voluntarily including in the southeast of Ukraine are not mercenaries because they are not getting any more for it."The Russian strongman also ratcheted up his anti-Western rhetoric, accusing Moscow's partners of treating other countries like their underlings."Our (Western) partners have not stopped. They decided that they are winners, they are an empire now and the rest are vassals and they have to be driven into a corner," Putin said, referring to raging tensions with the West over Ukraine.He accused the West of wanting to tame the legendary Russian bear, saying the real goal was not to punish Moscow for seizing Crimea from Ukraine in March, but to neutralise the country's independence."As soon as they have torn out its claws and teeth, then the bear won't be needed at all - they will make a stuffed dummy out of it."This is not about Crimea, the thing is that we are protecting our independence, its sovereignty and its right to exist."

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SA tribunal to ease strain on courts: govt

THE South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) will begin operating next year to ease pressure on the court system, the state government says.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL John Rau said the first phase of legislation to move matters from the Residential Tenancies Tribunal, Guardianship Board and Housing Appeal Panel to SACAT passed parliament.

"This will streamline the process and will offer real benefits for the public and the justice system," he said."The formation of the SACAT means people will only need to deal with one tribunal on most civil and administrative matters."The tribunal is expected to begin operating by April.

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Teen charged with indecent assault in NSW

A TEENAGE boy has been charged with the indecent assault of a five-year-old girl on the NSW north coast.

THE 15-year-old was arrested on Thursday, almost a month after he allegedly stopped the girl and indecently assaulted her in the playground of a fast-food outlet in Coffs Harbour.

The teen has been granted conditional bail to appear before a children's court in the near future.

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