Longest-Running Earth Observation Satellite to Retire

A Landsat 5 image of the Wallow Fire, the largest wildfire in Arizona’s history. In this image, acquired on June 15, 2011 the burn scar is red, ongoing fires are very bright red, smoke is blue, water is black and dark blue and bare ground is tan. Image added July 23, 2012. CREDIT: NASA

After documenting the changing face of our planet since 1984, the longest-running Earth-observing satellite, Landsat 5, will retire soon, the U.S. Geological Survey has announced.

The satellite, which will be retired in the next few months, has long outlived its initial three-year mission. It has circled Earth more than 150,000 times and snapping over 2.5 million images of the planet’s surface along the way. Throughout its prolific career, Landsat 5 has captured images of the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Chernobyl disaster, the expansion of sprawl around cities like Las Vegas, deforestation in Mexico, and even crowds descending on the U.S. capital to witness President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration.

“Any major event since 1984 that left a mark on this Earth larger than a football field was likely recorded by Landsat 5, whether it was a hurricane, a tsunami, a wildfire, deforestation, or an oil spill,” USGS Director Marcia McNutt said in a statement. “We look forward to a long and productive continuation of the Landsat program, but it is unlikely there will ever be another satellite that matches the outstanding longevity of Landsat 5.” 

The first series of maneuvers to safely lower Landsat 5 from its operational orbit is expected to occur next month, according to USGS officials.

This year marked the 40th anniversary of the entire Landsat program, which is a collaboration by NASA and the USGS, an agency of the Interior department. Besides Landsat 5, the only other currently operational craft from the program is Landsat 7, which launched in 1999 and has also outlived its three-year design. [Photos: Landsat's Best 'Earth as Art' Images]

With one mission ending, another is about to begin. NASA is scheduled to blast Landsat 8 — also called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) — into orbit on the back of an Atlas 5 rocket in February 2013. The new satellite arrived at its launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California last week, NASA officials said.

LDCM has two instruments. One is the Operational Land Imager, which will collect data in visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared wavelengths. It will also conduct observations in two new spectral bands — one designed to help coastal waters, the other to detect hard-to-see cirrus clouds, according to NASA officials. The other instrument is the Thermal Infrared Sensor, intended to measure the temperature of the Earth’s surface.

“Both of these instruments have evolutionary advances that make them the most advanced Landsat instruments to date and are designed to improve performance and reliability to improve observations of the global land surface,” Ken Schwer, LDCM project manager at NASA Goddard, said in statement.

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Earth Quiz: Do You Really Know Your Planet?

You live here, so we figure you ought to be well grounded in Earth facts. But you might find these questions a little tough and tricky. Good luck!

0 of 10 questions complete

Earth Quiz: Do You Really Know Your Planet?

You live here, so we figure you ought to be well grounded in Earth facts. But you might find these questions a little tough and tricky. Good luck!

0 of questions complete

Longest-Running Earth Observation Satellite to Retire http://www.space.com/19043-landsat-5-earth-satellite-retiring.html

China consumers driving economic rebound: survey

A woman shops for handbags at a Gucci luxury boutique at the IFC Mall in Shanghai June 4, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Carlos Barria

BEIJING | Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:06am EST

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s consumers are leading an uneven recovery in the world’s second biggest economy that has retailers expecting stronger sales in six months, early results of a national survey showed on Wednesday.

The China Beige Book survey of more than 2,000 executives revealed that the retail sector had the strongest revenue growth and business expectations in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The survey broadly detected a mild economic recovery with the hard-hit sectors of real estate, mining and manufacturing – to a lesser extent – joining retail at the head of the upswing.

“The revenue growth pickup was notable in luxuries and durable goods – furniture, appliances, and autos,” said the survey, conducted between October 26 and December 2 by New York-based CBB International and based on the U.S. Federal Reserve’s economic report of the same name.

“Retailers’ mood remains quite hopeful, with 72 percent forecasting higher sales in six months, up 4 points on last quarter. A remarkably low 6 percent foresee declines,” it said, adding that 61 percent of retailers reported higher sales in the Q4 survey than in Q3.

The biggest bounces were seen in coastal Guangdong province, Beijing, the northeast and central regions of China – locations which Q3′s survey found had the biggest spending falls.

The retail rebound was not evenly distributed, however, with Shanghai and the southwest region recording falls in spending.

The survey’s findings are reflected in the most recent raft of economic indicators from China, revealing a mild rebound taking hold in Q4, and in policymaker comments.

China’s retail sales grew 14.9 percent year-on-year in November, ahead of the 14.6 percent forecast in a Reuters poll.

