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WASHINGTON - A massive exploding faraway star — the brightest supernova astronomers have ever seen — has scientists wondering whether a similar celestial fireworks show may light up the sky much closer to Earth sometime soon. The discovery, announced Monday by NASA, drew oohs and aahs for months from the handful of astronomers who peered through telescopes to see the fuzzy remnants of the spectacular explosion after it was first spotted last fall. Using a variety of Earth and space telescopes, astronomers found a giant exploding star that they figure has shined about five times brighter than any of the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A massive exploding faraway star—the brightest supernova astronomers have ever seen—has scientists wondering if a similar celestial fireworks show may light up the sky much closer to Earth sometime soon. The discovery, announced Monday by NASA, drew oohs and aahs for months from the handful of astronomers who peered through telescopes to see the fuzzy remnants of the spectacular explosion after it was first spotted last fall.

BAGHDAD — “Men, you have one second in your life where you can decide if you are going to be a coward or if you are going to fight. The time to decide is now.” That sentence is something that Maj. James “Jim” Gant, who serves as the chief of the Iraqi National Police, Quick Reaction Force Battalion Transition Team, tells his policemen all the time, encouraging them to fight for what they believe in. Though most the time he was talking in generic terms, this time he knew the fight was waiting for them. For six weeks his patrol...

The ashes of Star Trek star James Doohan will be blasted into space this weekend when a rocket carrying a symbolic portion of the late actor's cremated remains is launched in New Mexico.

A large English cheddar cheese has become a star of the Internet, attracting more than 1 million viewers to sit and stare as it slowly ripens. First placed in front of a webcam in late December, the Westcombe cheddar from West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers gained the public's attention in early February and has since attracted viewers from 119 countries.

For Captain Kirk and his crew, the starship Enterprise’s force fields were all that stood in the way of oblivion from Klingon lasers. Now scientists are seeking to build Star Trek-style shields for real, to protect astronauts on their way to Mars. Though a manned mission to the Red Planet could probably expect to avoid any unpleasant alien encounters, researchers believe that magnetic fields could be crucial to shelter its crew from deadly radiation. Cosmic rays and solar flares are one of the chief hazards faced by astronauts venturing into space, and the need to protect crews against them is...

If symmetry is a sign of splendor, then the newly discovered Red Square nebula is one of the most beautiful objects in the universe. Seen in the infrared, the nebula resembles a giant, glowing red box in the sky, with a bright white inner core. A dying star called MWC 922 is located at the system's center and spewing its innards from opposite poles into space. (A nebula is an interstellar cloud of gas, dust and plasma where stars can both emerge and die.) 'This spectacular event is the death of a star,' said study team member James Lloyd of...

A recently-observed supernova is making some astrophysicists doubt prevailing theories for how stars die. The massive star, located in galaxy UGC 4904 about 77 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Lynx, threw off a huge amount of material on October 20, 2004. This star, which may have been what's known as a Luminous Blue Variable (LBV), was mistaken for a supernova, as LBV's often are. In fact, some observers refer to them as "supernova imposters." Then, in the fall of 2006, the star exploded into a full supernova, much sooner than expected. Dubbed Supernova 2006jc, the dying star's blast...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2007 – May 1 will be “Silver Star Day” in Alabama, as Gov. Bob Riley signed a proclamation officially declaring the observance in a brief ceremony yesterday. Following Alabama Gov. Bob Riley’s official declaration that his state will recognize May 1 as “Silver Star Day,” state Rep. Greg Wren (fifth from left) held a reception for four veterans wounded in four different conflicts. Sean Phillips (from left), a veteran of the Iraq war; David Cox, a World War II veteran; Speaker Seth Hammett; Deloris Bryson, Leroy Arceneaux, a Korean War veteran; Robert Jones, a Vietnam veteran;...

