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UNSW astronomers have shown that binary stars – two stars locked in orbit around each other – reflect light as well as radiating it, revealing new ways for their detection. One of the first things we learn in astronomy is that some of the objects in the sky (the Sun and the stars) produce their own light, whereas others (the Moon and the planets) are only visible because they reflect light from the Sun. But do the Sun and the stars also reflect some of the light that falls on them? This is a question that scientists from UNSW Sydney...

TIKRIT – For many Americans, Memorial Day is just another government holiday – a day off from work or school – but for the families and friends of service members who died while serving their country, it's the day their fallen are honored.Identification tags representing the 16 EOD technicians who died in 2009 hang from a cross during a memorial ceremony at Al Faw Palace, Baghdad, May 1, 2010. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Roger Dey. For Capt. Simon Welte, commander of Bravo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division,...

SEBRING, Ohio, Sept. 12, 2007 – The more than 1,000 people who walked in the second annual Freedom Walk here yesterday did so to remember, reflect and commemorate those who were killed in the terrorist attacks six years ago. Irma McVicker (left), her daughter, Molly, and husband, Mark, remember their son and brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel McVicker, during a musical tribute at the end of Sebring, Ohio's second annual Freedom Walk on Sept. 11, 2007. Daniel was killed Oct. 6, 2005, while serving in Iraq. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. For one...

CAMP KOREAN VILLAGE, Iraq (July 7, 2006) -- After more than a month of living out of armored vehicles and combating insurgents daily near Fallujah, nearly 100 U.S. Marines recently returned to this region in western Al Anbar province to continue security and stability operations. After months of life “on the road” throughout Fallujah, Marines from the Twentynine Palms, Calif.-based D Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, have returned to western Iraq to help their parent battalion maintain security and stability. “This is a lot quieter area than what we came from - every day we were guaranteed something would...

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2006 – A ceremony here today marking the start of construction for the Pentagon Memorial will provide "a reminder of why we all do what we do," the Joint Staff's deputy director for regional operations told Pentagon reporters yesterday. The dedication ceremony, set for 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, will honor those killed during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the Pentagon, Army Brig. Gen. Carter Ham said during a Pentagon news briefing. "It's for those who were killed, and their families, that all of us privileged to wear the uniforms of our nation have pledged...

KIRKUK, Iraq, June 6, 2006 — Many U.S. soldiers stationed at Forward Operating Base Warrior are seeing Iraq for the second time. "[We’ve gone] from being the front-runner and doing everything ourselves, taking charge of the situation … now we’re here to get their [the Iraqi Army] feet underneath them." U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Jason Sager Some of these troops were deployed with the 101st Airborne Division “Screaming Eagles” during Operation Iraqi Freedom I, and they agree on one thing -- a lot has changed in three years. Since the Division’s first trip to the desert, Iraq has held...

Dueling protests reflect immigration divideBy SUZANNE GAMBOA Associated Press Writer May 12. 2006 10:41PM Reflecting the American divide over immigration, protesters on both sides stood a few feet from each other near the Capitol shouting chants and exchanging accusations of racism. The protesters were kept apart Friday by helmeted police officers who stood inside a ring of yellow police tape. A Minuteman Project rally marked the end of a cross-country caravan by the anti-immigration group, whose members patrol the U.S.-Mexican border in search of illegal border crossers. The caravan began in Los Angeles. Minuteman demonstrators, who numbered less than 100,...

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2006 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today he's encouraged that the military services are exceeding their recruiting targets and called it an indication of the caliber of men and women joining and serving in the armed services. "It is encouraging that so many outstanding young people are continuing to raise their hands and volunteer to serve our country," he told Pentagon reporters. The secretary referred to recruiting and retention rates released yesterday that show all four services met or exceeded their active-duty recruiting goals in March for the 10th consecutive month. Retention rates also remained...

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Jon Cope, of Phoenix, Ariz., holds a little girl he called "Gypsy" in the village of Al Risallah, located near the Abu Ghraib district of western Baghdad. Cope and his unit, the 860th Military Police Company from the Arizona Army National Guard, spent a year in Iraq working to train Iraqi police officers and to forge a bond of trust with local citizens. U.S. Army photo courtesy 860th Military Police Company Arizona Guard MPs Reflect on Iraq Deployment Heading home after a yearlong deployment, Arizona National Guard MPs look back upon their year training Iraqi...

European Faces Reflect Stone Age Ancestry, Study Says James Owen for National Geographic News December 20, 2005Europeans inherit their looks from Stone Age hunters, new research suggests. Scientists studied ancient skeletons from Scandinavia to North Africa and Greece, comparing ancient and modern facial features. Their analysis suggests modern Europeans are closely related and descended from prehistoric indigenous peoples. Later Neolithic settlers—notably immigrants who introduced farming from the Near East some 7,500 years ago—contributed little to how Europeans look today, the researchers add. The scientists described their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Online Early Edition. The...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2006 – U.S. military members serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other dangerous locales will soon receive revamped armored vests that provide more side protection, senior officials said here today. The vest changes are designed to prove effective in protecting servicemembers from shrapnel fragments, especially those who man gun turrets atop vehicles, Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes, the Army's director of force development, said during a teleconference call with military analysts. "What we're seeing, obviously, is continuing evolutions in the nature of the threat that we face," Speakes said. The shrapnel-producing improvised explosive devices and other terrorist weapons encountered...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2006 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff called today's escalated violence in Iraq another indication that Dec. 15 elections there were "a major blow to al Qaeda" and a sign of desperation among terrorists hoping to disrupt the Iraq's progress. Scores of people were reported killed and wounded today in two car bombings in Iraq. After three successful elections in Iraq during 2005, with increasing voter turnout with each election, terrorists recognize their failure to stop the democratic process from moving forward, Marine Gen. Peter Pace told Pentagon reporters today. "And I think what...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10, 2005 – A fresh supply of recent high school graduates, more recruiters and more enticing enlistment incentives are being credited with the Army's second straight successful month of meeting its recruiting goals, according to the Defense Department's acting deputy undersecretary for military personnel policy. Bill Carr offered his assessment today as the Defense Department released statistics reflecting all four services' recruiting and retention figures for July. The Army, Marine Corps and Air Force met or exceeded their goals for the month, and the Navy achieved 99 percent of its July goal, DoD officials reported. The Army recruited...

SAN FRANCISCO - When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced last week that he had selected a Democratic labor leader, Pat Henning, to run the state's Employment Development Department, it was the just the latest move to confound observers seeking a window into the Republican governor's political soul. In his first year in office, Schwarzenegger has largely kept his promise to toe a conservative line on fiscal matters while veering left on social issues like gay rights and the environment. The unorthodox approach has perplexed hardcore partisans of both parties while winning praise from voters, with polls showing some 65 percent approve...