China is on course to end 2012 with the slowest full year of growth since 1999 and while the 7.7 percent rate forecast in a benchmark Reuters poll is way above the world’s other major economies, it is far below the roughly 10 percent annual growth seen for most of the last 30 years.

Weakness in the external environment remains a key drag on an economy in which exports generated 31 percent of gross domestic product in 2011, according to World Bank data, and where an estimated 200 million jobs are supported by foreign investment, or in factories producing for overseas markets.

RECOVERING, REBALANCING

The upside to the patchiness of the recovery is that it is being driven by services, which are calibrated more towards domestic demand. Geographic rebalancing away from prosperous coastal areas was also evident in the survey, with firms in the western region recording the highest revenue growth in Q4.

The survey had mixed findings for labor markets, with a 3 point rise to 34 percent in the proportion of firms citing an increased availability of unskilled labor, while 20 percent said shortages had increased.

Some 34 percent of firms increased their workforces in Q4 from Q3. Wage rises were reported by 52 percent of respondents.

Bankers questioned in the survey said credit conditions eased in Q4, but fewer firms borrowed. Meanwhile, banks and firms said loan rejections rose slightly, to 16 percent, and exposure to companies with excess production capacity was cut.

“Few corporate loans went to new customers: three-fifths of bankers say under 20 percent did — an astonishingly small number,” the survey said.

“Most were debt rollovers or loan increases for existing clients. This is not yet a period of strong expansion.”

The China Beige Book survey of face-to-face and telephone interviews compares conditions with the previous quarter and asks respondents to anticipate conditions three and six months ahead.

The survey sample includes executives from manufacturing, retail, service, transport, real estate and construction, farming, and mining. Respondents ran businesses of every size from the micro-level – employing up to 19 staff – to large firms with more than 500 employees. It also canvassed opinions from 160 bank loan officers and branch managers.

A detailed report of the survey’s full findings will be published in early January.

(Reporting by Nick Edwards; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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China consumers driving economic rebound: survey http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20121226&t=2&i=688333508&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE8BP0UU100

Bahrain commutes death terms of police assailants

DUBAI: A Bahraini appeals court on Wednesday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentences of two Shiites convicted of killing two policemen during last year’s unrest, lawyers said.

Ali Abdullah Hasan al-Singace and Abdul Aziz Hussein, who were sentenced by a special Bahraini court in May last year, will now be jailed for life.

The court reduced the terms of four others held over the same case from life imprisonment to 15 years in jail, the lawyers said. A seventh defendant, whose sentence was also commuted to 15 years behind bars, remains at large.

The group, all Shiites, were accused of running over two policemen, Kashif Ahmed Manzur and Mohammed Farouk Abdulsamad, during the uprising in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

Their trial began on April 17 last year, with state media reporting at the time that the defendants were accused of committing voluntary homicide of public officials with “terrorist” intentions.

The national safety court’s verdict the next month drew international condemnation, with Amnesty International urging Bahrain to scrap the executions.

The court was set up under a state of national safety, a lower level of emergency law declared by King Hamad in mid-March 2011. In June the same year, the king lifted the measure.

Since February last year, Bahrain has been shaken by Shiite-led opposition protests that the authorities accuse of being exploited by Shiite Iran across the Gulf.

At least 80 people have died since the start of the unrest in February 2011, according to the International Federation of Human Rights.

The opposition in Shiite-majority Bahrain insists the premier stand down and that the government be headed by the leader of the elected majority in parliament.

Bahrain commutes death terms of police assailants http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif

International Real Estate: Real Estate in Japan

Ayumi Nakanishi for The New York Times

This crescent-shaped house built into a mountainside near Tokyo is on the market for $ 2.1 million (180,000,000 Japanese yen). The room in the foreground is the master bedroom. More Photos »

MINIMALIST HOUSE WITH MOUNT FUJI VIEWS OUTSIDE TOKYO

$ 2.2 MILLION (18 MILLION YEN)

This sleek crescent-shaped two-bedroom house on steel poles, dating to 2008, is built into the side of a slope in the Atami mountain range. Its flattened tubular contours and galvanized metal exterior give it a more-than-passing resemblance to a spaceship. It is built on a single level, principally of light Japanese cypress, and is entered from a central point below, via a glass-enclosed staircase. The ceiling is nearly 10 feet high in the middle, tapering down to eight feet at either end. Nearly every room abuts the elongated C-shaped rear wall; the glass wall across the front offers panoramic views of Mount Fuji. The architect, Shigeru Ban, is internationally known for his minimalist structures, and for his creatively designed temporary shelters built to house victims of war and natural disaster.