Fan of TheForce.net Helen H. writes in with this great info. "Just got back from this presentation at the Directors Guild of America. George Lucas was tonight’s guest speaker. Here, very briefly, are the highlights: Quote: “the future is in television.” That’s why he’s concentrating on an animated series and live action series, not features. Indy Jones Chronicles are currently being cleaned up, are having documentaries added to them and will be shopped as “films for a modern day high school history class.” He’s hoping they’re released on DVDs very soon. He’s very excited about the animated 3D Clone Wars...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2007 – While some American homes have only drapes or blinds in the windows, other households also display a unique flag that signifies a family’s support of a son’s or daughter’s service in the military. Those banners represent an old tradition and are part of Blue Star Mothers of America Inc., a patriotic organization that traces its roots back to World War I, when mothers displayed flags decorated with stars signifying the number of offspring serving in the military. Gail Cunningham, a resident of Lakewood, N.J., founded New Jersey-based Chapter 1 of the Blue Star Mothers...

Astronomers using the European Space Agency's gamma-ray observatory, Integral, have detected what appears to be the fastest spinning neutron star yet. This tiny stellar corpse is spinning 1122 times every second. If confirmed, the discovery gives astronomers the chance to glimpse the insides of the dead star. The neutron star, known by its catalogue number XTE J1739-285, was discovered during one of its active phases on 19 October 1999 by NASA's Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) satellite. In August 2005, while Integral was monitoring the bulge of the Galaxy, XTE J1739-285 started to come back to life. About a month...

Sacramento, Calif. -- "I didn't go to the governor's dinner address last night," explained just-elected State GOP Vice Chairman for Southern California Jon Fleischman this afternoon, "I was afraid he was going to bring up his tax increases and I couldn't hold down my food." Fleischman's words actually summed up the attitude of many of the largely conservative attendees at the state Republican convention here toward Arnold Schwarzenegger less than a month after the former action movie star was sworn into a full-term as governor of California. The GOPers are increasingly coming out and saying that Schwarzenegger, who insists he...

National Security: Nearly 24 years have passed since Ronald Reagan was ridiculed for proposing a system that would detect, track and destroy incoming ballistic missiles. But in a year, such a system will be on line. Can’t hit a bullet with a bullet, the critics of Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative imperiously sniffed. Mary McGrory of the Washington Post mocked Reagan’s proposal as “a Buck Rogers plan.” Others, Sen. Ted Kennedy among the first, derided the plan as “Star Wars.” It was dismissed as too expensive, too iffy and too destabilizing to the geopolitical order — just another dimwitted idea from...

Czechs give go-ahead for US 'son of stars wars' base · Prague says move is good for European security· Russia threatens to review its own missile defences Ian Traynor, Europe editor Monday January 22, 2007 The Guardian (UK) The Czech government has announced that it wants to host a large US military site for the Pentagon's much-criticised missile shield system, confirming for the first time that Washington had asked Prague for permission to build a radar site for the national missile defence programme. Russia had warned earlier this month that any extension of the US missile project to eastern...

Parents of slain U.S. soldiers travel to Iraq LYERLY, Georgia (AP) -- After her son Justin was killed serving in Iraq, a grieving Jan Johnson resolved to see the place where he died and to better understand why it happened. Johnson and her husband, Joe, who also served in Iraq, were among a group of seven parents who lost children in the war who were picked to travel to northern Iraq in November as a scout team for a bigger trip next year. "I wanted to go see where my son died," she said. "You hear in the news how...

The Star of Bethlehem Meeting chaired by Richard Phillips Rod Jenkins Bristol Astronomical Society 7 January 2005 This talk was originally scheduled for 3 December 2004 - just before the speaker’s paper was published in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association vol. 114 No. 6. A full account with references appears in that publication on pp. 336-341. According to Giotto, the Star of Bethlehem is shown in his painting The Adoration of the Magi as a comet - presumably Halley’s as it appeared during his lifetime. For this reason the space probe sent to study Halley’s comet in 1986...

Ahmadinejad stifles student dissent with 'star rating' system By Kay Biouki in Teheran and Colin Freeman, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 1:28am GMT 17/12/2006 University authorities in Iran have adopted a "star rating" system for politically-active students as part of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's crackdown on dissent within the academic elite. The diktat, under which regime critics are given between one and three stars according to the perceived threat they pose, was among the main catalysts for last week's unprecedented student demonstrations against Ahmadinejad in Teheran. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad replaced liberal academics At the protests - the first public display of defiance against...

Politics: The media have anointed Sen. Barack Obama the next great thing, our best hope for the presidency — other than Hillary Clinton, of course. But beyond the publicity, there's not much there. While Oprah and the big thinkers at the Huffington Post and Daily Kos go on about the junior senator from Illinois, others point out that less than two years into his first term as a U.S. officeholder, Obama doesn't have much to show. No legislative triumphs that offer a glimpse into how he would lead, no defining efforts of statecraft that reveal the core of his character....

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2006 -- Army Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis packed only 136 pounds into his 6-foot frame, but few have ever matched his inner strength. Army Pfc. Ross A. McGinnis earned the Silver Star Medal for taking the force of a grenade explosion to save his crew in Baghdad on Dec. 4. U.S. Army photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. McGinnis sacrificed himself in an act of supreme bravery on Dec. 4, belying his status as the youngest soldier in Company C, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat...

Call it a Hollywood shocker: Mel's Apocalypto will have a bigger weekend opening than his Braveheart. Despite scandal, an R-rating, subtitles because of an ancient dialect, no stars, and direct competition from movieland AAA-listers Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz, Gibson's Mayan epic won Friday's matinees and evenings, I'm told. At first, box office gurus were warning me that the weekend victor among three very competitive films all opening against each other would be too close to call. cameron_jude.jpgBut now I've learned it looks certain that Apocalypto will win the weekend -- bearing out my reporting back on December 1st when...

A giant black hole displaying horrifying table manners has been caught in the act of guzzling a star in a galaxy 4 billion light-years away, scientists using an orbiting NASA telescope said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2006 -- Silver Star Families of America, a group dedicated to supporting wounded servicemembers and their families, is thinking outside the box this Christmas. Diana Newton of Silver Star Families of America prepares a box to ship as part of the group's "Project Christmas." The group is working to make sure as many wounded servicemembers as possible have a happy holiday season by sending boxes of autographed sports and music memorabilia and books to every state. Courtesy photo  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. A member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program highlighting ways...

The Christmas Star By Dr. Hugh Ross For centuries scholars and laymen alike have speculated on the nature of the star that led the wise men from the east to seek out the Messiah that had come to the Jews. The only reliable account of this event is found in Matthew 2 of the Bible. Three controversial questions arise out of a study of this text: 1. Were the wise men led by astrology? Some people have used the story of the advent of Jesus Christ, specifically the Matthew 2 portion, to suggest that astrology might be okay, at least...

The Daily Star last night pulled a page that mocked Muslim law by turning the tabloid into the "Daily Fatwa" following a newsroom revolt. Management acted after the Daily Star's National Union of Journalists' chapel held a stop work meeting that produced a resolution condemning the page. The page included a "Page 3 burqa babes special" showing a woman in a niqab, as part of a feature billed as "How your favourite paper would look under Muslim law". The page also contained a blank editorial stamped with the words "censored" and "Allah is great" ...

In the reprehensible Sunday Star Tribune story by Paul McEnroe and Rochelle Olson on the expunged 1995 arrest of Republican Fifth District congressional candidate Alan Fine, the reporters omitted relevant facts. Fine was charged by his then wife with domestic assault, but the police report (quoted by the Star Tribune) indicated only that Fine had been attacked. What's the rest of the story? The charge was dropped and Fine was never prosecuted for the incident. In 2004 Fine's arrest was expunged by court order -- a court order that was apparently violated by someone who supplied the police report to...