Designed with under-floor heating and central air-conditioning, the structure extends over almost 2,000 square feet. The entry staircase opens to a reception area in the spacious central living and dining room, whose floor-to-ceiling glass front wall looks out over treetops to mountains beyond. Its defining feature is a freestanding metal fireplace, which the architect designed to conceal a supporting beam. Sliding panels in the glass wall connect the living area to a terrace made of Japanese cypress and extending the width of the house.

The living and dining area adjoins the kitchen, which has a Gaggenau stovetop, a Miele oven and a peninsula topped in white Corian. The white-stained wood cabinets by the high-end Japanese company Kreis & Co. were custom-made to fit into the curved rear wall. Beyond the kitchen is a bedroom, currently functioning as a den and home office, with a 50-inch flat-screen television, which is being sold with the house. On the terrace just off the den, framed in a cypress box, is the onsen — or hot tub — designed by the Japanese company Hinokisouken to function on water from a natural hot spring.

On the opposite side of the living area, at the far end of the home, is the master bedroom, isolated from the communal space by a large rectangular wooden unit about the size of a travel trailer, its convex back fitting snugly into the concave rear wall. This freestanding structure, made of white-stained wood, houses the bath facilities: a tile-lined shower with a rain showerhead by the German company Hansgrohe, and a separate half bath with leatherlike black walls, a granite floor and an automatic flush toilet by the Japanese company INAX. The architect has hidden closets behind an exterior wall of the bath unit. Like its twin room on the other end, the space has two glass walls.

The terraced yard is landscaped with Japanese sago palms and jasmine, among other plantings. The property is part of a 570-acre private development called Dialand Resort Estate, comprising about 600 homes and a swimming pool, a clubhouse, tennis courts, golf courses and parks, all patrolled by security.

“All the houses are different,” said Norman Chong, the current owner, “that’s the beauty of it.”

The development lies between the towns of Hakone and Atami, which are known for their hot springs. Mr. Chong estimates that 60 percent of the homeowners are either weekend residents or retirees. Of the remainder, who are working residents, half commute to Tokyo. The express train to Tokyo takes about an hour — as does the drive, when traffic is light.

MARKET OVERVIEW

Japan is a buyers’ market, said Erik Oskamp, the owner of Akasaka Real Estate in Tokyo. “Owning property in Tokyo is probably half or a third of the monthly price than if you rent,” he said, “and still people are not buying; that’s how depressed the market is. You always have to explain to people, ‘We’re still here, Japan still exists.’ “

The housing stagnation dates to 1991, the year that diminished expectations about Japan’s economy sent property values into a nosedive.

International Real Estate: Real Estate in Japan http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/12/26/greathomesanddestinations/26-GH-IHH-SPAN/26-GH-IHH-SPAN-articleLarge.jpg

'Meet the Press' Got the Green Light for Magazine Demo with David Gregory

EXCLUSIVE

An official from the D.C. police told a member of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that David Gregory COULD display a high capacity magazine on “Meet the Press” Sunday … TMZ has learned.

Well-placed law enforcement sources tell TMZ … a staffer from “Meet the Press” called ATF before the show aired to inquire about the legality of David holding the empty magazine during a segment on gun control.  We’re told the ATF person contacted the D.C. police to find out if the District of Columbia — the place where the show is broadcast — had a law prohibiting such a display. 

Our sources say the D.C. police official informed ATF David could legally show the magazine, provided it was empty.  An ATF official then called the staffer from “Meet the Press” to inform them they could use the magazine.

D.C. police released a statement today, saying “NBC contacted the Metropolitan Police Dept. inquiring if they could utilize a high capacity magazine for this segment.  NBC was informed that possession of a high capacity magazine is not permissible and the request was denied.”

It appears “Meet the Press” may have gotten 2 different answers from law enforcement.

David is currently being investigated for displaying the magazine.

'Meet the Press' Got the Green Light for Magazine Demo with David Gregory http://ll-media.tmz.com/2012/12/26/1226-david-gregory-nra-magazine-1.jpg

Plane crash in Myanmar leaves 2 dead

www.myawady.net.mm/AFP/Getty Images

An ageing Burmese plane carrying 65 passengers, including foreign tourists, crash-landed in eastern Shan state, leaving two people dead and 11 others injured, the airline and officials said. 

A plane packed with foreign tourists made a fiery crash landing in Burma on Christmas Day, leaving two people dead and 11 injured.

The Air Bagan plane was en route from Rangoon to Heho airport in Shan Province when the engine gave out, forcing the pilot to land about two miles from the runway in a rice paddy. The plane might have hit overhead power cables, local media reported.

The plane was carrying 65 people, including 51 foreign tourists visiting Burma over the Christmas holiday. Six crew members were also on board.