I find Sunday's Star Tribune story by Paul McEnroe and Rochelle Olson on the expunged 1995 arrest of Republican Fifth District congressional candidate Alan Fine to be reprehensible. We posted the rationale offered by Star Tribune "reader's representative" Kate Parry for the Star Tribune's publication of the story here. Parry conteded that the story had "news value" because "Fine was arrested by the police, charged with domestic assault and spent a few hours in jail" and that "the allegations raised in the court documents were corroborated by the ex-wife in interviews with Star Tribune reporters." Parry did not mention or...

A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America Since America's founding, every generation has produced patriots willing to sacrifice for our great Nation. Many of these proud sons and daughters have given everything for our freedom, and America has mourned the loss of every life. On Gold Star Mother's Day, we pay special tribute to the mothers of those lost while defending our country and extending the blessings of liberty to others. Gold Star Mothers have long borne the hardships of war with dignity and devotion. Through heartbreaking loss and unimaginable grief, they continue to support each...

“Captain's log, stardate 1513.1. Our position, orbiting planet M-113. Onboard the Enterprise, Mr. Spock, temporarily in command. On the planet, the ruins of an ancient and long dead civilization. Ship’s surgeon McCoy and myself are now beaming down to the planet’s surface.” With these words, a new television series made its debut 40 earth years ago this week. It was a flop. The show featured the crew of the Starship Enterprise, whose mission was “to explore strange new worlds.” It was canceled after three seasons. Yet despite that failure, Star Trek was destined to go where no television series had...

While preparing Shabbat dinner for a couple of close friends and their acquaintances, my long-time girlfriend sliced straight down the middle of this cabbage. She was surprised and amused to find that this particular cabbage had taken the form of the Star of David. She thought it particularly remarkable that this occurred while preparing a Shabbat dinner. No, she wasn't making borscht, the intent was to make a cabbage salad but after cutting it open we decided this cabbage was symbolic and, so, refused to eat it. She in particular recalled the news of the image of Mary appearing on...

Time's up! That should be the United Nations' firm reply today to Iran's nuclear defiance. Rather than get sidetracked by Tehran's foot-dragging offer to hold talks about future talks to curb its nuclear bomb-building program, the Security Council should vote quickly to impose sanctions that bite in order to dissuade Iran's leaders from their reckless folly. U.S. President George Bush offered months ago to reopen a dialogue with Tehran for the first time since the Islamic revolution in 1979. Key Security Council countries also offered Iran attractive political, security and trade incentives to suspend its nuclear fuel enrichment program. Iranian...

TV star Nasrallah impresses people on all sides in hopeful Lebanon By Patrick Bishop in Tyre (Filed: 29/08/2006) The leader of Hizbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, became one of the most widely admired leaders in the Middle East overnight after a broadcast in which he impressed audiences of all persuasions. The lengthy, peak-time television interview was watched all over the region. Some viewers likened the portly, smiling sheikh to the Egyptian leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who half a century ago became a hero by defying Israel, Britain and France during the Suez crisis. Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah makes his widely admired television...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2006 – Country music star Tammy Cochran has enlisted to perform at the Freedom Walk in Aurora, Colo., on Sept. 9, according to event organizers. Cochran is slated to perform at the Aurora Municipal Center, along with recording artist Allen Asbury, as well as the Kory Brunson Band, North-40 and other artists and groups. “Tammy Cochran is so generous to come and join us for this special event, and we are happy to have her,” said Leo Pacheco, executive director for the Beacon of Hope Outreach Center, which is sponsoring Aurora’s Freedom Walk. Aurora’s Freedom Walk also...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2006 – The Army has authorized award of the Bronze Star Medal for Service to the living Canadian veterans of the 1st Special Services Force for their service to the U.S. Army during World War II. The unit was known as “the Devil’s Brigade” during the war and was one of the first U.S. special operations forces units in the war. The unit included U.S. Army soldiers and soldiers of the 2nd Canadian Parachute Battalion and 2nd Canadian Special Service Battalion of the Special Operations Group. From 1942 to 1944, about 2,500 soldiers served in the unit...