Two Americans, two Britons and one South Korean man were among those taken to the hospital in nearby Taunggyi, according to Air Bagan officials. Two French tourists were also slightly injured.

Ma Nwe Lin Shein, a tour guide, died in the crash, Air Bagan said in a statement. A motorcyclist identified as U Pyar was killed as the aircraft skidded to the ground.

Kyodo/AP

Firefighting officials examine a passenger plane that crash-landed in a field near Heho airport in Shah State, Myanmar, on Dec. 25, 2012, killing two people.

The airplane’s black box has been recovered and was being taken to Singapore for examination.

Air Bagan released a statement in English on Wednesday saying it “deeply regret the deaths of two persons and tender its condolences to the bereaved families.”

Survivors described seeing smoke and flames coming from the front of the plane near the engines. As the aircraft neared ground, a flight attendant threw open a cabin door.

www.myawady.net.mm/AFP/Getty

The Myanmar ageing Fokker-100 plane in wreckage.

“Suddenly we just hit the ground and then it was all red and orange,” Swiss survivor Leandre Guillod told the Mirror.

“I was pretty much at the back … there was an opening above the wing, there was lots of fire so me and my girlfriend just jumped because we thought it was better to get out as soon as possible before it might explode, Guillod said.

Two pilots were among those injured.

Five Australian tourists also survived, with one man lightly injured and treated at the scene. A south Australian couple on holiday told the Advertiser newspaper the plane seemed to encounter problems with “no warning.”

Anna Bartsch and Stuart Benson of Adelaide were sitting at the back of the plane peering out the window when they began hearing “thuds.”

“There were no warnings. We were just looking out the window admiring the countryside a few minutes before the plane crashed,” Bartsch said.

“It was only once the plane had hit the ground (and) I saw flames coming from the outside of my window that I felt fear,” she told the Advertiser.

AP

A local looks at wrecked parts of Air Bagan passenger plane in Heho, Shan State, Burma.

Burma, which has undergone a huge democratic shift in the past two years, has also seen a boom in its tourism industry.

The country, also known as Myanmar, was under economic sanctions for years and as as a result, many airlines were unable to modernize their fleets. The country does not publish safety records, the Mirror reported.

WATCH: Survivors describe Burmese plane crash

vcavaliere@nydailynews.com

Plane crash in Myanmar leaves 2 dead http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1227396.1356527378!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/article-myanmar.jpg

Photon Devices Could Outperform Traditional Computers

A new kind of light-manipulating device — built by researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia and elsewhere — does what no ordinary computer could ever do. Credit: Alisha Toft

Quantum computers will be able to perform tasks that silicon-based computers wouldn’t be able to do, like cracking the codes that protect bank transactions. Several research teams have revealed solid evidence that quantum physics does embody a level of complexity that classical computers could never match. The new devices these groups have built are much simpler to build than quantum computers but could some day perform some of the same tasks.

The scientists published their findings in the journal Science¹ ² and in pre-prints in arXiv³ ⁴. It’s been theorized previously that there are many obstacles to quantum computing, such as the fact that certain quantum particles, like photons, have behaviors that are impossible to predict using ordinary computers.

In the most recent studies, researchers have injected four identical photons into a network of beam splitters on a chip¹. Thanks to quantum interference, which happens when photons strike a beam splitter simultaneously, the photons take a different path through the optical maze each time the experiment is run. Detectors spot the particles at the end of the run, revealing the probabilities of arriving at all possible destinations.

Without the device that the researchers constructed, calculating these probabilities would be mathematically difficult, yet not impossible. Every added particle doubles the computational difficulty. If 100 photons were put in such a device, the most powerful supercomputer on the planet wouldn’t be able to crunch the numbers.

The experiment could be scaled up to that size, but generating large numbers of identical photons will require getting the timing just right and this won’t be easy. Thankfully other teams are working on similar projects as well. A team in Australia unveiled their own prototype² and two more groups, in Austria and Italy, describe similar experiments³ ⁴.

These machines are proofs of principle, and their construction has only been recently possible thanks to the ability to produce simultaneous batches of identical photons with high reliability.

References

1. Spring, J. B. et al. Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1231692 (2012).
2. Broome, M. et al. Science http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1231440 (2012).
3. Crespi, A. et al. http://arXiv.org/abs/1212.2783 (2012).
4. Tillmann, M. et al. http://arXiv.org/abs/1212.2240 (2012).

[via Nature]

light, quantum computing, quantum mechanics, quantum physics

Photon Devices Could Outperform Traditional Computers http://scitechdaily.com/images/boson-sampling.jpg