As the Pentagon scouts Poland and the Czech Republic for possible locations for its planned missile defense shield, locals are proving to be less than enthusiastic about the idea. With its planned new missile defense system, sometimes known as "Son of Star Wars," Washington wants to create a battery of defenses capable of protecting the United States and its allies from oncoming missiles -- nuclear or otherwise. A working version of the defense system does not yet exist and a number of tests have resulted in failure, but Pentagon officials are already scouring Eastern Europe for potential bases for the...

Long before the Bible's tale of Jonah being swallowed by a whale, a small wannabe star has emerged intact after being engulfed by a neighboring giant star, scientists say. The victim was a brown dwarf, a failed star too small to sustain the nuclear reactions that ignites regular stars. The purpetrator was a red giant, an ancient star that once resembled our Sun but which puffed up to enormous size after its hydrogen fuel was depleted. The red giant has since expelled most of its gas into space and transformed into a dense, Earth-sized star called a white dwarfs. Using...

America the Beautiful ...5:53 pm After playing Tony Bennett’s record, Rags To Riches, on his XM radio show, Bob Dylan said, “I heard a story once about Tony. They wanted him to sing the national anthem at the nineteen and sixty-one Preakness. He didn’t want to. He said, ‘I don’t know. Bombs burstin’ in air are just not my thing.’ Way to go, Tony.� That’s not exactly something that RWB would have chosen to say

Day 0: In Tucson … for now (July 17, 2006) Tomorrow we leave for San Diego/Tijuana. 21 Days on the border – hard to fathom. That will be longer than an entire Olympics; Mardi Gras (well, the tourists' version, anyway); a fortnight; the Lord of the Rings trilogy, viewed 50 times in succession; your 5-year-old niece's rendition of the Nutcracker, viewed just once; ... well, you get the picture. Our journey will take us from Tijuana to Brownsville, via Tecate, CA and MX, Yuma, AZ, Sasabe, MX, Columbus, NM, Ciudad Juarez, MX, Big Bend, TX, Del Rio, TX, Nuevo Laredo,...

NORWALK, Calif. - Ask Arely Gonzales about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the 27-year-old nurse sums him up in a word: "Awful." "He cut the budget for the schools," Gonzales said. Her answer is not unusual in this heavily Hispanic section of Los Angeles County. Mentioning the Republican governor elicits an almost invariably negative opinion about him. The harsh views illustrate how far Schwarzenegger's star has fallen among Hispanics since the heady days of the 2003 recall election, when he won 32 percent of their vote. That accomplishment was magnified because his main Democratic opponent was Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a...

(SPACE.com) -- In February, a faint star a few thousand light-years away flared suddenly, beaming so brightly that for a few days it was visible to the naked eye. The star is a stellar corpse the size of Earth, known as a white dwarf, and it is paired in a binary system with a red giant, a dying, bloated star that once resembled our sun. The red giant has been dumping gas onto the surface of the white dwarf, and every few years, enough matter accumulates to set off a giant thermonuclear explosion.

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (July 13, 2006) -- Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Glen Wesley and his family spent the afternoon July 13 sharing the Stanley Cup with II Marine Expeditionary Force wounded warriors. Wesley brought the fabled hockey icon to the Wounded Warrior Barracks to raise spirits and pay respect to veterans of the current War on Terrorism. Amid a crowd of excited sports fanatics and combat veterans, the silver trophy was brought in and given a place of honor so all could gaze upon the 114-year-old artifact, touched by hundreds of National Hockey League legends. “I’ve been a...

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., July 13, 2006 – Time hasn't completely healed Betty Jean Pulliam's wounds, and talking about her son can still bring a tear to her eye. New Jersey State Police troopers escort Betty Jean Pulliam of Wichita, Kan., to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial July 9. The American Gold Star Mothers Inc., held a ceremony there to honor all children lost in service to the United States. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Marine Lance Cpl. Dale Alan Pulliam was 21 years, two months and one day old when he was...

HOLMDEL, N.J., July 11, 2006 – U.S. military men and women have given the Iraqi people hope, Iraq's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations said during a July 9 ceremony here at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. Molly Morel, an American Gold Star Mother from Tennessee, talks with Ambassador Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi, Iraq's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi spoke to a group of American Gold Star Mothers, mothers who have lost a child in the service of the United States. The...

HOLMDEL, N.J., July 10, 2006 – More than 40 American Gold Star Mothers and their guests from around the country came together here yesterday to honor the children they've lost in the country's conflicts. Members of American Gold Star Mothers Inc., are escorted by New Jersey State Troopers to the New Jersey Vietnam Memorial. A ceremony at the memorial July 9 honored the mothers and the children they lost in America's conflicts. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The ceremony, held at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial here, included a roll call honoring...

A PROGRAM of clandestine action against nuclear and missile traffic to North Korea and Iran is to be intensified after last week's missile tests by the Pyongyang regime. Intelligence agencies, navies and air forces from at least 13 nations are quietly co-operating in a secret war against Pyongyang and Tehran. It has so far involved interceptions of North Korean ships at sea, US agents prowling the waterfronts in Taiwan, multinational naval and air surveillance missions out of Singapore, investigators poring over the books of dubious banks in the former Portuguese colony of Macau and a fleet of planes and ships...

"North Korea’s threatening spate of missile launches — including an unsuccessful try with an advanced version of its Taepodong 2 Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile that is capable of hitting the United States — has sparked a cacophony of talk from leaders and foreign policy experts around the world. As they debate and discuss various options at the United Nations and in capitals around the globe, the rudimentary U.S. missile defense system is poised to shoot down anything launched from North Korea that threatens the American homeland or the critical interests of our regional allies like Japan and Australia. Noticeably absent are...

The glam shot on the homepage: a milky-white alien with an enormous head. The motto: Love Long and Prosper. The disclaimer: Xenophobia Strictly Prohibited. Welcome to Trek Passions ( trekpassions.com), an online dating site for the science- fiction set. More than a decade after the first Internet dating site was launched, the biggest players - Match.com, Yahoo! Personals, and eHarmony - now boast millions of users. But wading through such huge and heterogeneous singles pools can lead to dating fatigue. So some lovelorn are turning to sites that offer the comfort of a common interest. Niche services today cater to...

U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Mirza Fejzic Sergeant Receives Bronze Star for Heroism By Lance Cpl. Christopher J. Zahn 2nd Marine Division CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., June 30, 2006 — A Marine from 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment was awarded the fourth highest military award within the Department of Defense. Sgt. Mirza Fejzic, a 22-year-old native of Hackettstown, N.J., was awarded the Bronze Star with combat distinguishing device in a ceremony here, June 22. He was presented with the award for heroic actions while serving as a squad leader for 3rd Platoon, Company G. On Oct. 26, 2005, Fejzic and a...

Ousted cast member Star Jones Reynolds said Thursday she was told she could "make up a story" about why she was leaving "The View" and her colleagues would have gone along with it. The news that Reynolds wouldn't have her contract renewed for a 10th year on the daytime talk show exploded this week into a bitter war of words involving show creator Barbara Walters. Reynolds, appearing Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live," said she'd been told in April that she wasn't coming back but kept it secret. She revealed it on Tuesday's show, taking Walters and ABC by surprise...

WASHINGTON, June 14, 2006 – Josh Gracin, the former Marine who won fame on the TV show "American Idol," performed at the Pentagon for the Army's 231st birthday celebration today. Servicemembers and civilians at the Pentagon enjoy concert by country music star and former Marine Josh Gracin performs at the Army's 231st birthday celebration June 14. Photo by Sgt. Sara Wood, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gracin was a lance corporal in the Marine Corps when he participated in the second season of "American Idol." He finished fourth place overall, and went on to land a record...